Gone with the Wind Mishaps

My first endeavor into adult classic literature was when I was thirteen with the very daunting, {at least it seemed that way at the time} Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. 

I first watched Gone with the Wind when I was ten, so a good fifteen years ago.  My family was visiting my grandmother who had taped several old movies off of t.v.  two being Gone with the Wind and The African Queen.  I chose the first, and popped it in the VCR residing the remainder of the day to watching a civilization gone with the wind {with limited commercial interruptions}.  I had almost three hours invested into the movie, reaching Bonnie’s horse jumping scene, I see Bonnie ride sidesaddle for the first time and see her start to jump, and then… the tape dyed.  There was shocked silence, I was dumbfounded that not only had I spent my day enthralled by the film but to have it cut short at such a crucial moment.   I was devastated.  Later I learned that I was not alone in being jiped  as my uncle was unable to complete watching The African Queen.  I’m not sure if I will ever be able to forgive TBS.

About three years later I tried reading the book. {tried being the key word in that sentence} I remember at the time thinking it was a pretty hefty book since it took me quite a while to read the first 200 pages and reach the barbecue.  Once again my family was visiting relatives, my aunt and uncle in New York, who own a small island of sorts and a pygmy goat.  Almost everyday we would go to this little island and I would bring my book along too.  Unfortunately, the pygmy goat also took an interest in Gone with the Wind and began to chew away the binding, desecrating Tara much faster than I could read about it; and because of this was dubbed “Gone with the Goat”.

Despite the minor mishaps, Gone with the Wind remains my favorite literary work.