Gone with the Wind

By: Margaret Mitchell

Narrated by: Linda Stephens

Length: 49 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature, Margaret Mitchell's great novel of the South is one of the most popular books ever written. Within six months of its publication in 1936, Gone With the Wind had sold a million copies. To date, it has been translated into 25 languages, and more than 28 million copies have been sold.

Here are the characters that have become symbols of passion and desire: darkly handsome Rhett Butler and flirtatious Scarlett O'Hara. Behind them stand their gentler counterparts: Ashley Wilkes and Melanie Hamilton. As the lives and affairs of these absorbing characters play out against the tumult of the Civil War, Gone With the Wind reaches dramatic heights that have swept generations of fans off their feet.

Having lived in Atlanta for many years, narrator Linda Stephens has an authentic ear for the dialects of that region. Get ready to hear Gone With the Wind exactly as it was written: every word beautifully captured in a spectacular unabridged audio production.

©1964 Stephens Mitchell (P)2001 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Beyond a doubt one of the most remarkable first novels produced by an American writer. It is also one of the best." ( The New York Times)
"The best novel to have ever come out of the South...it is unsurpassed in the whole of American writing." ( The Washington Post)

This book beat every expectation.

Incredibly well written book, that can draw you into subjects you would normally deem unfit to even consider. The uneven and utterly real landscape of morality in this book is outstanding.

First time listener

1996, a heady year for me, as the original buyer for the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum in Atlanta, it was to open for the Olympics and Diamler Benz had rented the House, throughout.
Then the fire, 2 weeks prior to opening was heartwrenching, for us all.
I've not thought about this book since, although it was much loved by me, as an introduction to the South when my family moved to Decatur in 1960.
Linda did a stellar job reading, invoking so many memories, during it and thoughts afterwards.....
Kudos, Linda!!

Never ban this book!

What a treasure! This book is a living history of how things were. Some people may find it not politically correct, but this book is a description of how things were at the time. I enjoyed the first half more with it’s historical content and the sufferings endured during the Civil War by the South. The second half is more of a love story which was OK, but very ahead of its time. I recently moved to South Carolina from Texas, and now I can see why the Southerners to this day despise Yankees and outsiders. Quote from the book that explains “Southern Hospitality “
“I shall never forgive the Yankees for what they have done to the South. I will hate them forever and ever and will teach my children, grandchildren and their children’s children to hate the Yankees as well”

Gone with the wind

This is an incredible story. A love so strong but not noticed by the one LOVED until it was too late. But all the hardships of life in the LOVED, made her so strong and independent that she would not allow herself to be loved by those who really cared. The ending is well....
The narrator made the audio very much worth listening to.

One of the best narrated books I've ever heard!

My only exposure to Gone with the Wind prior to April was the hilarious Carol Burnett sketch and seeing the famous book cover where Rhett and Scarlett are lovingly looking in to each others' eyes. I wrote it off as a romance, and I don't read romance. Fiddle-dee-dee! When Jenny announced it as the next read-along my ears perked and my attention piqued, and with a weekend twelve-hour road trip to Chicago planned I decided to drop an audible credit and dive take on the 49+ hour , 1,000 page tome. Wow, I was hooked from the start and upon my return to Minnesota I bought a used 75th Anniversary paper copy for note taking.

The story wasn't a love story between the two main characters - it was a love-hate story. There was not that much romance in the novel in actuality. I don't think my opinion of a main character in a novel ever swung back and forth as is did with Scarlett. She was spoiled, mean, and manipulative. But she as also driven like no other and did what she had to do to save Tara and support her family and friends during the worst of times, and ultimately became an immensely successful (albeit "unladylike") business woman. And one has to remember that she was only sixteen at the start of the novel and thirty-two or so at its conclusion.

The writing was amazing! This hooked me from the start along with the audio production. The audio book was impeccably narrated by Linda Stephens. She seamlessly transitioned between a myriad of characters using a number of dialects and accents, including Gerald's Irish, the Northern carpetbaggers and soldiers, the African-Americans, and many Southerners.

The scale and depth of the story-telling was epic! The book is set in Georgia, initially at the O Hara's plantation where pre-Civil War Southern life was easy and opulent, and we end up in post-war Reconstruction South where the Southerners who survived are scratching out an existence. Mitchell adds A LOT of Southern-centric historical back ground throughout the book, which added much to the plot for me. I found the Southern point of view particularly interesting having grown up in Wisconsin and reading mostly the victor's accounts in history books. Life during reconstruction was difficult for most. It was shocking to read Mitchell explain the origins of and the "need" for the KKK (!). Some other interesting takes were how the Northern carpetbaggers came to the South with all their money and replaced the once proud and wealthy plantation owners as the economic power, and that all of the slaves in the book were relatively happy and well cared for. We never saw the horrors of slavery.

I thought the book dragged a little bit towards the end but overall I found it to be a highly entertaining story and an enthralling look at pre and post Southern Civil war life. The ending was perfect in my opinion. Twenty stars.

BEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN

I cherish every moment of this book. It’s truly a masterpiece. God bless this book.

So much more than the movie.

I've seen the movie probably half a dozen times but probably not in the last 20+ years. While Vivien Leigh did a marvelous job of conveying what was in Scarlett's pretty little head, Scarlett was a master of deception & denial. I imagine, finding a balance in a scrip of her cunning bite & her utter fear of showing her true vulnerability and what those vulnerabilities were, was hard. In the book, she's even more venomous but more vulnerable as well. The political landscape, while historic & obvious is shown in a much more organic light, played out in scenes of everyday life.

Wow! one of best novels ever!

Loved the book, beautiful writing, vivid characters, love it all. Narrator performance was excellent. She made it easy to understand and picture characters. Already recommended to many friends

I <3 Rhett Butler.

First, let me say that besides this book, I generally don't like American Civil War novels. I also didn't give the 5 star ratings under duress. I can handle an unhappy ending. Margaret Mitchell's characters are very genuine, even in their dishonesty. GWTW is a great, standalone novel and should have been left alone by Alexandra Ripley and Donald McCraig.

That said, Rhett Butler is truly the most fascinating atheist character ever written. Scarlett is a product of her father-spoiled and reckless. However, her loyalty and strength are touching. I'm not too ashamed to admit that I don't like Suellen on Scarlett's behalf. It's really a shame that Scarlett's conscience, Will Benteen was left out of the movie, though Mammy did well enough in shouldering the extra character.

Wow. It's too easy to get off track. If you haven't read or listened to this book, don't wait until you're about to die.

Just ... wow

This is an incredible story and the narration is perfect. Definitely jumping to the top of my all time favorite audiobooks list. Highly recommend.