Rhett Butler's People

Author - Donald McCaig ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Hardcover Book item from St. Martin´s Press was reviewed on 4-Nov-2008.

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1) Hardcover Book Rhett Butler's People by St. Martin´s Press. Everyone involved in this book should be ashamed, as it is so obviously intended solely to make money off of GWTW fans. I fail to understand why the Mitchell estate selected this writer, who did not even bother to do a close reading of the original. And where was the editor?! There are so many errors in timing and details, I can´t believe they weren´t corrected. Everything from the color of Ashley´s eyes (grey, not brown!) to the timing of when Scarlett sold him the mills, to major plot points being left out completely. It´s insulting to those of us who love GWTW, and the author and editor(if there actually was one!) had to have known that readers would notice (and be annoyed by) these details.

And don´t get me started on the anachronistic speech and utterly ridiculous interpretation of Melanie´s character. Awful, awful, awful.

I´m sure that, like me, fans of GWTW will feel they have to read this book, but just be prepared to feel some righteous indignation. I´m tempted to write my own book!¤

2) Hardcover Book Rhett Butler's People by St. Martin´s Press. When you attempt to write a sequel or companion to a beloved book, the odds are against you right from the beginning. Not only do you have to prove that you can write as well as the beloved author (and this is where Ripley´s Scarlett flopped), but you have to have something to say, something to add to a masterpiece. It can´t be just your own desires to play with the characters. I know that there´s a huge temptation to feed starving readers a happy ending for two of the world´s most famous lovers left asunder. But that doesn´t mean that you can waste our time by feeding us mush. Let´s face it, Rhett and Scarlett are too alike. They only want the unobtainable. And when Scarlet gets Ashley, she no longer wants him. And when Rhett gets Scarlett, he no longer wants her. There is really no more to tell. And if an author wants to come up with a better ending, it should be more than just (as in this book) that Rhett comes back because Scarlett sends him a telegram.

But, I get ahead of myself. RBP is supposed to be the tale of GWTW from Rhett´s perspective, but it reads more of a historian´s perspective. GWTW is not about history (its way too inaccurate for that); it is about character. While RBP has a decent story and fairly interesting characters, the focus is too much on the history and not on Rhett Butler himself. It brings no new perspective or twist or even examination of his character. No explanation for how he feels about Scarlett or Ashley (except for some brief comparisons between Rhett´s feelings towards slavery and Ashley´s romantic ideals of the old South). In fact, RBP is so far removed from GWTW, the reader becomes lost chronologically. The book´s strength in forgoing repetition of the original work actually becomes a weakness.

The book´s greatest weakness is just the complete and utter betrayal of the characters, particularly the star, Rhett. He is way too good, lacking all the charm and mischievous twinkle that makes him a rebel.

As this book completely rejects Alexandra Ripley´s Scarlett, they must be compared as companions to GWTW. While Scarlett is horribly written and meanders in long catalogues of gowns and balls, its thousand pages fly by compared to the well written but utterly dull 500 pages of RBP. Although Scarlett is mediocre, it succeeds where RBP utterly fails, in the most important part of all, the characters. Scarlett succeeds in portraying the true Scarlett and Rhett, as rebels in their world, finally accepting that, and each other. RBP´s Scarlett and Rhett are just not GWTW´s. And so, I will give it the opposite rating I gave Scarlett. Grade: A- (for the rest of the book) D+ for Scarlett and Rhett And, as character is more important, this book fails.¤

3) Hardcover Book Rhett Butler's People by St. Martin´s Press. I am a huge fan of the original work. I have no problem at all with others trying to write sequels, parodies, etc... That said...
This new book is in no way worthy to be called a prequel, sequel, or associated in any way to the original. Scarlett as a character is completely unrecognizable, Rhett is no longer Rhett, but a clinical mess on the border of manic depressive, and so many other characters that we already know and love are so different, and frankly, unlikable. Scenes were changed so drastically that the reader would never understand a character´s motives. The only remotely interesting parts of the book are those that deal solely with McCaig´s new characters.
There are not only substantial differences between this book and the original, but was also written as if the other authorized sequel, Scarlett, was never written at all, making it completely impossible to read them together as a series.
When I first read Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley, I liked it. I knew in advance what an enormous task it would be to try to re-enter this story with any consistency at all. After reading Rhett Butler´s People, I have an even greater respect for Ripley, for at least she tried, and very often, was quite successful. It is obvious that McCaig made no effort whatsover to stay consistent with the story, the tone, the characters, or the ultimate vision of Margaret Mitchell and Gone With the Wind. This cannot even earn an A for effort. How sad that is.¤

4) Hardcover Book Rhett Butler's People by St. Martin´s Press. I confess to having never read Gone With the Wind. However, deciding to enjoy the full sweep of the story, or so I thought, I began with McCaig´s version, the authorized prequel. It seemed to make sense.

Unfortunately, and I dislike writing this, I was underwhelmed by the loose and limp story this prequel offers. Simply put, I never cared about the characters and the outcomes of their choices, a rather deadly response for a reader. Nonetheless, I forced myself to finish the book, and breathed a deep and satisfying sigh of relief when I turned the last page.

There´s simply no weight or depth to the book. The action and characters seem whimsical and foolish in their romantic notions of Confederacy and Southern ways. The book paled in comparison to another Civil War novel I read and reviewed here, Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, by Allan Gurganus. Now there´s a book that repays a reader many times over with its wise and weighty sweep.

As for this book, if one is unfamiliar with the story, unsteeped in the mythology of that tragic time as well as Mitchell´s classic story, then s/he endures constant frustration with characters who appear, disappear, and then reappear with slight linkage (other than family connections). I found keeping relationships straight an irritating challenge that I wanted to dismiss. That´s not a reader´s task (except in great works such as War and Peace). An author must create a seamless drama with believable characters we get to know so intimately that it all seems lifelike in familiarity.

Perhaps those who have read and perhaps reread GWTW enjoyed this book, perhaps. Without any background, this book seems unimportant. Soon, I will read the original, and I suspect Mitchell´s rendering will grab and move me as she probes the depth and tragic implications of that sad, regrettable war. Her work earned the Pulitzer Prize, an honor not lightly conferred, and an honor for which McCaig´s treatment received no consideration, justifiably.

I apologize for this unfavorable review. There´s little I can praise about McCaig´s book. The best I can say is I finished it as preparation for GWTW. Now I look forward to the original (and I wish I could change my rating to 2 stars instead of 3, too generous a rating now that I reconsider).¤

5) Hardcover Book Rhett Butler's People by St. Martin´s Press. Any attempt to carry on Mitchell´s legacy will of course fall short, but this book completely underwhelms fans of the classic novel.

McCaig DOES try, with depiction of Rhett´s family, particularly his beloved sister, Rosemary, but as a whole the book fails. His writing style needs polish (excessive passive voice, the cardinal writer´s crime of "telling" the reader rather than putting them inside the characters, for example) and at times his attempts to meld his story with the timeline of Mitchell´s feels rushed.

The worst are the anachronisms. Sorry, Mr. McCaig, but hardcore fans have the book practically memorized, and just too much artistic license was taken when writing "Rhett." The subplot with Archie and having him already acquainted with Rhett from the war just isn´t believable at all, and he makes too many mistakes. It´s plain from the original novel that Ashley lost Twelve Oaks for back taxes, and it´s mentioned several times that Charles Hamilton and his parents were buried in Atlanta (Mitchell´s description of the looted cemeteries, for example, which really were desecrated by Sherman´s troops) rather than at Twelve Oaks. Furthermore, Charles´ and Melanie´s father was a veteran of the Mexican War, yet McCaig has his date of death listed on his tombstone as 1845. The Mexican War took place in 1847. Those are a few of the more minor mistakes.

Most insulting to fans of the series is the author´s propensity for killing beloved characters and burning things down. Scarlett´s house in Atlanta, then - most unforgivable of all - Tara. No thanks.

I really, really wanted to like this novel, but was bitterly disappointed. It´s enough of a shame that today´s publishers are so reluctant to publish Civil War fiction....to give us such a flawed sequel to a beloved classic is another.

Sorry, I can´t recommend this one. Those in need of more "Gone With the Wind" should re-read Alexandra Ripley´s "Scarlett" instead. It´s still far superior to "Rhett Butler´s People."¤

6) Hardcover Book Rhett Butler's People by St. Martin´s Press.

7) Hardcover Book Rhett Butler's People by St. Martin´s Press. Margaret Mitchell´s story of Scarlett O´Hara´s and Rhett Butler´s beguiling, twisted love for each other, set against the gruesome background of a nation torn apart by war, is by all accounts epic--so much so that it feels untouchable. Yet McCaig´s take on what many would consider a sacred cow of 20th-century American literature is a worthy suitor for Mitchell´s many ardent fans, for reasons that may not be altogether obvious. It would be easy to look at Gone With the Wind and Rhett Butler’s People side by side and catalog what is accurate and what isn´t and tally up the score. In doing so, however, the fan is apt to miss out on the best part of this whole book: Rhett Butler himself. McCaig´s Rhett is thoroughly modern, both a product of his Charleston plantation and an emphatic rejection of it. He is filled with romance and ingenuity, grit and wit, and a toughness matched only by a sense of humility that evokes so gracefully the hardship and heartbreak of a society falling apart. It´s not hard to love Rhett in his weakness for Scarlett´s love, but it is entirely amazing to love him as he rescues Belle Watling, mentors her bright young son Tazewell, adores his sister Rosemary, dotes on dear Bonnie Blue, and defends his best friend Tunis Bonneau to the very end.

To pluck a character from a beloved book and recalibrate the story´s point-of-view isn´t an easy thing to do. Ultimately, the new must ring true with the old, and this is where Rhett Butler’s People succeeds beyond measure. In the spirit of Mitchell´s masterpiece, McCaig never questions that love--of family, lover, land, or country--is the tie that binds these characters to life, for better or worse. --Anne Bartholomew

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 2-Dec-2008, 03122625159780312262518, 530-950-150-750-570-901-426-12B-HWB-8

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