tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4643814382859305697.post4301740032406710122..comments2021-12-12T16:09:36.885-05:00Comments on compass headings: In defense of Gone With the WindPatrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03427059903399181556noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4643814382859305697.post-64142610443496026192015-07-30T03:45:19.230-04:002015-07-30T03:45:19.230-04:00Oh, how nice to find a kindred spirit! Augustine S...Oh, how nice to find a kindred spirit! Augustine St. Clare is one of my favorite characters in all of literature.<br /><br />And Harriet Beecher Stowe was a WONDERFUL writer. Have you read any of her short stories or poetry?<br /><br />If you've read "Uncle Tom's Cabin", you might also want to read her next novel, "Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp", which was also an anti-slavery novel, and was, like UTC, a best-seller in the U.S. "Dred" came out in 1856, four years after UTC. Since Stowe was deeply attuned to the social and political atmosphere around her, "Dred" is a very different novel from its predecessor -- darker, grimmer, less hopeful. A lot had changed in America between '52 and '56; politically, the country was more divided than ever, and you could almost FEEL the nation heading for the brink....Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03205804416257099203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4643814382859305697.post-33182721791844760462015-07-29T16:34:51.239-04:002015-07-29T16:34:51.239-04:00I tend to agree with you. I have no way of knowing...I tend to agree with you. I have no way of knowing what people thought at the time GWTW was fresh. I will say, however, that Bookworm and I differ in our thoughts about the quality of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Harriet Beecher Stowe was classically trained and definitely knew she had to write to a common level, rather than using high flung writing (in this, think Twain's style). However, when one looks at the book's structure, the North-South moral architecture, the doubling and contrasting of characters, the many layers of argument used that covered every possible attack, and, above all, the deep understanding of her characters' psychology (Cassie and St. Clare come to mind here), it is no wonder that she was celebrated by many of the authors of her day, including Dickens and Tolstoy, just to name a few. <br /><br />Of course, that is also something which people argue about and which changes no one's mind. :-)Julie D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08384291674560438678noreply@blogger.com