Diana 12-2-2007 14:03
Rhett Butler's People
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Was it strictly necessary to our understanding of Gone With the Wind'sdashing hero to flesh out his backstory, replay famous GWTW scenes fromhis perspective, and crank the plot past the original's astringentdenouement? Perhaps not, but it's still a fun ride. In this authorizedreimagining, Rhett, disowned son of a cruel South Carolina planter, isstill a jauntily worldwise charmer, roguish but kind; Scarlett is stillfeisty, manipulative and neurotic; and the air of besieged decorum isslightly racier. (Rhett: "My dear, you have jam at the corner of yourmouth." Scarlett: "Lick it off.") But it says much about the author'ssure feel for Margaret Mitchell's magnetic protagonists that they stillbeguile us. McCaig (Jacob's Ladder) broadens the canvas, giving Rhettnew dueling and blockade-running adventures and adding intriguingcharacters like Confederate cavalier-turned-Klansman Andrew Ravanel, arancid version of Ashley Wilkes who romances Rhett's sister Rosemary.He paints a richer, darker panorama of a Civil War-era South where poorwhites seethe with resentment and slavery and racism are brutal factsof life that an instinctive gentleman like Rhett can work around butnot openly challenge. McCaig thus imparts a Faulknerian tone to thesaga that sharpens Mitchell's critique of Southern nostalgia withoutlosing the epic sweep and romantic pathos. The result is an engrossingupdate of GWTW that fans of the original will definitely give a damnabout.