Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Book Title: Wuthering Heights
Author: Emily Bronte
Genre: Classic Romantic Fiction
My Grade: A-
# of Pages: 359
Summary: Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte's only novel - remains one of literature's most disturbing explorations into the dark side of romantic passion.
An unpolished and devastating epic of childhood playmates who grow into soulmates, Wuthering Heights revolves around the willfully childish Catherine and the dark Heathcliff, who, in the words of Charlotte Bronte, "exemplifies the effects which a life of continued injustice and hard usage may produce on a naturally perverse, vindictive, and inexorable disposition." Heathcliff and Cathy believe they're destined to love each other forever. But when cruelty and snobbery seperate them, their untamed emotions literally consume them.
Set amid the wild and stormy Yorkshire moors, Wuthering Heights is widely regarded as the most original tale of thwarted desire and heartbreak in the English language.
My Thoughts: I can definitely say I was not expecting what I got when I finally read this book. I thought it was going to be sweeping and romantic, with a dreamy yet mysterious male figure my secretly romantic self would fall in love with. Sort of along the lines of a Mr. Darcy. Mmmmm- Mr. Darcy. I'm sorry- I got distracted a moment there.
Yeah- I didn't fall in love with our dark and admittedly mysterious Mr. Heathcliff in any way shape or form. Rather I couldn't stand Heathcliff. Or anyone else for that matter. The only person I could remotely say I liked was Ellen/Nelly and even then there were a couple times I wanted to jump into the pages and just full on bitch-smack her.
Wuthering Heights is truly it's own novel. There isn't anything like it, and considering this was published in 1847 just blows my mind. I can understand why this book wasn't so well received at first. What is this? This isn't something people of those days would neccessarily be drawn to read. It's about the dark, twisted shapes love can take. About injustice and cruelty you inflict on those you care deeply for. It follows unsympathetic characters who range from weak and whiny to angry and spiteful. Why would anyone like this book?
You end up liking this book for those very reasons. That there is not a single character you root for, and you only keep reading because you want to see their end rewards. You want to be able to go and spit on their graves in the end. The book is like a train wreck, it's everything awful and ugly but you just can't turn away.
It's a slow go at first. And it really wasn't until I was halfway through that I finally found it interesting and engaging. The way she writes the story also makes it a little hard to follow at first. It's a story being told to someone else who's relaying it to us. Just confusing enough it's hard for me to even tell you how it's being told. It definitely deserves it's classic status as a classic book, mainly because it's maintained it's uniqueness for over a hundred years.
Next Book: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown • review
Back to the Book List.
Author: Emily Bronte
Genre: Classic Romantic Fiction
My Grade: A-
# of Pages: 359
Summary: Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte's only novel - remains one of literature's most disturbing explorations into the dark side of romantic passion.
An unpolished and devastating epic of childhood playmates who grow into soulmates, Wuthering Heights revolves around the willfully childish Catherine and the dark Heathcliff, who, in the words of Charlotte Bronte, "exemplifies the effects which a life of continued injustice and hard usage may produce on a naturally perverse, vindictive, and inexorable disposition." Heathcliff and Cathy believe they're destined to love each other forever. But when cruelty and snobbery seperate them, their untamed emotions literally consume them.
Set amid the wild and stormy Yorkshire moors, Wuthering Heights is widely regarded as the most original tale of thwarted desire and heartbreak in the English language.
My Thoughts: I can definitely say I was not expecting what I got when I finally read this book. I thought it was going to be sweeping and romantic, with a dreamy yet mysterious male figure my secretly romantic self would fall in love with. Sort of along the lines of a Mr. Darcy. Mmmmm- Mr. Darcy. I'm sorry- I got distracted a moment there.
Yeah- I didn't fall in love with our dark and admittedly mysterious Mr. Heathcliff in any way shape or form. Rather I couldn't stand Heathcliff. Or anyone else for that matter. The only person I could remotely say I liked was Ellen/Nelly and even then there were a couple times I wanted to jump into the pages and just full on bitch-smack her.
Wuthering Heights is truly it's own novel. There isn't anything like it, and considering this was published in 1847 just blows my mind. I can understand why this book wasn't so well received at first. What is this? This isn't something people of those days would neccessarily be drawn to read. It's about the dark, twisted shapes love can take. About injustice and cruelty you inflict on those you care deeply for. It follows unsympathetic characters who range from weak and whiny to angry and spiteful. Why would anyone like this book?
You end up liking this book for those very reasons. That there is not a single character you root for, and you only keep reading because you want to see their end rewards. You want to be able to go and spit on their graves in the end. The book is like a train wreck, it's everything awful and ugly but you just can't turn away.
It's a slow go at first. And it really wasn't until I was halfway through that I finally found it interesting and engaging. The way she writes the story also makes it a little hard to follow at first. It's a story being told to someone else who's relaying it to us. Just confusing enough it's hard for me to even tell you how it's being told. It definitely deserves it's classic status as a classic book, mainly because it's maintained it's uniqueness for over a hundred years.
Next Book: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown • review
Back to the Book List.