Wuthering Heights in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Sep 06, 2012 Melissa Wiebe rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, historical-fiction, classics, fiction, english-literature, readalongs

Originally reviewed in 2012 at Jayne's Books.

I first read this book when I was about 14 years old and at the time, I couldn't make sense of it and by the end of the book, I was wanting to throw the book across the room and probably because of the fact that I was unable to get myself to read the book again. Of course I was able to understand it more after watching the BBC miniseries that came out a few years ago, I was able to make more sense of the story and the readalong that I participated thr Originally reviewed in 2012 at Jayne's Books.

I first read this book when I was about 14 years old and at the time, I couldn't make sense of it and by the end of the book, I was wanting to throw the book across the room and probably because of the fact that I was unable to get myself to read the book again. Of course I was able to understand it more after watching the BBC miniseries that came out a few years ago, I was able to make more sense of the story and the readalong that I participated through Unputdownables really helped me understand the story that much more. And based on this last reading of the book, I was able to give the book a full appreciation of really how good the book was and it makes me wonder that if Emily had been able to live for a long time, how good her work could have become. Maybe she would have become a one-hit wonder, or maybe she would have been a prolific writer, like her sister Charlotte, who wrote a number of well-known books through out her lifetime.

One thing that I liked about the book was that the book was basically told like a story that is being related to another individual. I realize that this is stating the obvious, but understanding this fact, helps with the reading of the book, because you don't see Mr. Lockwood that much and hear mostly Nelly's retelling of the story between the two families that clearly dominate the area. Another thing that I like about the book is that its a very complex novel, despite the fact that it really is a pretty simple story line. And that Emily Bronte is able to bring out complex emotions in not only her characters that are so vivid for a number of reasons, but also complex emotions in those that read the book. Its almost a love-hate relationship with the book; there are characters that I absolutely adore and want more of (Cathy Linton [not her mom, who is also named Catherine]) and there are characters that I really do come to loathe (Heathcliff and Isabelle Linton-Heathcliff and possibly Edgar Linton).

There also something extremely dark that kept me wanting to find out what it was and it felt like you got absorbed into that world, just like Cathy [the daughter] did after coming to Wuthering Heights. I think what Bronte does effectively is create a world that is both foreboding, but also inviting, almost like she is seducing the reader to continue on with the book, as though there is something forbidden behind the front doors of Wuthering Heights. ...more

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Jun 17, 2009 Molly rated it it was ok

Shelves: grad-school, i-give-up, 2-stars, i-want-to-like-you, classics

Read in: The Gothic Novel

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Sep 03, 2007 Cindy rated it did not like it

Shelves: fiction, not-recommended

Read this one because it was a "classic" that I hadn't read before. I just hated this book. Total waste of time. I know others love it, but it was NOT my style.

(On the other hand, I loved the references to it in Jasper Fforde's Tuesday Next series) ...more

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Oct 29, 2007 Donna rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-more-than-once, classic-fiction

Finished this book again 01/29/09. I enjoyed it much more this time, whether that is because I read it instead of listening to it or just because it was the second time, I can't say. ...more

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