Wuthering Heights in Around the World in 80 Books

Jul 02, 2024 Jody rated it liked it

I chose this book to read because I wanted to read a classic this summer and my mother always would recommend this particular one. I found it dark, brooding, and quite violent given the time in which it was written. I didn't like any of the characters--finding them to have highly disagreeable personalities. However, there is a lot of talent in their creation...they have to be written well to make me dislike them. The POV for the book is interesting and uncommon, but it worked. The whole read was ...more

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Jul 05, 2020 Ra rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook

I read this very long ago in translation and it was also an abridged version. I do remember the main characters, Catherine and Heathcliff, but I am sure that the depth of these characters, their manipulative and sometimes evil ways were not conveyed properly in the translation.

I was fascinated throughout by the cruelty of Heathcliff and his drive for revenge, which knew no bounds. The book is mostly about him, but the object of his love, Catherine is also a selfish, though self-destructive chara I read this very long ago in translation and it was also an abridged version. I do remember the main characters, Catherine and Heathcliff, but I am sure that the depth of these characters, their manipulative and sometimes evil ways were not conveyed properly in the translation.

I was fascinated throughout by the cruelty of Heathcliff and his drive for revenge, which knew no bounds. The book is mostly about him, but the object of his love, Catherine is also a selfish, though self-destructive character. These two eventually destroyed each other, leaving a literal trail of dead bodies around them.

The story is a study of the dark side of love, and how it can destroy when it fails to uplift. The choices Catherine Sr. made in her life, set forth a sequence of events that destroyed the lives of her nephew, her sister in-law and almost carried through to destroying her daughter, if the latter did not eventually heal herself by the power of love and forgiveness.

Ultimately it shows that the choice of the heart is always the correct one, rather than the choice of the ego, driven by considerations of status or fear. The most difficult character to understand was Joseph with his Yorkshire dialect, but he added colour to the narrative, and he was almost always full of crap about sin and how bad everyone is. His literal interpretation of the scripture made him especially cruel to the people he considered lacking in morals (almost every normal human being). We all know people like that. Meanwhile the narrator Nellie sounded like a wise person, and enlightened the audience with her insight into the people she knew, and at the same time kept us wondering about their motivation.

The book got progressively darker, I felt. At the beginning I found Mr. Lockwood's description of Heathcliff's family quite humorous, but his mood became more subdued in the latter chapter. Nellie Dean was quite a skilled narrator too and kept me interested, even though using her as a narrator is an antiquated device, I felt. ...more

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Feb 19, 2019 Jana rated it it was ok

Shelves: book-club, x2019-reading-challenge

I read this in high school. I do not have pleasant memories of it. I will need to read it again as an adult.
2019 - Read for book club. Did not care for it. Oh, well.

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Mar 12, 2025 Pam rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, audio-book, england, 2025-books-read

Chose to listen to this one and thinking this was a mistake ... seemed overly dramatic. 4/B

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Sep 19, 2019 Grace rated it liked it · review of another edition

I don't watch reality TV.
Instead I read Wuthering Heights and it gives me all the shocks and satisfaction of judging these awful awful people that treat each other horribly.. with the safe knowledge that it's all fiction! No real humans harmed in the production of this tale!
Joseph was a pain to understand, but my edition's foreward told me his accent is part of the charm in localising the story. There are websites dedicated to translating his speech and he's pretty entertaining once you know wha ...more

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