From the Bookshelf of Reading the Classics…

Wuthering Heights

Emily Brontë

Start date: February 6, 2016

Finish date: February 29, 2016

Why we're reading this: voted for in February 2016 poll
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Oct 25, 2012 Jennifer Goldby rated it it was ok

Enjoyed Wuthering heights much more than Jane Eyre, you definetely get a sense of Emily Bronte's wilder more roaming imagination in comparison with Charlotte's, who's characters are homely and relatable. Charlotte herself said of Wuthering heights that it was 'hewn in a wild workshop.' The plot is also much more exciting although dark and somewhat depressing at times. Heathcliff's character was especially disconcerting, his relationship with Catherine seemed not so much romantic as simply unheal ...more

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Feb 08, 2016 Tania rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics

Reading a classic such as Wuthering Heights means opening yourself up to the past and seeing the characters and events through eyes that understand the oppressive times and trying circumstances in which they lived. It also means realizing that here is the source for all the derivative works that followed and that have become an entrenched part of our culture.

For what Wuthering Heights speaks of its times, and for what it has contributed to literature over the years, it is truly a timeless class Reading a classic such as Wuthering Heights means opening yourself up to the past and seeing the characters and events through eyes that understand the oppressive times and trying circumstances in which they lived. It also means realizing that here is the source for all the derivative works that followed and that have become an entrenched part of our culture.

For what Wuthering Heights speaks of its times, and for what it has contributed to literature over the years, it is truly a timeless classic. Many of the pivotal plot points are still relevant today. The clash of classes, marrying above or below your station, falling in love with the wrong person, wronging the person you love most - all of these are timeless tragedies that may present as different situations today but are still the same age-old controversies that society has always dealt with. Wuthering Heights does tackle these and more with enthusiasm. There is a great deal of passion in the characters and in their relationships. One cannot argue that this is a novel that shies away from exploring the hidden flaws of its most beloved characters, or that it is overly kind to its historic setting. At times it is painfully honest about all of the above.

My rating takes all of this into consideration. However it also considers that as well written as this novel is, and as enticing as its subject, the language and the tempo and the burden of many years worth of derivative works that have come between this novel and myself take away its impact on today's reader. If you can approach this as the original masterpiece that it was in its time, it helps. But if all the derivative works that have come between this novel and today are in the way, then it can be a ponderous read at times. It is certainly heavy, this is no light piece of fluff that you can breeze through in an afternoon. It's also less love story than cautionary tale - this is what happens when greed and hatred and spite take hold of a person (or ten). The characters are, in the end, all selfish, and most of them come off as irredeemable in my eyes. That lack of a singular truly sympathetic figure is what I would consider the weak point in a beautiful novel. ...more

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Feb 07, 2022 Katie rated it liked it

Shelves: england, kindle

Everyone in this book is such a whiny baby. I think most people might find Wuthering Heights difficult to get through if they don't have pubescent hormones along for the assist in making the emotional landscape seem reasonable. ...more

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Mar 09, 2016 Grace Donnelly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

"Oh! you said you cared nothing for my sufferings! And I pray one prayer – I repeat it till my tongue stiffens – Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you – haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always – take any form – drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without m ...more

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