Pride and Prejudice
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Which book did you enjoy more P&P or Wuthering Heights?
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Laura
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Aug 07, 2013 04:47PM

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And I'm giving away autographed copies...


Austen's wit is in a league of its own, but I feel an underrated aspect in Wuthering Height is Emily Bronte's wicked sense of humour. Some of the insults and cruelty border upon black humour, especially Heathcliff's putdowns towards his own son.



This thread reminds me, though, of the bit in I Capture the Castle where Rose asks Cassandra if she'd rather live in an Austen world with a bit of Bronte, or a Bronte world with a bit of Austen.
I also love how that question, which Cassandra never answers, sets the tone for so much of the rest of the book.


Haha! I have to agree with you Connie. :)

I'm ready to throw WH against the wall for the same reasons, but I don't want to break my Kindle.



Reading these posts has been interesting to me because it reflects the arguments at the time the books were written. The Bronte sisters did not admire Jane Austen's writing. Charlotte and Emily especially despised her books. They didn't think they plumbed the depths of human emotion and experience enough. Whereas few people today realize what a pioneer in writing Austen actually was. They just see her as someone who wrote light, fluffy romances and nothing more. She was the first to write realistic stories about (what was for her) everyday life. Her novels were vastly different than anything else up to that time and she revolutionized the way people write even up to today. Austen heavily influenced Charles Dickens and quite a few other writers, especially those who leaned toward realism etc. Whereas the Bronte sisters didn't want their works to even remotely resemble Austen's. I think they succeeded. Having said that, I don't know any author who has the command of the English language like Jane Austen and it's doubtful the Brontes would have written as well as they did without her. Both books in question here are beautifully written. I love all of Austen's writing because of that fact and I love the Bronte sisters books as well and even Anne Bronte's works have some great moments in them. But Wuthering Heights I do not like. It's well written and I cannot complain about anything in that regard - I don't like it on an emotional level. I don't like the characters. They seem to be unstable individuals who make themselves and everyone around them unhappy - and that's just depressing - not the kind of thing I want to read over and over again. But that's just my opinion because, really, comparing Pride and Prejudice to Wuthering Heights is comparing apples to oranges. The only thing you'll get is what people prefer on an emotional level because the two authors had completely different goals in their writing.

The only one who's opinion stands is Charlotte Bronte, but this doesn't mean Anne nor Emily necessarily shared her views towards Austen.


I guess it depends on whether you want a happy or sad ending...


No, it's not about how the book ends - I love 'Gone With the Wind', but the book doesn't end well for Scarlett and Rhett (although my imagination ALWAYS has then getting back together) - and what I was trying to say about P&P and WH was that I loved both books and have re-read each of them many times. The question was 'which one do you prefer' and I have to say that although there are some very heart-hurting parts in P&P, there is never the gut-tearing animalistic passion that can be found in WH.
And if Cathy and Heathcliff had ended up together (or at least alive) my answer might not be the same - but we'll never know.


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If I have to, I'd say Wutherung Heights is my favourite. It's a masterpiece and unique in its kind, very modern in thought and characters and compelling plot. It's passion put on paper.

I enjoyed reading P&P once long ago....
I first read WH when I was at school around 13/14yrs old when it appealed to my "Love of the romantic". However I have re-read it again and again poss every 7 years and am amazed at how differently I view the book as I grow older (60 now). WH makes you think of family, characters, lives, situations, conflict, love, jealousy etc. Emotions which change as you mature and gain lifes experience. Maybe read it again and see if you agree.

Though I have to say, only a woman would think a man could love so much he would dig up her corpse to hold her close.

All of that said, I find the story itself very well-written-- what I mean is, that Emily Bronte in my opinion was a very skilled writer. I credit her gift for expression, and on a side note credit her courageousness in challenging Victorian literary and social constraints so powerfully. Though I don't care for the story itself, I admire and appreciate the woman who wrote it.



I couldn't understand what the fuss was about with Wuthering Heights. It's a tragedy, not a romance. And Heathcliff is far from a hero! He's ghastly!
As the person above said. I've read Wuthering Heights once and never again. I could easily go back and re-read Pride & Prejudice.


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