Wuthering Heights question

I hated the book. I read classics often but Wuthering Heights ranks as one of my least favorites. If you have an abundance of free time, I'm sure you could read it until you understand it, as others suggested. I'd rather read something new that I will enjoy.

I actually loved this book! But I have compassion for people who don't. Gothic novels aren't really everyone's book of choice. It was a completely crazy read, which is why I loved it, but just like not all contemporary novels are loved by everyone, neither are all classics.

I definitely saw beauty while reading it. The wind-swept moors, of course. Although I found the "love" between Heathcliff and Catherine to be more of an obsession than anything romantic--which might be the point.

I think Wuthering Heights is about the battle within all of us between civilization and savagery. Edgar Linton and Thrushcross Grange are the respectable veneer of the civilized world. Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights are the untamed animalistic nature that is in every human being. Cathy is caught between the two, as are most human beings. Edgar Linton is the mask we show the world. Heathcliff is the real savage self. That's why Cathy says, "Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."

One of the main symbols in the books is The Window. Check it out. Cathy and Heathcliff on the moor peering through the window of Thushcross Grange; Mr Lockwood dreaming about Cathy trying to get into the window; Heathcliff leaning out of the window and tell the now-dead Cathy he's coming. They separate place from place; the home from the moor; civilization from the savage world.

I absolutely love Wuthering Heights more and more every time I read it. Bronte is genius. Here is my take on it..and I may be wrong. Wuthering Heights...isn't really a love story. It's a "class system" story. If you read it as a love story- the love is between Haerton and young Cathy. They are what Catherine and Heathcliff could have been if Catherine had allowed herself to defy her class and marry someone "beneath her". Heathcliff is not a villian, he is the symbol of a victimized class of people who exact their (his) revenge against an upper class. That is why a lot of readers feel sympathetic to him despite the horrible things he does. (Remember even Isabella spoke meanly of him at the beginning of the novel as did Nelly). Again, this is just my opinion. If I were Heathcliff I would have gotten over Catherine and found someone else but if that were to happen there would have been no novel! LOL

I first read this book when I was around 15 years old, I am now 43 and it remains one of my favourite books of all time. I reread it once a year. The language in this book is beautiful, the Yorkshire dialect is difficult to read and understand but thankfully it's only Joseph that speaks in that way.
The Bronte sister's lived a harsh life, they lost their mother and two sisters at a young age, and their brother was a selfish, narcissistic opium addict. In fact another sister was dying of TB while Emily wrote this book. She was surrounded by bleakness and death. I think we have to take this into account when we read a book written with so much intensity and emotion. There is jealousy, cruelty, casual dismissal of other's emotions and a deep friendship and that's only in the first few chapters, before the action really starts. The two main characters are appalling people with few redeeming features, in fact their great love for each is probably their only redeeming feature.
The intensity and the savagery in Healthcliff's love for Cathy is almost unbelievable to behold, it's not a pleasant love filled with shiny happy endings, it's real and raw and consuming. And ultimately destroys them both. I feel (and this is just my opinion) that Emily wrote the character of Healthcliff with a little longing for inspiring that type of reaction and love in a man.
My young foolish heart longed for my own Healthcliff when I read this book for the first time.
This book is worth reading, It make take a few readings to see the beauty in it, but endure and it will be worth it.

My first experience of this book was one of displeasure and discontent, I harbored a sincere hatred for the vast majority of characters that feature in this novel and I held little to no sympathy whatsoever towards Heathcliff during any section of his avarice life.
However, it was a compulsory text for me in my final year of A Level and I indulged in rereading the novel.

With the aid of various interpretations and dissections of the text in my classes and upon watching various adaptions and rereading the novel itself, the experience was much more rich to me. I found myself discovering and unlocking an entirely differing approach and reaction than the first time I delved into the novel and my understanding and empathy increased tenfold. The novel, which at first, seemed chaotically disarrayed, proved only to be ingeniously woven and carefully crafted and the untrustworthy, deluded narrative of Lockwood that transcends into the biased babbling of Nelly Dean only evidences Emily Bronte's genius further. The desperate, obsessive love of Heathcliff and Catherine transcends beyond the confines of Catherine's meek marriage to Edgar Linton, into a realm of spiritualism. Their tragic love becomes so much more intense and real upon re-reading the novel and I would highly advise that you should do so as there are so many elements that can not be easily recognised otherwise. For example, the pathetic fallacy and the continuous comparisons and contrasts between Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, the former representing fire and passion or hell and the latter an ice palace, representing education; etiquette and morality. Both are representations of their owners, Heathcliff and Edgar. Catherine, despite her intense and unconditional love for Heathcliff, denotes that it would "degrade" her to marry Heathcliff and chooses a life of financial stability and social security over her "soul". These are interesting themes to consider upon the re-read.

I think this book is unique. I loved the development of present to frame story and then back to present. I think the last chapters (when Lockwood goes back to the Heights) were outstanding and I couldn't keep my eyes off the lines. For me, it was not such a hard read at all and I'm not a native speaker. There were some passages that I had to re-read and think about it since the language used is rather archaic but that added another dimension for me. The characters were not likeable at all, Catherine was terrible and so was Heatchliff. But they don't have to be always likeable, do they? I loved this book for reasons above and I finished it in 6 days. I am quite suprised to see how many people disliked it or even hated it, couldn't finish it etc. Maybe I'm strange :)

I felt the same way too! I had to push myself to read the whole book, but I loved it anyway! Weird (:

I have started and stopped this book a dozen times. For some reason I did not like it and I have read many books of this genre written during this period. Life is too short and there are too many books I will enjoy.

For me, this book gets better each time I read it. The first time I read it I didn't understand what was going for the first 100 pages. I've probably read it 3 or 4 times now, and I can dive in at the first page. I love it! I think what I like about it is that it's not a typical love story. The original characters don't get a happy ending, and that is almost unheard of in popular romance novels(a.k.a. Jane Austin Novels). It breaks my heart that Cathy and Heathcliff don't end up together, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I know that sounds terrible, but I don't know how else to explain it... Anyway, I would recommend a second read. It's much better the second time because you already know what's going on, and that helps you look for deeper stuff.

I completely agree with you... Especially at the beginning. Everything seems so monotonous and many of the chapters seem to be full of fluff.
I attempted to read this about a year ago and I basically had the same reaction as you... Don't worry you are not absurd, all of my friends found it hard to read.
This year I began reading it again. It was still a bit dry but due to the complex nature of the book I don't think that anyone can fully grasp it on their first go.
It was only this time that I truly began to appreciate the beauty and haunting nature of it...
To be honest I sat down and worked my way throughout the entire novel in one day and at the end of this marathon I was absolutely captivated by the dark, passionate nature of the book.
The lives of the characters and the love story may seem a little unfounded and baseless however it took me about a year to fully mature and understand it and ultimately appreciate Bronte's work.
Don't get caught up in what you teacher wants you to identify as yet. (themes, what the author is conveying etc)
Just do you best to read the novel however if it's getting difficult, don't be afraid to put it down. :)

I'm so relieved after reading your thoughts on the book! I love classics, but I just couldn't stand the whole atmosphere of WH! Thank you!

I can’t quite put my finger on it either. There’s not one single thing about this book one would entirely perceive as beautiful—at least, I don’t believe so. Some pieces of description, perhaps, regarding the landscaping, can come up as “beautiful” in the sense that they can possess some otherworldly beauty, but it is often a phantasmagorical, evocative beauty that haunt us instead of comforting us. The characters are pretty much detestable also: they are either cruel, despotic, bitter, unjust or horribly meek and obnoxious. Even Nelly has a mean streak about her, and is often indifferent to cruelty.

I do agree that it is a difficult book. It took me some rereading and several film adaptations in order to fully grasp the meaning behind some of the most central moments of the narrative. On a first reading, even the most straightforward of debates (that of nature vs. nurture) slipped through my fingers as I was trying to get past the terribly crowded narration device, the tapered points of view and the cruellest characters and how much I hated them! So, maybe try to give it a second try somewhere along the road. It’s not my favourite, but it’s an intriguing journey still.

The entire book basically invites you to read between the lines. So, I suppose your reaction is natural. On first reading you might not notice everything or just take everything at face value. The second time around you're far more used to the language and can therefore look in between the gaps, so to speak.

I found it quite hard to comprehend when I started reading it at first: the language was complicated and the way of telling the story, with multiple narrators talking about different periods of time, was rather complex. However, that is what I liked the best about the story. It was not easy to identify the characters and to follow the story, but it was really worth it at last. I found it an interesting book once I got used to it.

I think that classic literary novels like WH have to be approached with an understanding that, yes, they may be 'difficult' for modern readers. I think the fault lies, not with the books, but rather with us moderns. The English language, especially here in America, has been simplified and corrupted over the years and modern readers just don't have the vocabulary to appreciate them, at least not without a little help and struggle. However, if we work at it, what we get far exceeds the effort put in. Now that you're finished WH, why not take a crack at The Scarlet Letter?

Oh !!! I am reading it and finding it very hard as well as entertaining! Why couldn't she write in simpler English? I wonder :D

I loved this book. The romance between Heathcliff and Kathrine was insane, and Heathcliff was a terrible person, but it still made for interesting reading.

On the other hand, I had almost your exact same reaction to Pride and Prejudice. I had to force myself to read it, and the language was beautiful but really boring. However, a few days after I read it I found myself thinking about it constantly and ended up liking it too. lol