Wuthering Heights (Signet Classic) (original 1847; edition 1959)

I felt it only fair to re-read this book. Read it YEARS ago for my English literature list (in English), but couldn't remember much of it. And, since I wanted to cross this one off my 1001-list, I needed to re-read.
Finished it today and I must say, that it was a tough one. Not because of the language this time: I got me a Dutch copy. No, it was the book itself.
I was more or less losing my way in the story. Heathcliff, Cathy, their fathers, Catherine, Linton, Hareton, the tenant, Ellen. They all do their dance of life and are very mixed up.
What I found shocking, is that marriage between cousin and niece is as normal as marrying a non-relative. I can't imagine that they didn't know in these times? Or did they and was it just a matter of convenience / keeping the estate & the money (if there were any) better in the family?
No, I do not like the main characters, apart from Hareton and Ellen maybe. The men have all the power, Heathcliff is just an uncivilized ruffian and the women? Well, they have to do as the men say (bad enough), but then they act so dramatic: not eating, fainting, crying, being VERY mad. No, not my kind of heroines. I'm glad I don't have to meet one of them in real life.... ( )

I first read this book, or began to, at the behest of my college roommate. I was 18, and when Catherine died I was furious and threw the book at her and refused to read further. Now, attaining a reaction like that out of anyone is the mark of a good writer in my opinion! I was so attached to the character that I did not want to read it if she wasn't in it. I was 18 years old. I have since read and loved this story and recommend it highly. ( )

Slowly, I’m working my way through a list of classics that I have always wanted to read. “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte was next on the list. I knew that it was a story of unrequited love, and I was curious to see how her work would compare to her sister’s. Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre” is one of my favorites. I didn’t know, however, that the main characters would have the emotional maturity of two-year-olds.

Maybe I have been reading far too many young adult novels because I thought “Wuthering Heights” would contain characters that I would, maybe not relate to, but at least latch onto and then want to follow their plight to a satisfying conclusion. Heathcliff, however, is purely a villain with no redeeming qualities and Catherine a spoiled brat. This was disappointing because I wanted to immerse myself in the novel and get lost in their relationship. Instead, I followed the train wreck that they created and the ripple effects impacting the people around them, including their children.

It’s not often that a novel features the “bad guys” as protagonists and the secondary characters as the normal people. This interesting twist, the excellent quality of writing, and the fact that I can’t stop thinking about the story made the novel worth reading. ( )

I thought this book would be way better because of all the hype surrounding it. I thought it was rather impersonal, and the characters were never really explained. The story seemed to have no point. I did read this 5 years ago, so maybe I'd understand it better if I read it again. ( )

This year I re-read "Jane Eyre," and endeavored to read the books her sisters wrote. Recently, planning to read the first novel by Daphne Du Maurier, I read that it was a kind of homage to "Wuthering Heights," and so I set out to read it before the Du Maurier novel.

What an intensely gloomy and miserable book! I don't think that the malformation of Heathcliff's character is ever really explained, nor is his love/hate relationship with Catherine after her marriage. How can he think that torturing the offspring of his enemies is anything other than sadism? How come I've heard him referred to as a romantic character?

This book probably paints a truer picture of the period than do others, but it's hard for me to understand how it's come to be regarded as Great Literature. ( )