Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Sturmhöhe by Emily Brontë

69 reviews

sarasreading's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I DNFed this in high school after one of my English teachers saw me absolutely devour Jane Eyre and told me I would love Wuthering Heights even more. Was that even possible? Turns out nope! I couldn’t stand the distance of the narration, being told secondhand and decades later. I didn’t even make it past their childhoods. 

I decided to try again as an adult, to give it a fair shot. And reader, I finished it! I still didn’t enjoy how detached the narrative was from the story. The best part of the book is when Nelly practically disappears, and these toxic disasters get a large chunk of heart-wrenching dialogue. I needed more of that! 

I was surprised to find I didn’t hate it, by the end. Every single character was a disaster, which feels very modern somehow. I imagine Emily scribbling this out by a stormy window, candlelight dancing in her wild eyes, as she makes them more and more unhinged. Goodforher.jpg.


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stellabyproxy's review against another edition

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dark emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

wuthering heights by emily brontë was my first introduction into the literary world that is the brontë sisters and i could have hoped for no better meeting. 

this novel is a dark illustration of the thin line between love and hate and how rage can become one’s undoing. we follow heathcliff and catherine in their life story as each inflicts unspeakable heartbreak on the other and miscommunication leads to a chess game of vengeance unleashed on their descendants. 

“… they may bury me twelve feet deep, and throw the church down over me, but i won’t rest till you are with me.”

the perfect illustration of this novel for me would be invisible string by taylor swift, the notion that heathcliff and catherine are tethered to one another by their childhood infatuation turned obsession and a “love” that is destined to be their undoing. with the world against them, and eventually them against each other, we see how misery creates company. how heathcliff’s revenge plot becomes a complex chess game that catalyses everyone’s downfall, even his own. 

i have not broken your heart — you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine.

is the entire premise of their story, as each character’s actions directly lead to their own unhappiness. vengeance runs thick and cold, like a raving river, fuelled by uncontained rage and unaddressed emotion; each victim by circumstance lives long enough to become a villain by choice. 

the only character that i was rooting for from the moment of their introduction to their very end was hareton, and his story i find joy in. the perfect way of changing course and allowing history to not repeat itself, to put an end to a generational tale of manipulation and i find it to be brontë’s slim offering of an apology for an entire tale of hate and agony. 

it was a strange way of killing: not by inches, but by fractions and hairbreadths,”


p.s. thank you for the birthday gift marcíano 🤍 i pray our story does not suffer the same fate as heathcliff and catherine. 

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lleer's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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l_gs's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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captureeverychapter's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A dark, gloomy, destructive, tragic,manipulative love story of Heathcliff & Catherine Earnshaw. 

This is the first classic book that I picked up. I was quite hesitant because let's be real classic books are intimidating. I had to put down the book for two - four days? 'cause I'm having a hard time understanding some of the words, it's prose but i strived and read back and repeatedly read all of the writings I didn't understand and then eventually with my trusty dictionary I got the hang of it. It wasn't easy going through it but no ounce of regret because this is a great story and I fell in love with it.  


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lectricefeministe's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad slow-paced

3.0


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cinderrunner's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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lotus440's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0


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sir_ren's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

So I heard this is an audiobook and therefore have none of my margin scribbles to reference for my review which is now going to be all over the place. Well, I rather liked the approach of the novel in terms of using supernatural elements, or maybe it is apt to say - its lack of explicit use. Having read another Bronte novel recently my mind naturally compared the two and I much prefer this one to Jane Eyre's obvious use of fantastical elements. I also preferred this book as a whole to Jane Eyre, I think.
This goes without saying but Wuthering Heights has a lot of Gothic and Romantic elements to it- the gloomy old House setting, the wild moors, the Byronic hero, emphasis on Nature, individual actions/feelings, and so on.
The tale is one of revenge and obsessive love driven by two primary emotions of fear and love.
I also imagine that the violence and certain incidents must have been rather shocking at the time of publication- a lot of it still is.
The characters are deeply flawed and almost universally unlikable (maybe with the exception of Hareton, Edgar Linton, and perhaps Isabella Linton). But being unlikable does not exclude the characters from being understood or pitied by the reader. They are rather engaging and spur the story forward. 
The novel unfolds as a story within a story and the narrators are unreliable. This leaves room for the reader to reflect and discuss with others doubtlessly varying interpretations and guesses. The story switches from the past to the present day. And keeping track of the characters due to the similar names is a Task at first. Some readers may require to note down the names or make a family tree/look one up online. That may help prevent readers from giving up on the book due to being confused or annoyed by this part.
And some of the lines in this book- especially the dialogue when Catherine or Heathcliff speak of each other- insane and raw. They are popular and sound striking. I might have expected a great deal more time or words spent describing the moorland but I am satisfied with what was included even if I didn't find the descriptions particularly stunning or memorable.
 
The way Catherine haunts Heathcliff and brings him anguish from love and at times fear- that was interesting. I mean he did tell her she ought to. I do not think of their relationship as The romance. I don't think of this book as a Love Story either. It is more of a revenge narrative, with morality and class being impactful factors in the tale. The two's obsessive love for each other is almost merely a way for the story to portray the calculating, horrid revenge exacted by H and how it alters the fate of the 2 families. But the hope of breaking generational patterns and repeating mistakes is affirmed by the ending on a much-needed positive note for the book to end on.
 

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greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This book is completely wild. Maybe I needed to read it when I was younger to cut through all of the child maltreatment and threats against other people and see the supposed love story? I am. Confused. I had to SparkNotes this because I could not remember who was relaying the story. Whew - a trip, and not necessarily one that I would go on again.

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