Reviews

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

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elle_nari'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? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Spoiler Alert!

What can I say about one of the most popular, and well known classics out there? Of course it was so fucking good I couldn't put it down! The action, the tension, the hauntingly dire situations of life and death all entwined in a horrible maelstrom of I don't know who to be rooting for.

I was originally really on the side of Catherine and Heathcliff! I loved their dynamic as kids, thought they were wild and free, and could see them running up the moors in the wind, barefoot and free. But, during the second act, my opinion on them failed.

I thought Catherine turned cold, but still retained her wild nature that was locked up in her marriage to Edgar. Her cruelty to Isabella was understandable, and Isabella's foolishness for even falling for Heathcliff was entirely her own fault, however much I felt for her. But Catherine's madness began to sink deeper, and Nelly did not seem at all sympathetic haha. That's an example of how much depth these characters have: all of them flawed in some way.

As we continue through the story, we see plainly how Heathcliff's guilt and grief ravage within and turn him into something inhuman. Hindley was to blame for his childhood apathy, but I also feel for him. He lost his wife and began to lose his mind, tortured by the paranoia of Heathcliff's vengeance and eventually dying in the bittersweet bliss of drink. I am just glad Heathcliff did not kill him.

The most prominent part of the novel was, unsurprisingly since I only finished it last night, the last ten chapters wherein we see just how far Heathcliff will go for his own avarice. I don't believe he acted on vengeance alone by then, I think his mind was long deteriorated from being haunted by his late love and his natural disposition was not to make her proud with looking after her daughter and his son, but to be apathetic and vile in the name of "vengeance".

The scene wherein Linton and Heathcliff destroy Cathy's locket honestly was so difficult to read. I've never hated Heathcliff more than then. I understand Linton grew up in his adolescence in utter depravity, being abused his entire life by sickness or his father, but it twisted him like bramble and turned him into something that resembled his father; selfish, corrupted, and cruel. I had a theory that it was not Heathcliff's doing, but the houses' influence - constantly shielded in storm and riot, away from the world in its own hellish state - but with Heathcliff's death, the sun seemed to shine so bright. The storm no longer ravaged, only brewed as he and Catherine's phantoms stalk the moors, and Hareton and Cathy's life shall begin anew.

That is, this book was a delight to read and worth every single bit of praise it gets! It's such a shame they teach this in school, as it makes kids hate the book! Emily Brontë you absolute genius <3

book_busy's review against another edition

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4.0

I think Brontë is the first author I have ever read to create a villain that actually endears you to them. Catherine and Heathcliff are grade A* rotters and so self possessed and yet she does quite a stellar job of humanising them. I personally found, despite the relatively static setting, this to be an incredibly dynamic novel, especially with temporal shifts straddling generations (though I did have to keep on checking family tree graphs seeing as everyone is named after each other). I think it's very interesting for the main narrator to be a female servant as it provides a very excellently intimate detail as to the lives of the characters involved. Out of all the characters, despite Heathcliff and Cathy being the narrative focus, I found myself personally warming to the relationship between Cathy Linton and Hareton Earnshaw as there was something warm and quite genuine about its roughness. I am undecided on where I fall on Heathcliff but mainly I pity the man. Given the implications of him maybe being mixed race and scorned for it by other characters, isolated in some Yorkshire moor with nothing but love to torment him, one finds it hard to not pity and fear him.

I don't think I fully grasped the narrative depth of this novel but I felt the inclusion of Yorkshire dialect (as a little tangential note) was really very fun for me to read.

One to re-read as when I have matured methinks.

Good stuff.

ritaralha's review against another edition

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5.0

Contrariamente ao Jane Eyre, da sua irmã Charlotte, o Monte dos Vendavais não me arrebatou logo nas primeiras páginas, foram precisos alguns capítulos para ficar completamente rendida à história e escrita da ~~Charlotte~~ Emily.
Uma história amarga, de vingança, orgulho, malicia, amores proibidos e com personagens perversas e desprezíveis que acabou com o meu preconceito de que era mais uma enjoativa história de amor.

Por ali me demorei, sob um céu propício, observando as borboletas que esvoaçavam entre as urzes e as campainhas-do-monte, ouvindo a brisa suave que de mansinho agitava a relva, perguntando a mim mesmo como seria possível alguém imaginar que macabras deambulações perturbassem o sono dos que ali repousavam na terra tranquila.

Mais um para a prateleira dos favoritos.

Só agora é que esta música passou a fazer sentido!

margaux_s's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

datsureads's review against another edition

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4.0

After reading this I’m still a little unsure about fans’ obsession with Heathcliffe, but after doing a bit of research online I’ve really come to appreciate the metaphors and themes spread throughout the novel. I found the first half a bit slow going, but really enjoyed the second half/ second generation of characters. I loved how imperfect the characters are, and the notion of circularity really contributed to a satisfying ending.