Reviews with content warning for Classism - Wuthering Heights

It's been a while since I've read a book that I couldn't put down. I was very fortunate to come to Wuthering Heights knowing almost nothing about the plot, aside from what the Kate Bush song revealed. I was immediately drawn in by this book about miserable people treating each other like shit! The spiral of these two families, with Heathcliff at the center, orchestrating his vengeance. He's a simultaneous fascinating and detestable character, and viewed through the unreliable perspective of Nelly, you're almost inclined to believe he's this inherently. But Wuthering Heights is about how abuse begets abuse, and the seed is planted by something beyond the scope of the Earnshaws and the Lintons - it is the pervasive classism of semi-incestuous white English hegemony. It's no coincidence that she emphasizes Heathcliff's ambiguous ethnicity as the main source of his Otherness. It only makes sense, then, that Heathcliff's vengeance runs so deeply, when the prejudice against him was set into motion long before he was born. His transformation into a villain seems like he's fulfilling the prophecy expected of him by everyone around him.

Unpleasantly surprised to see the notion that "these characters are mean and it's not ACTUALLY a romance" so pervasive, as if it's an actual a critique. Yes, they're mean. Yes, nearly every relationship in this book is fraught, miserable, tumultuous, and toxic. I don't see how that makes the book bad? Sometimes books about people who suck are good and interesting! Literature would be incredibly boring if characters always did and said the right things. There would be no conflict. These characters felt like such well-rounded, multi-layered people to me. A good character is someone who you can like, and hate, and pity, all at once. I felt that for nearly every character in this book.

There's a lot more I could probably say about this book, but I'd be writing an essay. Ultimately I really loved it and will probably count it as an all-time favorite.

Content Warnings

kattyenn's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

all of these people are horrible, god bless

Content Warnings

nineinchnails's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i wish i could articulate why i liked this so much better but it was a super cathartic read. the prose was beautiful and the characterisation was really good in my opinion. i find it infinitely more interesting and satisfying to read about flawed characters than mary sues or people with shortcomings that get no worse than “i love too hard😔” so this was really enjoyable. i think heathcliffs ethnicity was worked really well into the book and gave a lot of insight into his character. i went into this pretty much blind but expecting it to be more of a romance than it was but i was pleasantly surprised! i think this is a gothic novel, and if that is the case, it was a very good example of one! i might be slightly biased since it’s set in yorkshire (my homeland) and it feels somewhat nostalgic despite being written centuries before i was born.

Content Warnings

ericaw212's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

the first few chapters were hard but as soon as nelly started telling her story i could not put it down

Content Warnings

More...