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A review by tylerw
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
4.0
The type of book that I respect more than I enjoyed.
I feel like I'm at a bit of a disadvantage in reviewing Wuthering Heights. I've never engaged with it before, and, outside of knowing it's a "classic," not heard or read many others discuss it. Nor do I have much depth of understanding of the time it was written, either by way of comparative criticism with other contemporary works, or through historical implications.My girlfriend mentioned that her understanding of the book is that it's mostly a classic BECAUSE of the amount of ink spilled in attempt to understand this singular work, and I can't say that I disagree with her.
However, after comparing a few reviews from others on this app and in perusing Wikipedia, I've done my best to cobble together some thoughts. The narrative device of telling most of the story through Nelly is a bit odd on first read, but I think serves to show how things might present one way, but that there might be an ocean of depth roiling beneath the surface. Lockwood is clued into the madness through Nelly's tale, and by the end of it has much different designs for his interactions with the residents of Wuthering Heights.
The story itself is about the evil side to love. How it can twist and mar someone, where desire becomes selfishness, which then births vengeance and festering hate. Apparently some people consider this a love story, or that Heathcliff is the hero? I can't imagine we're reading the same book then. While sympathetic in not receiving a loving upbringing despite the pretense he is brought into the Earnshaws' lives, Heathcliff far surpasses the grace afforded to him, neglecting numerous opportunities to atone and rise above his circumstances. He treats Catherine as a possession, and everyone else a plaything he can startle into subservience. Wuthering Heights is about the unchecked power that a lack of shame can provide if not met with a stronger resolve to not be brought into those games.
The second story of young Catherine, Linton, and Hareton is slightly more charming, if for no other reason than in comparison to the horror of Heathcliff and Co. After an assault on moral fibers for some three hundred odd pages, the story of the young generation feels like water in the desert. While not something I'll likely return to with much frequency, I appreciate the strong voice Emily Bronte writes with. The characters are so powerfully flawed that the reader is forced to engage with them in their mess, as opposed to the more romanticized characters and flaws of other works of the time.
"You loved me—then what RIGHT had you to leave me?"
I feel like I'm at a bit of a disadvantage in reviewing Wuthering Heights. I've never engaged with it before, and, outside of knowing it's a "classic," not heard or read many others discuss it. Nor do I have much depth of understanding of the time it was written, either by way of comparative criticism with other contemporary works, or through historical implications.My girlfriend mentioned that her understanding of the book is that it's mostly a classic BECAUSE of the amount of ink spilled in attempt to understand this singular work, and I can't say that I disagree with her.
However, after comparing a few reviews from others on this app and in perusing Wikipedia, I've done my best to cobble together some thoughts. The narrative device of telling most of the story through Nelly is a bit odd on first read, but I think serves to show how things might present one way, but that there might be an ocean of depth roiling beneath the surface. Lockwood is clued into the madness through Nelly's tale, and by the end of it has much different designs for his interactions with the residents of Wuthering Heights.
The story itself is about the evil side to love. How it can twist and mar someone, where desire becomes selfishness, which then births vengeance and festering hate. Apparently some people consider this a love story, or that Heathcliff is the hero? I can't imagine we're reading the same book then. While sympathetic in not receiving a loving upbringing despite the pretense he is brought into the Earnshaws' lives, Heathcliff far surpasses the grace afforded to him, neglecting numerous opportunities to atone and rise above his circumstances. He treats Catherine as a possession, and everyone else a plaything he can startle into subservience. Wuthering Heights is about the unchecked power that a lack of shame can provide if not met with a stronger resolve to not be brought into those games.
The second story of young Catherine, Linton, and Hareton is slightly more charming, if for no other reason than in comparison to the horror of Heathcliff and Co. After an assault on moral fibers for some three hundred odd pages, the story of the young generation feels like water in the desert. While not something I'll likely return to with much frequency, I appreciate the strong voice Emily Bronte writes with. The characters are so powerfully flawed that the reader is forced to engage with them in their mess, as opposed to the more romanticized characters and flaws of other works of the time.
"You loved me—then what RIGHT had you to leave me?"