A classic literature book just like that: a long and dense love story to read.

There is one particular point that I really loved about this book and that, in my opinion, makes it different from others. Emily describes everything that love entails through Mr. Heathcliff. Often it is said that love is beautiful and all that, but here, although he was a rather bad person in every sense, he did it for love. And then comes the big question: How can love be described? A difficult question.

Many people don't understand when someone becomes obsessed with love, and this love is not only towards a person but also towards what one achieves in life based on the goal each one has, whether it is the love of a man for a woman, a woman for a man, the love for a pet, a house, one's lands, money, or whatever, but love in the end.

In my experience of reading the book, I must say that there were some parts that I had difficulty understanding and I had to do it more than once, but I did it again with pleasure as I didn't get bored. Little by little the story becomes more interesting... especially at the end, in which everything is clarified and it is much easier and lighter to understand, in my opinion.

Love, love, loved this book!

I read this many years ago and the story still remains a favorite. It's truly a captivating tale that has stood the test of time.

I also adored the original film. I watched it countless times. The version with Mere Oberon, Laurence Olivier, and David Novel (1939) was simply outstanding.

The performances of the actors brought the story to life in the most enchanting way.

Mere Oberon's portrayal was both beautiful and engaging, while Laurence Olivier added his own charm and charisma to the role.

David Novel's contribution to the film cannot be overlooked either.

Together, they created a cinematic masterpiece that I will always cherish.

This book and film have had a profound impact on me and continue to be sources of inspiration and entertainment.

I highly recommend both to anyone who loves a good story.

It is incredible to me that I have delayed this reading for so many years. Basically, out of fear. I had so many preconceived ideas about what I was going to encounter with the Brontës that I didn't dare. There was a time when I even thought that Wuthering Heights was a romantic novel. Damn ignorance.

One of the first things that strike about the novel is the gloomy tone. The descriptions of Wuthering Heights and the journey to Thrushcross Grange will be impossible to forget. Just like its characters. It's curious because the vast majority of its characters are extremely unpleasant. Practically all of them. But still, they manage to make you interested in each one of them and read this book without stopping. The reading is equally addictive and claustrophobic. I was even anxious.

I think few characters I have seen in literature are as cruel as Heathcliff. It's curious that when I was little his name made me identify him with the hero of romantic movies. Catherine is no slouch either. She doesn't reach the level of cruelty of his, but they were made for each other. I'm not going to go into details of the plot because it's not necessary. And for those who know little about the story, as was my case, I recommend that it remains so until they read it. The more blindly they go, the more they will be surprised and the more amazed they will end up.

And if there is something that still blows my mind is thinking that Emily Brontë wrote this. A woman, who as far as I know, was extremely introverted and lived apart from society in the shelter of her sisters and her home. A woman like this was able to write a story with such depth and such rich characters. She would seem like an 80-year-old woman who had lived an exciting life.

In short, I only have to join that great regret of all the people who have fallen into the nets of Emily Brontë. Why didn't life let her write more novels? Life, take away the Fifty Shades novels and the After novels and bring us more stories from Emily.

Anne, it's your turn :)

Wuthering Heights was assigned to me during my senior year of high school. However, I didn't read it then. Even though I was an avid reader at that time, I simply couldn't get into classics. Instead, I managed to bluff my way through English class with a well-stocked collection of Cliffs Notes.

Now that I have finally read Wuthering Heights, what are my thoughts? In some aspects, it can seem quite stilted due to the writing conventions of the era. Everything is presented through the recounting of a present narrator rather than a simple omniscient one. Virtually every character has a double, and the entire second half of the book repeats the first half with alterations intended to highlight the differences between the first and second generation of characters.

But overall, the book was not what I anticipated and was rather crazy. Multiple children, women, and spouses suffer from psychological and physical abuse. One character drinks himself to death. Given that Catherine and Heathcliff are one of literature's most famous couples, I'm not sure the term "toxic" fully captures how ill-suited they are for each other. She loves him in her own way but chooses another for social status. Once spurned, he doesn't move on easily. Instead, he embarks on a multi-generational revenge scheme, marrying a woman he hates, trying to ruin a child's life just because of his father's identity, and finally using his own unloved son as part of his vengeance.

As one would expect from a classic, the writing is excellent. Catherine and Heathcliff's declarations of love for each other are flowery, passionate, and generally over-the-top, which is probably a significant reason why people remember this book as being "romantic" when it really isn't. But other lines make the point. Just how monstrous is Heathcliff? Here's a line he utters about his own son and potential daughter-in-law: "Had I been born where laws are less strict and tastes less dainty, I should treat myself to a slow vivisection of those two, as an evening's amusement." Or this one, where he compares his son to the son of his higher-born rival: "But there's this one difference: one is gold put to the use of paving-stones, and the other is tin polished to ape a service of silver. Mine has nothing valuable about it; yet I shall have the merit of making it go as far as such poor stuff can go. His had first-rate qualities, and they are lost, rendered worst than unavailing."

I'm not entirely sure if I enjoyed the book, although I did read it quickly, which is one indication that I might have. There were parts that I thought dragged, and I'm not convinced there's a truly redeeming character in the entire book, except perhaps the narrators. Still, the writing was lush, and the story was so dark.... 31 years later, I have to admit that Mrs. Minnick was right: Wuthering Heights is definitely a book worth reading. It is recommended for those who, like me, avoided it in their youth.

I was completely unprepared for the sheer bleakness of this book. I had seen movie versions of Wuthering Heights, but this was my first foray into reading the novel itself, and it proved to be far darker than I had ever anticipated.

So many of the characters are truly unlikable. Cathy is selfish, foolish, and obstinate. Heathcliff is brutal, vengeful, and psychotic. Hindley is spiteful, venomous, and a drunkard. And when Edgar and Isabella Linton enter the story, everything seems to spiral out of control.

Why, oh why, did Cathy marry Edgar when she openly admitted to loving Heathcliff? As a reader, I found myself wanting to shake her and shout at her for making such a disastrous choice. Let's hear it from Cathy herself:

I've no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in heaven; and if the wicked man in there had not brought Heathcliff so low, I shouldn't have thought of it. It would degrade me to marry Heatchliff now; so he shall never know how I love him: and that, not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton's is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire.

Yes, I understand that Cathy felt she couldn't marry Heathcliff due to his low birth and lack of education. But considering their isolated location in Yorkshire, did it really matter that much? Was that Bronte's point - that disobeying one's heart in order to follow the courtship rules of one's social class could lead to suicidal and homicidal ravings?

I found myself in agreement with Heathcliff when he later scolded Cathy for her decision:

You teach me now how cruel you've been -- cruel and false. Why did you despise me? Why did you betray your own heart, Cathy? I have not one word of comfort. You deserve this. You have killed yourself. Yes, you may kiss me, and cry; and wring out my kisses and tears: they'll blight you -- they'll damn you. You loved me -- then what right had you to leave me? What right -- answer me -- for the poor fancy you felt for Linton? Because misery and degradation, and death, and nothing that God or Satan could inflict would have parted us, you, of your own will, did it. I have not broken your heart -- you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine.

There is such violence in this book! Women are beaten and locked up, children are bullied and abused, punches are thrown, shots are fired, and even dogs are kicked and hung. Egad! I can only imagine how shocking it must have been to the good people of England when it was first published in 1847, learning that not only was it written by a woman, but that she was a clergyman's daughter, and the story involved a married woman having an affair with another man. Wowsers!

Despite not enjoying the darkness of the novel, I have to admit that the writing is good and the structure is interesting. The servant Nelly Dean relates the history of the doomed love affair to an outsider. The servant is an interloper who keeps informed about events in both houses. I can't think of a more effective way to tell the story of this love triangle. I wouldn't trust either Heathcliff or Cathy or one of the children as a narrator, as they might only present their own side of the story. Of course, it's also interesting to note that Nelly Dean may not be a reliable narrator either. She often edits and omits what she tells the master, so why should we believe she would tell an outsider the whole truth?

It took me twice as long to get through this novel as it should have, simply because it was so bleak that I was hesitant to pick it up. The only other Bronte sister book I've read was Jane Eyre, which I liked very much. But that love story at least had some warmth in it. In contrast, Wuthering Heights left me feeling cold and bitter. I'm glad I've read it, but I don't think it's one I'll be rereading anytime soon.

I don't love this book for its supposed perfection, nor for the way it neatly meets expectations or adheres strictly to the rules. Instead, I love it for the very opposite of those things. I love it with a passion that I can only imagine Emily herself felt for the things she held dear: personal, indefensible, aesthetic, and undaunting.

The only relatively easy-to-explain reason for my love of this book is its structure. The use of multiple narrators constantly reminds you that you are being told a story. As the wind rustles through the heather, you can settle in and listen to a tale that is truly unique.

It seems that this book was written by a young woman who had been exposed to very little except a family of diverse characters, the early loss of loved ones, the harsh conditions of the Yorkshire moors, and a great deal of moralizing from religion and social expectations. All of these elements come through vividly in her story.

Looking out at the landscape around her, I picture Emily, deeply in tune with her surroundings, trying to make sense of it all. Why is the winter so bitterly cold and deadly? Why does the heather thrive so robustly in the sunshine? To better understand, she transforms them into characters: Heathcliff is the storm, and Cathy is the heather. Perhaps each day brings the possibility of danger because of a profound and enduring love between these two forces, a love that has gone awry. Maybe this offers some explanation to Emily for the wild nature of her existence, the limitations placed on her life, and the anguish that love has brought to her short time on earth.

There are numerous ways to approach this novel. It can be seen as being about Heathcliff, the evil monster, and all the destruction that one bad character can wreak. Or it can be about Heathcliff, the poor orphan boy who was horribly abused as a child. It can also be about the powerful, timeless love between Heathcliff and Cathy. Additionally, it can be read as a feminist work, with all the men being either evil, stupid, or weak, while the women have strong natures, a moral compass, and fight hard for what is right. It can even be considered an anti-romance novel, as the early marriage is skipped over in the text, as if it didn't matter to Emily. Marriages are just a means to an end, and "blessed events" are often treated with a similar lack of emphasis, frequently leading to death. It can also be seen as a commentary on the dangers of a patriarchal society, showing how easily society's propriety and the laws of primogeniture can be used for evil. Finally, it can be read as a mystical novel, presenting lives that mirror the natural world, which contains both sunshine and shadow, that sustains life and destroys it, that offers both beauty and destruction, and beings that continue to exist beyond death in a world that we neither see nor understand.

For me, it is a combination of all of these aspects and more. And to those who claim that this is not a love story, I must respectfully disagree. It is a love story, just not the kind that we have been taught to expect, which is what makes it my favorite literary twist. In "Wuthering Heights," the pursuit of a happily-ever-after is a deal with the devil, setting in motion all sorts of horrible things, including death and destruction. EM Forster said, "Only connect." This story is about a connection that is cast aside in the pursuit of a perfect ending. But as the story shows, a true connection cannot be so easily broken.

Aristotle said, "There is no great genius without some touch of madness." This book is a celebration of Emily's madness and her genius. I think the reason I will keep coming back to this book is the depth and complexity of feeling it contains. I fully expect to re-read it many more times, and I anticipate that each reading will bring a different connection, a different sense of sympathy, and a reminder to embrace the wildness and danger that life presents.

It is a clear indication of the excessive number of clichés that clutter the world of romance literature. Readers commonly associate the middle Brontë sister's masterpiece with vindictive anger, abuse, and emotional excesses rather than love. This is because approving of an unnatural, obsessive love that destroys everything around it out of pure malice somehow disrupts our moral compass.

The last time I read this, Emily Brontë had brutally shattered a child's enjoyment of a book, much like Heathcliff callously causes the universe between Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights to violently implode. She had drawn me into a vortex of dark, formless emotions for about a week, from which I found it difficult to free myself.

But this time? The pages seemed to fly by. Every time Brontë crossed the boundary of what those in favor of the status quo label as "propriety," demolished a stereotype, and let her heroine roam the outdoors as freely as possible with the one person who never tried to reduce her individuality to a set of "feminine" traits, my spirit soared. And the romance? It made me faint. So forgive me if I avoid those patriarchy-approved alpha males who treat their lovers like children, their false appearance of dignity and restraint, the promise of domesticated happily-ever-afters, and righteous, one-dimensional do-gooders. Instead, I crave Emily's brutal honesty, her courageous glorification of this earth-shattering, all-consuming desire to melt and unite with the one you desire, without a care for what it might entail. The love that heats your blood, nourishes your soul, and permeates every fiber of your being.

Heathcliff and Catherine's relationship was beyond their own control and understanding, a storm that wreaked havoc on the lives of those who tried to suppress it, a force of nature that only subsided when both its originators were reconciled in death and free to resume their wild, unrestrained wanderings across the moors, which, divorced from worldly concerns of war, empire, and inequality, became the only utopia that could accommodate their disastrous passion for each other.

Sartre, in his preface to Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth, says, "...he shows perfectly clearly that this irrepressible violence is neither a storm in a teacup nor the reemergence of savage instincts nor even a consequence of resentment: it is man restructuring himself." This is as concise and succinct a defense as I can offer for Heathcliff, his unquenchable rage, and its devastating manifestations. The nameless Heathcliff, the perpetual outsider in a whitewashed society breeding numerous evils, the other, the "thing" that Nelly Dean, Mrs Earnshaw, Hindley, and even the infant Catherine see as nothing more than a dirty, smelly, low-born creature worthy of contempt. A person of color adrift in a world increasingly divided into virulent polarities of light and dark, Occident and Orient, powerful and powerless, colonizer and colonized, white master and black slave, abuser and abused. After all, violence is the language of the oppressed, especially when the oppressor teaches them no better.

And Catherine? I disagree with Simone de Beauvoir when she claims that "She uses his words, she repeats his gestures, adopts his manias and tics. 'I am Heathcliff,' says Catherine in Wuthering Heights; this is the cry of all women in love; she is another incarnation of the beloved, his reflection, his double: she is he. She lets her own world founder in contingency: she lives in his universe." This may be typical of the heroines in the wide range of conventional romance novels in general. But I believe Catherine is an exception to this categorization. Moments before her death, she contemplates returning to her sexless girlhood to be reunited with a childhood companion with whom she had only known true freedom, to travel back to a time when social norms had not instilled in her a catastrophic urge for conformity. And if Catherine finds herself interchangeable with her other half, then Heathcliff, too, wishes to dissolve with her into the embrace of the earth that does not discriminate between the baptized and the heathen.

There. If Catherine is Heathcliff, then Heathcliff is also Catherine. Beings seeking to overthrow the social injunction against their individuation and find salvation in each other. A salvation they could only achieve when Emily introduces the element of the paranormal, the much-maligned, belittled "gothic."

So, take away your insidious Rochesters and sanctimonious Jane Eyres and glorified, gentrified romances. Give me Heathcliff and Catherine instead. Give me their petulant anger, their restlessness, and their wild love.

Yorkshire, England (ca. 1700s – 1800s) — Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights stands as a profound exploration of the cycles of intergenerational abuse, hidden beneath a captivating Gothic romance. This novel is a masterpiece that challenges the traditional Victorian ideas of its time.

Wuthering Heights is a complex work that can be seen from two perspectives: as a romance or a tragedy. It does this perspectival paradox so well that it continues to divide readers from its first publication until today. Through the atmospheric description of the Yorkshire moors, the mentions of ghosts, and the introduction of the Heights with its grotesque carvings, Brontë creates a multi-faceted story.

Using doubles, juxtaposition, and parallelism, she crafts a narrative as messy and vicious as its characters. Her bold efforts to challenge societal ideals and push the boundaries of violence in novels have made Wuthering Heights a pioneering text of the Gothic genre and a definitive English classic.

Although the novel may be unpleasant, it is the kind of unpleasant that belongs to beautiful nightmares and immersive narratives. The genius of Emily Brontë cannot be discredited.

Personal Enjoyment: 4.75 stars
Quality of the Book: 4.4 stars
- Use of Language: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Plot and Narrative Arc: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Integrity: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Message: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

AVG: 4.58 stars | RAVE

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CW/TW: physical violence, physical abuse, mental abuse, self-harm, suicide¹

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Note:
[1] SPOILER: The context of Heathcliff's suicide may be different from contemporary mental health issues. It is incorporated in the novel in a way that is faithful to the tragedy.

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[Some comments in this post are for the pre-review I wrote which contained highlighted reactions from my status updates. You may check the actual status updates through the links below to understand the context behind the comments.]

Status Updates:
[START] i'm still alive | two chapters in and i'm already confused!!! | this gothic realness will give me nightmares | if people nowadays are this poetic | does Brontë know about me? | Heathcliff, king of the abusers | Loving! Did anybody even hear the like! | Linton is me, I am Linton | that pure gothic realness of an ending [END]

How to win over a girl??

There are various ways that people might think could help them win over a girl. One rather bold approach is to go down on your knees and say "BE MINE". This can be a very direct and passionate way to express one's feelings. However, if that doesn't seem to work, there is another option, although it is a rather extreme and perhaps not so advisable one. (Heathcliff style)

**Spoilers**

Another way, as shown in some fictional stories like that of Heathcliff, is to wait for both of your spouses to die. Then, as part of a decade long revenge plan, force both of your kids to marry each other. This way, you can gain control over everything. But this method comes with a lot of emotional turmoil and consequences. It's important to note that in real life, such extreme measures are not the way to go. We should focus on building healthy and genuine relationships based on mutual respect and love. Rest in peace Catherine.

I truly despised everyone in this novel. Seriously, how on earth can one like anyone in it? People claim that Nelly Dean is a nice character, but we know absolutely nothing about her past! She is hands down the most unreliable narrator in the entire history of fiction.

I've heard some people say that this is a love story. Well, I highly doubt they actually read the novel. If the idea of tormented souls literally digging up the corpses of their loved ones is what you consider love, then you're probably Dexter or someone of that sort.

I don't even know how to review this book. Near the end, I had to read it chapter by chapter. It was so depressingly dark that I could hardly bear it! I would read a chapter, and then watch "Clueless", read another chapter, and then watch "Labyrinth", read a third chapter, and then watch "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion". I needed to wash away each chapter with teen comedies!

DO NOT read this book if you're in any way depressed or sad about something because it will drive you crazy and you'll end up just like Heathcliff.

Even though I hated everyone and everything was so depressingly bleak, I still found myself loving it. It may not be on par with her sister's work "Jane Eyre", but it's definitely not as boring as "Pride and Prejudice".

I read this over 20 years ago. Since I can't remember what people were telling me yesterday, it was like I was reading this for the first time!

I simply couldn't put the book down yesterday and ended up reading over 250 pages. I was truly shocked by how terrible and scheming Heathcliff was. Talking about taking revenge and being completely obsessed! Whoo! But I guess Catherine, the person who he grew up with and then forsook him because another man had more status and money, was far from blameless.

The book I read was an Everyman's Library edition with an introduction by Katherine Frank. She had written a book about Emily Bronte, putting forth the interesting idea that Emily Bronte had an eating disorder, anorexia. Certainly, some of the protagonists in the novel refused to eat at times, like Catherine and Heathcliff near the end.

I had a hard time keeping the names straight at times during the novel. It doesn't help when a daughter is named the same as the mother. There are two Catherines, although they don't cross paths in the novel since Catherine #1 dies in childbirth giving birth to Catherine #2.

The story was mostly told by the maid/servant, Nelly, recollecting what happened in the past. There was another narrator, Mr. Lockwood, but he didn't play a major role in the novel.

One confession: when Joseph, the old servant of Heathcliff, spoke in the novel, I ignored what he said. I did that because I had no idea what the heck he was saying. Here is an example. I didn't have the time or patience to decipher/translate what he was saying.

“Thear!” he ejaculated, “Hareton, thah willn’t sup they porridge tuh neeght; they’ll be nowt bud lumps as big as maw nave. Thear, agean! Aw;d fling in bowl un all, if aw wer yah! Thear, pale t’ guilp off, un’ then yah’ll hae done wi’t. Bang, bang. It’s a marcy t’bothom isn’t deaved aht!”

Note: While I was reading the novel, I could not get Kate Bush's song, Wuthering Heights, out of my head. And then when I was finished, I started watching YouTube videos of Kate Bush singing Wuthering Heights (and dancing/miming), and I watched it several times because it was so damn good! Now I really can't get it out of my head!

First book for 2023, and it’s a classic, gothic fiction. It's my first read by a Brontë sister since reading 'Jane Eyre'. It's also the first and only novel by Emily Brontë. This is my second buddy read with Marge Moen. I can't wait to read Marge's insights. Emily, along with her two sisters, initially had to publish their novels under male pseudonyms. This speaks volumes about the repression and societal norms of the time. I understand why people either love or hate ‘Wuthering Heights’, or are at the very least perplexed by it. It's not an easy, pleasant read, and that's probably its appeal for me. I firmly sit in the 'love' camp. There is so much meanness, violence, and ugliness. Many characters suffer from fragile health. There is such a contrast between strong (aggressive) and weak (sickly) characters. Revenge is a major aspect of the tortured love storyline. It can be described as a warped love story. It is dark, broody, and harsh, at times excruciatingly cruel. How did Emily Brontë think up these characters and themes? Surely she drew from some of her own experiences? I must do some post-read research. A few takeaways: My expectations were met. I also responded well to the symbolism. Ellen, the devoted, long-term nanny, endured so much. The old religious-fanatic Joseph, another servant, spoke in a Yorkshire dialect. I couldn't understand a lot of it. At times, I got a little confused who was who. Brontë switches from Christian names to titles or surnames. I was a little bewildered how Heathcliff turned out so badly. I wanted to like him more. But I'm glad Brontë didn't give us stereotypical characters. Kate Bush’s hit by the same name makes more sense to me now. An expected 5-star rating just falls short, but I still loved it! 4.5 stars from me.