Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë - should I?

Feral_Sophisticate

Warming maid's buttocks since 1989.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 22, 2011
Messages
1,077
Reaction score
100
Location
Meadowvale, Ontario, Canada, Earth, The Sol System
Website
fetlife.com
Ok... First off, I'm a dude, so let's just establish that fact, first off.

Second, I'm in the process of exercising my brain by reading classic works of fiction. So far, I've done "The Count of Monte Cristo", "The Three Musketeers", "The Time Machine", "The Iliad", and a few others that have escaped me (I'm writing this from work, and the literal pile of books is beside my bed).

My girl has read "Wuthering Heights" and has suggested that I be a little more well read (given what I normally read, she's probably right to point that out). She has mentioned it a few times when I've been at her place, and she has the book on her bookshelf.

So, would you, the AW crew, recommend reading Wuthering Heights? Why or why not?

Convince me that I should - else I'll instead make my third attempt at "War and Peace".
 

Purple Rose

practical experience, FTW
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 17, 2011
Messages
2,129
Reaction score
963
Website
alxblog.net
Oooohhh, such a wonderful book!!!!

Personally, it is chick lit to me. Heathcliff's background, the passion with Catherine, etc is the stuff of women's literature.

As long as you know it is decidedly chick lit, but are happy to overlook that for exceptional writing by a Bronte sister, a great story rich in detail with clever dialogue, then yes, read it.

What's the worst that can happen? You give up. Best case? You find yourself a more well-rounded reader...Mission Accomplished.

I say, go for it!!
 

Amadan

Banned
Joined
Apr 27, 2010
Messages
8,649
Reaction score
1,623
It's the Victorian precursor of Twilight.

It won't kill you and you can probably appreciate its literary quality even without enjoying the story much -- it's not that long. That said, I find Jane Austen much more enjoyable and a better writer, so if you just want to be "well read," you might start there instead.
 

Shakesbear

knows a hawk from a handsaw
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 4, 2008
Messages
3,628
Reaction score
463
Location
Elsinore
I'd go for Wuthering Heights and then, maybe Jane Eyre.
 

mscelina

Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you
Requiescat In Pace
Registered
Joined
Jan 18, 2007
Messages
20,006
Reaction score
5,352
Location
Going shopping with Soccer Mom and Bubastes for fu
Any piece of classic literature is helpful to a writer. Whether you end up enjoying it or not, the essence of what made that book a classic--the story--is stil there to provide you with clues about what makes a story that long-lived. Personally, for me, Wuthering Heights is my least favorite of the Bronte sisters' works. However, I still read it every once in a while, because the haunting nature of the love between Heathcliff and Catherine is something I'd really love to capture in my own work.

I will say this, though--Wuthering Heights is not sloppily, sickeningly girly at all. Heathcliff is too brutal for that--in my opinion, a highly unsympathetic character who manages to supersede his own nature and actions and become a romantic hero. I don't think you'll lose any man points by reading it. :)
 

jaksen

Caped Codder
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 6, 2010
Messages
5,117
Reaction score
526
Location
In MA, USA, across from a 17th century cemetery
omg read it!

I am such a fan even though I want to kick the characters for some of their decisions, but I try to put aside my 21st century inclinations and steep myself in their world...

I cannot see a foggy, cool, windy day without feeling 'on the moorish' and want to read a few passages from that book.
 
Joined
Aug 7, 2005
Messages
47,985
Reaction score
13,245
It's the Victorian precursor of Twilight.

It won't kill you and you can probably appreciate its literary quality even without enjoying the story much -- it's not that long. That said, I find Jane Austen much more enjoyable and a better writer, so if you just want to be "well read," you might start there instead.
Ugh. What an insult. WH shits on Twilight from a very great height.
I'd go for Wuthering Heights and then, maybe Jane Eyre.
I'd go for WH, then burn every copy of Jane Eyre in existence.
 

nevada

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 27, 2006
Messages
2,590
Reaction score
697
Location
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Sure, if you want to read about about a totally selfish bitch who likes to play with men and a man who beats his wife and abuses his child. Which women then call "romantic". Biggest lie in history. i wouldnt waste my time, but that's just my opinion. (and before the name calling starts, i have a degree in literature, im not a reverse snob, i love the bronte sisters, i just DETEST Wuthering Heights)

ETA, apparently i was in a bad mood when i wrote that and I could have expressed myself better. Sorry guys. However, I still hate the book but I'm nowhere near as grumpy as this makes me sound. lol So yes, read it, it's actually a very well constructed novel and the characters are memorable. However, please don't buy into this societal delusion that this book is in any way romantic.
 
Last edited:

Snowstorm

Baby plot bunneh sniffs out a clue
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 26, 2008
Messages
13,722
Reaction score
1,121
Location
Wyoming mountain cabin
Read it! First, it wouldn't hurt to read it; it won't make your brain fry. Second, you might like it! Third, you might take away even the smallest bit that helps you go through life or in your next work.

Even you hate it, a bad experience is better than none.

Then, tackle War and Peace.
 

Feral_Sophisticate

Warming maid's buttocks since 1989.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 22, 2011
Messages
1,077
Reaction score
100
Location
Meadowvale, Ontario, Canada, Earth, The Sol System
Website
fetlife.com
Verdict is in. I'll give Wuthering Heights a try - once I finish a few other piece on my reading table now... Worse case scenario: I hate it, and can't get into it. Unlikely, though - there are more movies that I've started and never finished than books. I tend to finish what I start, where books are concerned (which is why I'm particularly upset that I've started - and been defeated by - War and Peace on two separate occasions. :()
 

blacbird

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Messages
36,987
Reaction score
6,158
Location
The right earlobe of North America
A terrific book, in many ways. Not the least of which is that so many people either love it or hate it.

We tend to agree on most things, but I simply can not get into WH, having given it numerous tries. Nor any of the other Bronts' novels.

We have a thread up in the Novels or Basic Writing Fora, somewhere, involving the distinction between Bad Writing and Opinion. I won't accuse the various sisters of Bad Writing. It ain't that. My opinion is that I just can't stand 'em. In which category they join their own countryman Thomas Hardy and Yank F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Henry James, who managed to bridge both nationalities.

And I read a lot of "classic" and "literary" fiction. Some stuff works for some people, other stuff doesn't.
 

Said The Sun

foremost, for prose
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 21, 2010
Messages
289
Reaction score
41
Location
in the stilly night
Wuthering Heights was the first book that made me cry. And not your regular crying; the full on tears, snot and shakes. I was so impressed I tried to get my friend to read it and she couldn't get past the three first pages. We are still friends but I'll never forgive her.
 
Joined
Aug 7, 2005
Messages
47,985
Reaction score
13,245
I cried over it too! When I was 15, the first time I read it. Might not be a good idea on the third go-around. Not sure how my ereader would react to tears.
 

Alpha Echo

I should be writing.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 11, 2008
Messages
9,615
Reaction score
1,852
Location
East Coast
I've thought about reading it...but haven't yet. If SP cried over it, though, it might be worth reading! :tongue

For the record, I LOVE Jane Eyre. In fact, I just bought it b/c I don't know where my tattered, old copy is, and I want to reread it.

Problem with that is I have so many other books to read...
 

Priene

Out to lunch
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 25, 2007
Messages
6,422
Reaction score
879
Jane Eyre up to the wedding scene = great. Afterwards, it's contrived tosh.
 

Said The Sun

foremost, for prose
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 21, 2010
Messages
289
Reaction score
41
Location
in the stilly night
I was 15, too. I even went on to read Return to Wuthering Heights. Not as good, but a great fix to my Heathcliff addiction at the time.

Ditto on the Jane Eyre. I read that one a few years ago because it was on my list of books to read before I die; the beginning was okay, but then that final part that she leaves and meets Saintwhat'shisface lost me. I was so pissed I skimmed through the rest.
 
Last edited:

rugcat

Lost in the Fog
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 27, 2005
Messages
16,339
Reaction score
4,110
Location
East O' The Sun & West O' The Moon
Website
www.jlevitt.com
We have a thread up in the Novels or Basic Writing Fora, somewhere, involving the distinction between Bad Writing and Opinion. I won't accuse the various sisters of Bad Writing. It ain't that. My opinion is that I just can't stand 'em. In which category they join their own countryman Thomas Hardy and Yank F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Henry James, who managed to bridge both nationalities.
I think that's a very important distinction. Some believe that all artistic appreciation: novels, art, music is subjective. There is no objective good or bad; it's all subjective and one cannot say any book or piece of music is "better" than any other.

I don't subscribe to that. I believe there is most definitely good and bad. But there's also the matter of personal taste -- there are plenty of things that aren't very good that i like nonetheless, and things of great merit that personally don't interest me in the least. This goes for music as well as books.

If Wuthering Heights is not your cup of tea, so be it. I love it, and considering that unlike yourself, I also like Thomas Hardy, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Henry James, that makes sense.

But I also adore Raymond Chandler, so I guess we can still be friends.
 

Maxx

Got the hang of it, here
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 26, 2010
Messages
3,227
Reaction score
202
Location
Durham NC
Sure, if you want to read about about a totally selfish bitch who likes to play with men and a man who beats his wife and abuses his child.

It's a very intense book. I recommend it for the ghost scene alone, possibly the most powerful chunk of prose in English.

It might be worth remembering that this is Emily's only book and that she knew she was dying and was wild with the horror of her own approaching death. "Like a wild animal" I think is how her sister remembered that.
 

Maxx

Got the hang of it, here
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 26, 2010
Messages
3,227
Reaction score
202
Location
Durham NC
Jane Eyre up to the wedding scene = great. Afterwards, it's contrived tosh.

Contrived, but totally Freudian. Everything after the wedding scene happens in somebody's unconscious. Maybe just mine, but still, with all the power of a fantastic dream.