My little friend has begged me for months to read Wuthering Heights because she read it for school, and is in awe of it. So I finally got a copy, and finished reading it last Friday.
*sigh* I am having the most visceral reaction I have had to a book in a very long time, and it's driving me batty. I feel like I have to like it, because half of the literary world claims it as a timeless love story, but I'm not seeing it.
I mean, it's genius literature. I'm not so dense that I would miss that. The double-layered narrator (at one point triple-layered!) is brilliant, I think. (Is there a name for that?) But I don't understand where the love is.
The way I see it, Cathy did love Heathcliff--WHEN THEY WERE KIDS. But Cathy decided she couldn't marry Heathcliff cuz he was the wrong class, so she'd marry Edgar, and that way she could SOMEHOW take care of Heathcliff. Right, Cathy, because your soul mate would be content to mooch off of you and your rich husband his whole life, watching you bestow your "love" on a man twice as weak. Cuz a man's pride and dignity and nerves could TOTALLY stand that. Brilliant, Cathy, utterly bah-rilliant. Of course Heathcliff didn't go for that, told Cathy so, and swore to hate Cathy the rest of his life. Cathy got offended, and also swore to hate Heathcliff the rest of her life. Then they both proceeded to do things simply to spite each other, making the lives of everyone they love PURE hell in the process. Cathy died from the mental torment of trying to figure everything out, and Heathcliff died from having Cathy's ghost follow him around. Oh, and then the next generation fell in love and got married. Great. A little bittersweet after watching the elders kill each other off for 10 years. HOW IS THAT ROMANTIC.
Like I said, visceral reaction.
*shakes head* I don't know. And I can't even begin to decipher the Yorkshire accent.
Okay. Lemme scope this out.
Old Mr. Earnshaw
^
Catherine Hindley Heathcliff (off in a corner)
Mr. and Mrs. Linton
^
Edgar Isabella
Linton
Catherine + Edgar
^
Catherine
Earnshaw
Hindley + random wuss chick
^
Hareton
Heathcliff
Heathcliff + Isabella
^
Linton
Catherine Linton +Linton Heathcliff then Hareton Earnshaw
Catherine Linton +
so she becomes
Catherine Linton Heathcliff Earnshaw
Catherine Earnshaw
v
Catherine should'vebeenHeathcliff
v
Catherine Linton
Catherine Linton
v
Catherine Heathcliff
v
Catherine Earnshaw
Right back where we started. Hmm. Maybe it's about life coming full circle.
*sigh* I didn't want Cathy and Heathcliff to end up that way. Catherine and Hareton figured out how "I'm sorry, I forgive you" works. Why couldn't C and H learn that...
Help.
[i can't draw, so i write words]
Hahaa... I love the "drawing", and I love the "random wuss chick". xD xD Call it like it is, girl. :)
ReplyDeleteI am but a humble reader reacting to the genius of Bronte. [random wuss chick's name wasn't important enough to go back and look it up.]
DeleteThis is where Yoda comes out and says, "HATE LEADS TO SUFFERING."
ReplyDeleteOMGOODNESS, yes. I forgot that Yoda has the answers to everything. See, you get my point. And I'm trying to decide if that's the point EB was trying to make: bad choices ruin more lives than just your own.
DeleteGreat post! Wuthering Heights is such a complicated and slightly disturbing book. However...I consider it one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand that. I don't actually hate the book. It's just that I don't understand why the characters have to be so selfish. I think maybe I take them too seriously. I would recommend the book in a heartbeat, because it's so thought-provoking, and I think it's good to read things that are sad sometimes. [i'm preaching to myself here, lol]
DeleteMy exact thoughts on that book. You've been nominated for the Chocolate Book Tag - if you're interested. :)
ReplyDeletehttp://apeaceofthepast.blogspot.com/
Why, thank you! I have 2 other tags to finish first, so I will get to that eventually. :-)
DeleteThat was exactly my reaction upon reading that book... glad to know I'm not the only one that don't get the whole "Heathcliff - Cathy iconic love story" kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteBut I also agree as a literary work it is really well put together
The writing really is genius. I think that's why it qualifies as a classic, because its style has been respected over so many years. But I just think people should be careful about falling in love with Cathy and Heathcliff's 'love', because I think it changed from good to bad.
DeleteAnd this would be precisely why I've never had the desire to read it. But kudos to you for making it all the way through! I don't doubt that it's great writing, but the story just doesn't even sound very delightful at all. And I like my delightful stories thank you very much! :)
ReplyDeleteI like my delightful stories very much, too! And Bronte is so very different from Austen. It was kind of a rough transition because I've read so much of Austen. Like I said, that's why I recommend the book to others, because you can't always read happy endings. WH is a good, although jarring, reminder of that. :-)
DeleteI feel like I have to like it, because half of the literary world claims it as a timeless love story, but I'm not seeing it.
ReplyDeleteThis is also me.
Yep. It's okay now, though, because I managed to compare it to Thor and Loki. Post is coming, uh, tomorrow, maybe. ;-)
Delete