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Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights
Audiobook (abridged)3 hours

Wuthering Heights

Written by Emily Brontë

Narrated by Freda Dowie and Ken Drury

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

Released in our ‘Young Adult Classics’ format, Emily Brontë’s classic story of passion and enduring love is a masterpiece of the gothic genre. Menacing, mysterious Heathcliff and willful, beautiful Cathy are two of the best-known characters in all of English literature. Freda Dowie gives a compelling reading of a novel as bleak and elemental as the moors upon which it is set.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 1, 2009
ISBN9789629548940
Author

Emily Brontë

Emily Brontë (1818-1848) was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for her only novel, Wuthering Heights (1847). A year after publishing this single work of genius, she died at the age of thirty.

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Reviews for Wuthering Heights

Rating: 3.820728291316527 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Mr. Lockwood is the new tenet of Thrushcross Grange a beautiful house opposite of the foreboding Wuthering Heights occupied by his irritable landlord. Cooped up in his new residence recuperating Mr. Lockwood persuades his housekeeper to tell him the tale of his landlord and how things came to be as they are. She reiterates the dark history of the two houses filled with love, loss, jealousy and the desperate pursuit of vengeance. Wuthering Heights is a classic Gothic novel. I put off reading this book for a long time so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I actually enjoyed reading it. I adored how dark and dramatic it was. The setting and time period were wonderfully conveyed. The supernatural elements further heightened the atmosphere of the setting.The narrative approach was interesting. Its conversational gossipy tone and perceptive look at the characters' lives made it an engaging read. The fact that the main narrator seemed the most level headed heightened the drama. I found the overly melodramatic moments amusing and continually wanted to know more about the characters. There were so many layers to the story that I'll definitely have to reread it at some point.It was a rewarding experience to finally read the book that influenced some of the authors I follow and identify which elements inspired books I've previously read. So even though it was my first time reading Wuthering Heights it still felt oddly familiar.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I feel good after reading this book. It's as good as the movie (yay! usually the movie version is worse), I'm talking about the one with Ralph Fiennes and Juliet Binoche.Anyway, now I know why I dislike Jane Austen's novels. Wuthering Heights offers a more interesting theme, it does not focus in Victorian culture and ways of society *cough* which is boring*cough* and it has more intriguing characters.The romance is just awesome. Who could forget Heathcliff's dedication and undying love for Catherine? I think after Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler, Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw is my most favorite romantic couple.Heathcliff is an orphan, a vagabond, taken to live with the Earnshaws in Wuthering Heights. He grew up with Catherine, who was the only person in the world that could understand him. Vice versa. Both developed a unique, unbreakable relationship, ranging from best friends, brother and sister, and finally ... love.Unfortunately, things did not work out well with them. Catherine married someone else, she had a daughter, named after her. However, Cathy Linton was different from her mother, although her charm (and heritage) made Heathcliff forced her to be his daughter-in law.Heathcliff never forget Catherine. Not ever. I shall not spoil it here, but there is one certain scene when Heathcliff pronounced his love to Catherine, which made me shudder and gave me goosebumps. Every woman in the world probably would kill to have a love just like what Heathcliff had for Catherine. That fiery, passionate, insatiable love...hmmm...
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Not badly written but the characters were all so awful that I couldn't finish this book; I didn't care what happened to any of them.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Loved it, Heathcliff is a wonderful broken villain. Incredible the atmospheric analogies between the landscape and the characters - everything's dark, hopeless and obsessive. Only the ejaculations of Joseph are a real challenge for a non-native speaker.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Slowly, I’m working my way through a list of classics that I have always wanted to read. “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte was next on the list. I knew that it was a story of unrequited love, and I was curious to see how her work would compare to her sister’s. Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre” is one of my favorites. I didn’t know, however, that the main characters would have the emotional maturity of two-year-olds. Maybe I have been reading far too many young adult novels because I thought “Wuthering Heights” would contain characters that I would, maybe not relate to, but at least latch onto and then want to follow their plight to a satisfying conclusion. Heathcliff, however, is purely a villain with no redeeming qualities and Catherine a spoiled brat. This was disappointing because I wanted to immerse myself in the novel and get lost in their relationship. Instead, I followed the train wreck that they created and the ripple effects impacting the people around them, including their children. It’s not often that a novel features the “bad guys” as protagonists and the secondary characters as the normal people. This interesting twist, the excellent quality of writing, and the fact that I can’t stop thinking about the story made the novel worth reading.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    While most of the population is lead to believe that this is some sort of fantastical romance novel, I have to crush those thoughts by speaking the truth: this book is not romantic at all and centers around an emotionally detached stalkeresque man whose only desire in life is to prove that he is worth something and has control. I have found that generally, people who enjoyed this book also extremely enjoyed the Twight Saga (which makes a reference to this book) because, well, Edward and Heathcliff are both (excuse my language) asses who are completely controlling and care only for themselves. While the writing style of this book was indeed enjoyable, I detested the story itself.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I will NEVER understand the cathy/Heathcliff appeal - what jerks!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    the wonderful story of Catherine and Heathcliff. I hadn't read it since my O'level when I was forced to although I always loved the story. Not quite as I remembered it although this time round I completely got all the relationships, I seem to remember being a bit confused before because they all seemed to ahve such funny names. A truly great book.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Alas, I don't think this one is for me. Third try, this time I got to page 70. Seems like a study on how people can manipulate each other. I don't have the energy to bear all the misery in what I've just read, let alone all 300 pages.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I loved and hated this book. Catherine almost drove me insane, but I loved the concept of the love she and Heathcliffe shared. I would have enjoyed it more if I'd not been reading it for school.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Kate Bush led me to this book. What can I say, everything people talk about this book is the opposite of what I got out of it. These are two horrible people acting horribly and it makes and amazingly powerful book. I have spent days in conversation and contemplation wondering if the ugliness of these characters came from their love being denied. I expected a romance and a book on true love, what I did not expect was a deep look into what happens when love is impeded or denied.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    ‘Wuthering Heights’ is a novel made famous by the passionate relationship between two of its central characters, Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff. It is also strongly associated with the moors where readers imagine the two characters meeting and travelling together. Since I was expecting to uncover a tragic tale of love, reading the actual story brought surprise after surprise – and far more hatred and anger than love.The initial surprise was to find the story apparently narrated by a Mr Lockwood, a name I had never heard associated with this tempestuous tale. Shortly upon arriving at his new home, he makes the mistake of visiting Wuthering Heights, his landlord’s distant abode, and is appalled to meet its embittered inhabitants. Lockwood offers unwelcome politeness as he tries to interact with a sullen servant, surly landlord and vicious dogs. Matters only become worse as he mistakes a pile of dead rabbits for pet cats and Heathcliff’s morose daughter-in-law for his wife. Unable to pursue normal discourse with his reluctant hosts, Lockwood decides to leave but is trapped by poor weather into staying in an upstairs chamber that he is guided to by candlelight. Before morning, he beholds a terrible visitation and apparently becomes obsessed by discovering the truth of Catherine and Heathcliff’s relationship… This is an excellent opening as it confounds the reader’s likely expectations while drawing them into an atmosphere of decay, distrust and malevolence which is only brightened by the prospect of solving the riddle of this strange ‘family’. Heathcliff appears to be almost completely malign and one wonders how he can be bent into any kind of hero fitting for a great love story. His only redeeming feature seems to be his grief over Catherine’s absence, revealed after an apparently supernatural incident, which appears to be both genuine and uncontrollable. This provokes compassion in Lockwood and the reader, encouraging us to discover the cause of Heathcliff’s intense emotions.Lockwood’s confused perception is soon replaced by the more knowing narrative of Nelly, or Ellen Dean, formerly the housekeeper at Wuthering Heights and currently Lockwood’s one companion at Thrushcross Grange. Soon, Lockwood disappears almost entirely from the story as Nelly evokes the childhood of Catherine and Hindley Earnshaw, whose childhood is disrupted by an interloper: Heathcliff, a ‘gipsey’ child abandoned in the slums of Liverpool and rescued by Catherine’s father. Although both original children are initially piqued by their father’s ‘gift’, Catherine soon accepts Heathcliff as a similar spirit, while Hindley begins to shape a life-long enmity that will have far-reaching consequences. From the very moment he is introduced to the family, even his rescuer comments that he is ‘as dark almost as if it came from the devil’. Throughout the novel, Heathcliff’s colour and character are repeatedly linked to the devil, but these references really multiply after Cathy ‘betrays’ him. From then on, Heathcliff’s revenge is at the forefront of all his actions and the novel enters a very melodramatic phase, well suited to such a gothic tale, during which Heathcliff gains such ascendancy that it seems everyone is terrified of him. Will he succeed in turning all relationships into bitter sparring, or can any descendants of this powerful pair of lovers achieve redemption?Heathcliff’s ferocity and hatred are almost unimaginable, but Emily Bronte captures the passion which works beneath his surface. He will not allow himself to show grief, but it is clear that he is wounded at his core and this makes his basest actions seem to have some justification. Catherine’s proud nature and sense of relationship with Heathcliff is also powerfully presented. Although neither character is truly sympathetic, the power of their emotions forces the reader to feel for them even if they cannot feel with them. Since most of the novel is told through two narrators, there is a certain distance from the action that renders some scenes slightly less powerful. This is a small criticism of a highly evocative novel, but it is worth being aware of. It is also true that such extended narratives require a certain suspension of disbelief as Mr Lockwood relates Nelly’s narrative word by word from thirty years past. Occasionally, I felt slightly frustrated when more layers were added to this screen – such as when Nelly began to give the latest version of events by giving another housekeeper’s version of events, gleaned through conversation while at market. However, the first person narrative also allows Bronte, through Nelly and Lockwood, to add a certain chill to the atmosphere by showing their horror at the events they witness.There are two surprising gaps in the narrative, things we never see or learn as readers, which seem to cry out for answers. Did Emily Bronte deliberately choose to leave those scenes a mystery or was she unaware of the holes they created? One key incident takes place completely without detailed reference or date; our witness is locked away for a period of several days, without warning or explanation. When she is released, the deed is done and the details of it never discussed. Such gaps seem odd but could be felt to add to the mysterious atmosphere within the book: personally, they did not spoil my pleasure in reading but did strike me as quite odd, given the emphasis on telling every other aspect of the story. Finally, I feel obliged to say a few words about the nature of the ending, without spoiling it for future readers. The final two chapters reveal such a change that it seems hardly believable and some readers may feel it is rather forced. However, I felt that, on the whole, the developments were in keeping with the characters and their situation, and allowed a clear resolution to the novel which has not previously seemed likely.A bigger problem may be found in the attitudes towards illness displayed in the novel. Many characters are struck down by nameless illnesses and die young after lengthy convalescences. Obviously, people today are capable of suffering in such a way, but the lack of medical detail and seeming weakness of some of the characters did make me feel quite distanced from them as such weakness seemed quite unrealistic in an otherwise strikingly realistic novel. This is merely a problem created by reading a novel set two centuries ago and is presumably more realistic for the period. The many illnesses are also used to illustrate character and are important to some interpretations of the themes of the novel, so this is really a very personal and quite unjustified complaint! Overall, this is a powerful tale incorporating gothic and melodramatic elements to create a much more textured and layered narrative than initial expectations might anticipate. I cannot claim that it is life changing or an essential read, although I know it to be a very respected and much enjoyed novel, but I did find it engaging throughout and enjoyed pondering possible interpretations of events and symbols once I had finished reading.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It's a good book but it's pretty depressing and during the second half I got a bit tired of most of the characters.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of my all-time faves.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What my all time favourite book? Being an avid reader this is hard to answer but I'm always I'm drawn back to this one title by Emily Bronte. It’s exquisitely written with emotion, sensitivity and real humanity. I have seen several television adaptations of this book and none are able to capture its the rare essence. If you never read another book read this one.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Wuthering Heights is in many ways a remarkable novel, but also a very dark one, which makes it difficult to really love. It centers on the relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff, or rather the lack of a real one...the basis of their passion for each other is pretty thin, which makes the depths of Heathcliff's obsession with her pretty hard to understand. That characterization didn't seem true to life to me anyway---rather than being passionate about one thing to the exclusion of everything else like that, people are usually passionate in general or mean all around, not this precarious mixture of the two.The story really picked up for me in the latter part, when Heathcliff attempts to continue taking out his grievances on the subsequent generation, whose ultimate fate redeemed the novel for me. So, definitely worth a read, just make sure to stick with it all the way through to the end. Still, I definitely didn't love it as much as I did Jane Eyre.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wuthering Heights has been in my consciousness ever since the 70's when Kate Bush was wailing out her high pitched ethereal lyrics -Out on the wiley, windy moorsWe'd roll and fall in green.You had a temper like my jealousy:Too hot, too greedy.How could you leave me, When I needed to possess you?I hated you. I loved you, too. I watched the TV adaptaion with Tom Hardy some years ago and still have vague recollections of it - mostly of Tom Hardy's brooding gorgeousness. And as I have said before seeing any tv or film adaptation before reading the book for me is a mistake. When I first started reading I found myself trying to link in the story to what I had seen and thought I already knew which detracted somewhat for allowing the story to unfold.What surprised me most on reading was it wasn't all about Cathy and Heathcliff as my memory had held it. So much of this tale is about the children of the initial characters. If there is any place for pathetic fallacy in literature then Wuthering Heights is the perfect venue. Not only does the weather provide the sometimes wild, sometimes brooding, sometimes oppressive atmosphere of the book but for me it is also a metaphor for the characters themselves. Many like myself come to the story thinking it will be a tale of love and passion only to discover that the pervading emotions are childish petulance and hatred and revenge. I have learnt much about life and love in nearly half a century on the planet and one thing I have learnt is that, when it comes to human relationships, hate is not the opposite of love - apathy is. So for me there is still more love in the story than hatred. It just manifests itself in an immature way. When I think of Heathcliff then the word repression comes to mind. I was once told that Wuthering Heights is best read when young and I can see why - there is for me is an immaturity in Cathy Earnshaw's behaviour in particular.The amazing thing for me about Wuthering Height's is held in the author herself - how on earth did a young woman in victorian England come up with all of this? The initial reviews of the book were not favourable and critics thought it morally reprehensible drivel. I need to find out more about Emily Bronte and her life and experiences - ooh a trip to Haworth when I am next back up in the Motherland. I have the 1939 film adaptation waiting with Larry O and Merle Oberon which I will watch with interest - although a more unlikely Heathcliff I cannot imagine. And a final note - having seen Tom Hardy digging up Cathy from her grave to embrace her again like a deranged lunatic ( my favourite scene ) I was eaer for it to come up in the book - it was there at last, so very near the end although the writing of it a very different less urgent account than the one I experienced in viewing.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I have the dumbest reason for picking up this book in the first place. I heard of it in Friends (when Phoebe takes literature lessons, it is the first book they read). I could not remember if I read this one in high school, so I picked it up. Also I want to read and own more classics in 2017 (one of my resolutions). I haven't got a big collection, but I am working on it.
    So I read Wuthering Heights at the end of last year and I enjoyed it immensely. I own the Barnes and Noble Classics edition, which came with an introduction, a short biography and a preface by her sister, Charlotte Bronte. I decided to read all of them, since I did not remember much about the Bronte's from school. I am quite confident that reading the biography and a preface made all the difference for me while I was reading this book. Reading Charlotte's description of her sister's only book, how it was rejected by the publishers, her sudden illness and her short-lived life set the right tone for this novel.
    This book is quite different from many that I have read, so I won't be using my usual template of reviewing, but will just share my thoughts instead.
    If this book could talk for itself, it would be screaming its head off with anger. I am simply astonished at how a book about very dull lives of regular people can be so frightening to the reader. It took me a while to read it, because I could only read so many pages a day before I have had enough of madness that were the two main characters. You know when in a book you usually pick your favorite character and then your least favorite one? Well, how about a book in which ALL of the characters are your least favorite ones? Characters so horribly selfish, arrogant, cross, indignant and spiteful that it makes you want to throw the book out of the window.
    Yet, you keep reading. If that isn't a sign of a great book then I don't know what is.
    Structure of the story line was quite odd, but somehow it flew very nicely. I felt like reading a memoir of a family (a very messed up family) starting with the grandparents and finishing up with the youngest of kids all grown up. Illnesses and death were woven into the story like they were as natural as a morning breakfast (which goes to show the state of living in the early 1800). Also all of this "marrying your own cousins" ordeal shook me a little bit, but then again, different times. Come to think of it maybe that is why they all were so feeble and sickly, because they kept interbreeding with each other.
    The only annoying thing in this book was the broken language at which one of the characters speaks, it was incredibly hard to read and follow, and it became very irritating, very quickly. Luckily, he wasn't that important in the book anyway.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Unforgettable love story. Haunting, sad, beautiful. A timeless classic.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A review.....still intriguing....still crazy after all these years.Don't forget the 1992 film adaptation (Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche)A perfect adjunct to this classical read.It gives an extraordinary vitality to Heathcliff and Cathy
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Yet another book that I was sure I had read in full as a child but didn't. How was it possible for a reclusive figure to write such a book before the age of 30? How did she understand the passions and emotions that drive people to extreme behaviour and actions? Once I had sorted out the various Catherines, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and some Yorkshire dialect, I became engrossed. The remoteness and isolation of the setting provide the ideal claustrophobic context for the passions to burst forth and wreak havoc. Yet the passions and emotions are universal.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    one act of kindess, taking in an orphaned child, sets the Earnshaw family on a path to destroy not only their happiness, but everyone else's around them as well. Emily Bronte covers all the vices, pity, arrogance, spite, revenge, hatred, death, cruelty, bribery, jealousy, financial ruin, humilation, greed and of course a ghost for good measure. Painful, but a great read- just like a soap opera where the drama never ends, it only escalates.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I hate this book. Heathcliff is a jerk, and it has an unhappy ending.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed this book. I think of the books we read in school this one was the best book i have read in my school life. I loved how older Cathy's life was about the same as young Cathy's, and the book changed with every page that you turned. At first i did not enjoy it. But, it got better as the book went on.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A powerfully well written book, that brings the harshness of the characters together with the harshness of the landscape. The narrative is absorbing and emotive, as a reader one cannot help but feel involved in a story that is being told as if for our own benefit.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I just completed one of the five things I wanted to do this year - read a classic novel that I've been putting off but meaning to read. When it came to deciding which book to choose first (because I do intend to read several others even though my goal was just one) I picked this particular one because it's mentioned several times in Eclipse, the third book in the series by Stephenie Meyer. I wanted to know exactly what the characters were talking about when they alluded to this novel, so I thought I'd give it a try (there are worse ways to pick a book to read, I think). Plus, I had never read anything by any of the Bronte sisters and I thought this was as good a place to start as any.I don't want to give anything away, so I'll keep this very short (I hear you laughing - fine, I'll try to keep it short). This story is heart-wrenching and maddening at times -very rarely do you find a love story that's pages are so devoid of love. The characters are unforgettable and unique. They are vile and detestable but you can't help wanting them to be happy. Heathcliff and Cathy deserve a special place among the famed couples of literature. Not because they are the epitome of love and romance, but because they are unlike anyone else - they are greedy, selfish, vile, and manipulative, but their love is so great that it transcends everything, even death, and neither can be happy without the other.To be honest, I was surprised at how easy it was to read. Granted, I probably have a higher tolerance for British fiction than the average person, but this is only because my degree is in English Literature and I was forced to take four semesters worth of British literature. Trust me, there are good British novels, and then there are very bad British novels. This one, thankfully, can go on the "good" list. Reading some of the commentary at the beginning of Barnes and Noble's edition (the picture is courtesy of their website) helped me to a degree in realizing what I was in for. I was aware that the characters could become confusing, some of them having the same name, others having last names as first names and the other way around. I also used the genealogy provided, which helped immensely. Because of this, I was able to prepare myself for some initial confusion and just waited it out and let the story take its course, knowing it would sort out later, instead of desperately trying to figure it all out at the beginning. What also helped this classic go smoothly was the language. Obviously it's different from what we speak, but for a British classic, I thought it was easy to follow. I know it can get confusing at times concerning who is speaking or being spoken about, and the dialect can sometimes be thick enough to make anyone stop for a breather. Emily Bronte did a great job in keeping the conversations easy to follow (even when there was a narrator within a narrator within a narrator) and the dialect, when there was any, at least in this version, was explained in footnotes.All in all, I would recommend this book. If you're new to British fiction and are just looking for a place to start, this classic is easy to read (considering it was written in 19th century Britain) and flows smoothly. I really wanted to know what would happen to the characters and found it hard to put it down. For those who are familiar with the classics and British ficition but haven't read this particular one, give it a shot. It's definitely different from anything I've read.So, I know it's hard to make a case for the classics. Very few people want to take the time to read them, and others are prejudiced enough to think that "classic" means "boring" (and some of them really are, but not all, so let's not be judgmental - it's stuck around for a reason). Honestly, I have to be in the mood to delve into books like this, but I always feel a little more educated, and a little more fulfilled in a literary sense when I'm finished. Of all the British literature I have read, Wuthering Heights ranks pretty far up there. And that's saying a lot.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
     Yawn. Truly uninspiring.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I enjoyed the book as much as I enjoy a lot of 19th century literature but I can't say I warmed to the main characters Cathy and Heathcliff. I felt that they had no redeeming qualities whatsoever! The secondary characters are what made the book for me. I couldn't see the torid romance that everyone else describes.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    There seem to be three kinds of people in the world—at least as regards Wuthering Heights. Some consider it a swoony, romantic love story; others are appalled by the selfish and unlikable characters, and as a result come to hate the book; the blessed few appreciate Brontë’s vision without allowing themselves to become prejudiced by either the lack of sympathetic characters or the strength of Heathcliff’s romantic passion.If I had read the book in my teens, I might have fallen into the first camp, although I would like to think that I had too much common sense even then to mistake obsession for love. Ideally, of course, I would like to be part of that last, most select group, but I’m afraid that for the moment I sympathize most with those who can’t quite love the book on account of the characters.Almost everyone knows the story of Cathy and Heathcliff. What they don’t know is that they exists as part of a larger framework (although, granted, Heathcliff is present more than any other character). Before we even meet them, we are introduced to our first narrator, Mr. Lockwood, who is Heathcliff’s new tenant at the Grange. He has a strange run-in with the master and the other few people who live at Wuthering Heights, and afterwards questions the housekeeper Nelly Dean about Heathcliff’s origins. It is from there that the story-within-the-story unfolds, a multi-generational saga about an endless cycle of obsession, hate, and retribution between three families: the Earnshaws, the Lintons, and the Heathcliffs.It has been argued that Nelly is an unreliable narrator, and more than a bit of a gossip. I like her, and think it is important to remember that she is very attached to the characters of her story, having grown up with some and helped to rear others. She may also be trying to distance herself emotionally from the story, afraid that she might otherwise be caught up in its torrid passions. Overall she strikes me as very level-headed and sensible, but that may be merely an illusion. It’s an illusion I readily accepted, because level-headedness and sense are exactly what one craves when reading the book.The fact that there are Heathcliff fangirls is, I confess, mystifying to me. He’s a villain pure and simple, not a misunderstood Byronic hero. But at least he is an interesting character. Cathy Earnshaw is another matter entirely. What is wrong with this woman? I kept asking myself. Finally, I concluded that she must have been dropped on her head when an infant. Her entire range of emotions consists of pouting, mewling, screaming, shrieking, raving, and declaring that everybody who gives her the time of day is really driving her to her death.One of the reasons I was excited to read Wuthering Heights was to compare it to that other great Brontë novel, Jane Eyre. But whereas Charlotte’s main couple are physically unattractive, morally upright, and intensely likeable, Emily’s are gorgeous, corrupt, and pretty dang annoying.I listened to Wuthering Heights on audiobook, read by Michael Page and Laural Merlington for Brilliance Audio. Both did a fine job, but the transitions between narrators were poorly handled. Moreover, I found having two narrators distracting, as no sooner than I became used to Page’s voice for Heathcliff, I would have to readjust to Merlington’s, and vice versa. The fact that I can’t think of a preferable approach may indicate that Wuthering Heights just does not work as an audiobook.I suppose I have been rather intimate about all of the things I dislike, but despite that, I do not hate Brontë’s book. I find it fascinating, if somewhat unlovable. Emily’s prose is superb—just as fine and sweeping as her sister’s—the narrative framework is deftly handled, and there is some unexpected redemption at the end. This is certainly a book I plan to return to, and I hope that a mature outlook will help me understand and enjoy it better. But for now I cannot bring myself to like it, and I’m rather disappointed about that.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Very disturbing and dark story about country folk in Victorian England. It seems like almost all of the characters are unlikable and evil and the ones that aren't are weak. I'm not sure that I get all of the praise for this one.