Review: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Book: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Genre: Classic
Rating: A
For: F2F book club and Lit Flicks Challenge

This was my third time reading this book. I remember loving it in the past. I've always loved it, and I loved it again.

For those who have never read it, it's about two families living out in the desolate moors of England. One day, the father of one family brings home a stray child and they adopt him. His name is Heathcliff. The dad and the daughter, Cathy, are quite taken with him, but everyone else treats him like crap. As he gets older, he and Cathy fall in love (a sort of twisted, bizarre love) and he decides to take revenge on everyone else. However, Cathy ends up with the guy from the other family, which really messes up Heathcliff... and then things all fall apart from there! Eventually, there's a second generation involved and also all messed up.

How's that for a simple sum of this crazy story?

Many people hate the book because the characters ARE so messed up. They are rotten, selfish, immature, crazy, mean people. Most of them anyway.

But I've always liked the story because they are also complex characters. To me, even though they are flawed, they are intriguing, interesting, heart-wrenching, emotional and deep. Heathcliff fascinates me and gets in my head. I know he can't be all bad. I know that deep down there's something to him.

As I was saying to the book club last night, maybe it's just because I love these gothic, English, creepy, sad, doomed stories!

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For the Lit Flicks challenge, I also watched the movie.... well one of the many versions made of this book. As I mentioned in a previous post it was a 1970-Timothy Dalton-as-Heathcliff version. I enjoyed it. He was great. The only complaint I have is that they completely re-did the ending. They left off everything about the whole second generation (with Cathy #2, Linton and Hareton) and then ended it totally different with Cathy #1 and Heathcliff. Strange. But, until that bit, I liked it a lot! :)


And for the question of the month for the Lit Flicks challenge, which you can find HERE, Jessica asks: Do you set reading/watching goals for yourself? Do you have any book/movie adaptations that you are particularly excited about this year? How did you do on last year’s goals?

1. Yes, I set reading goals, which is mostly the challenges I've joined, and to try and get to 100 books again. And to just read the books I have! But I don't set any movie goals. I like to read the book before the movie, usually anyway. And I like to keep up on the popular movies, most of them anyway, but I wouldn't consider those goals really.


2. I am SO SO excited about Inkheart that's coming up really soon!



3. I did pretty good on my goals from last year I think! Except I come short in most of the challenges, but still, I'm getting plenty of reading done! And movie watching too!