Reading list

February 18, 2011
 Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

This is a book on the 501 Must Read list. I was at a used book store in Longmont (Barbed Wire Books) and saw this one. Realizing it was on the 501 list, I bought it and started reading it. Alas, after I had read it I found that we already had a copy on our bookshelf. Okay, so now I have two copies. And the second copy was not in vain because Mar's Book club is reading Wuthering Heights in April, so I had an extra copy to loan out.
Wuthering Heights is the name of house on the moors of Northern England. Wuthering is a word for gale, blustering winds, so the name indicates a forlorn, cold and isolated place, which it is – not just in the environment, but also socially and metaphysically. The antagonist of the story is "Heathcliff", who is really one of the most despicable, unlovable and cruel villains I have ever read about. He is wracked by an unrequited love, and swears vengeance on all who stood in his way of attaining that love after the object of his love dies. The metaphysical nature of his "beyond the grave" love, and how it warps his soul is the basis of the story.
It is a classic, the only classic written by Emily Bronte because she died soon after it's publication. It is not easy reading. One character speaks in an English dialect that I could not decipher (luckily my copy had footnotes which "translated" those passages. It is a good book to read, but it is not light reading. If you wanted to do a character/plot/scene evaluation of a book and goo deeply into theme and symbolism, this would be a good but challenging book to attempt.
I enjoyed it. Many people wouldn't.