What can I say about Wuthering Heights other than it is a horrible book! I've heard Wuthering Heights called a great romance, but found nothing romantic about this book. Instead it is a book of obsession, of revenge, of abuse, and of selfishness--everything that love should not be. The relationship between Cathy & Heathcliff is supposed to be one of the greatest love stories ever, but their relationship is one of the most dysfunctional I have ever seen. I love the quote from critic George Barnett Smith who said Wuthering Heights is "perhaps one of the most unpleasant books ever written".
However, Smith continues to say, "but we stand in amaze at the almost incredible fact that it was written by a slim country girl who would have passed in a crowd as in insignificant person, and who had had little or no experience of the ways of the world". I must agree that this is a very powerful book, and it is amazing to think of a young, reclusive girl being its author. I found the subject matter somewhat depressing, but the writing itself quite strong.
I'm shallow enough to be glad that I can chalk up reading another classic book, so I can converse about it intelligently, but I would not willingly choose to read this book again.
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