I used to read a lot when I first graduated college, partly because I got a job at Barnes & Noble; and with the sweet discounts, I expanded my library considerably. Since then, however, I don’t read quite as much as I used to but since I have started writing my novel again, I have begun reading considerably a lot more. I’m making it a point to read as much as possible. It will only help my writing in the long run.
Recently, a friend of mine just moved out of state and she was getting rid of some of her books, so she allowed me to peruse the books she wasn’t taking with her. One of those books was Wuthering Heights. Most of you may have had to read this book when you were in school. This was actually one of the few books my English classes didn’t require us to read. So, because I never got the chance to read it in high school, I figured I would give it a go as it is considered to be a classic.
The book was published in 1847 and if you have ever read other classics from that time period, it can be considered difficult to read since there are a lot of words that we don’t use today. I figured I’m older and smarter than my high school self so maybe now was the best time for me to read, and even though I did struggle from time to time with the language in the novel, I finished it relatively quickly and still retained the story. Ultimately, though, I hated the book but not all of it. Let’s break it down, shall we?
We are venturing into spoiler-y territory so if you plan to read Wuthering Heights, you might want to skip this next section.
I’m gonna do my best to summarize the plot in as few sentences as possible. The book starts out with Mr. Lockwood moving into Thrushcross Grange, an estate in Yorkshire, England. His landlord lives in Wuthering Heights, which, according to the book is 4 miles away. He goes to visit and meets the young Cathy Linton as well as their servant, Joseph, and Hareton Earnshaw, Cathy’s cousin. Basically, Mr. Lockwood gets snowed in and has to stay the night at Wuthering Heights. The next day, he makes the journey back to his estate at Thrushcross Grange but falls ill due to the cold weather. While he recovers, the housekeeper, Nelly Dean, tells him the story of all the shenanigans that went on over at Wuthering Heights for the past 30 years.
Those are the broad strokes, really. Honestly, Wikipedia does a better job at summarizing this than I can so I am going to include a link to the article on Wikipedia.
If you did read the summary of the plot provided by Wikipedia, then you’ll understand just how convoluted the story can be. So, in the novel, Catherine Earnshaw ends up marrying Edgar Linton, though she was always in love with Heathcliff. They have a daughter together and name her Catherine Linton, though she is referred to as Cathy in the novel. Shortly after childbirth, Catherine Sr. dies. Edgar’s sister, Isabella Linton, marries Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights. Isabella, angry at Heathcliff for pining over the dead Catherine, moves south where she has a son that she names Linton Heathcliff. She dies later and Linton, her son, returns to Wuthering Heights to be with his father, Heathcliff. Cathy (daughter of Edgar Linton and Catherine Earnshaw) and Linton (son of Heathcliff and Isabella Linton) fall in love. They are cousins. Oof.
Are you starting to see what I mean? All these names of characters are too similar. It definitely gets confusing at times. It’s essentially about 2 different families that all marry each other. But they’re all awful to one another. I don’t think there was a single likable character in the entire novel except maybe for Nelly Dean, the housekeeper. When Heathcliff was a boy living at Wuthering Heights, he was tormented a lot so he is basically just getting his own revenge on the family by maneuvering these marriages to his advantage so he can become the landlord of both estates, Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights. Throughout the novel, Edgar Linton is quite vocal about how he feels about Heathcliff. He bans him from his house and prevents him from seeing Catherine, though Heathcliff does visit her in secret when she is on her deathbed. All of these characters have their own motivations, which obviously makes sense, but it felt like everyone just acted out of spite.
Another aspect of the novel that got confusing is the perspective in which it’s told. The entire novel is told in first person but from several different character’s points of view. That is not something you see very often. The novel starts out from Mr. Lockwood’s point of view. Then, when he gets sick and Nelly Dean tells him the tale of the families of Wuthering Heights, the novel shifts to her perspective for the majority of the story. But within her tale, when another character was telling her a story, it would switch to their point of view. It’s a strange way to tell a story.
I didn’t hate all of it and even though it was difficult to get through at times, I did find that the style in which it was written was interesting. There were a lot of long, drawn out sentences peppered with commas that bothered me on occasion but it presented an interesting flow to the book. Sometimes, it worked really well and other times, I found myself re-reading the same sentence a couple of times just to make sure I read it right.
Overall, I am glad I read the novel. It’s one of those classics that everyone should read at least once. But out of all the gothic fiction that came out during that time, this one was probably my least favorite. There are several movie adaptations (with a new one on the way) that I have yet to experience, though I would like to check them out sometime. I’ll probably just end up waiting for the new movie to come out and see that instead. I’d be curious to see what they do with the story for today’s audience.
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