Book Review: Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë

One-line summary: Broody McBrooderson starring in Emily Brontë's pioneering work of dysfunctional obsessive lovers may shed some light on why so many chicks dig Snape.



Originally published 1847, approx. 116,570 words. Available for free at Project Gutenberg.

Wuthering Heights", Emily Brontë's only novel, is one of the pinnacles of 19th-century English literature. It's the story of Heathcliff, an orphan who falls in love with a girl above his class, loses her, and devotes the rest of his life to wreaking revenge on her family.

( Wait, what? This is supposed to be a romance? Also, lots of people die, so be warned that I am totally including spoilers for this 164-year-old novel. Y'all better respect my review, yo, so chime in and say something - I watched SEVEN versions of 'Wuthering Heights' on DVD for you! )

Verdict: Wuthering Heights is one of those novels that most people love or hate. I didn't love it. It's gloomy and full of unpleasant characters, it's written in the stilted, formal prose of a sheltered young Victorian writer, and it's a "romance" only in the original, classic sense. But the moody atmosphere, an unsentimental plot of surprisingly subtlety, and one of the most memorable anti-heroes in English literature makes this a book that deserves to be read. You may not enjoy it, but it's one of those books you should read to understand its legacy and the debt owed by so many later writers: Heathcliff is a modern Campbellian archetype, and Emily Brontë was a genius for creating him.

This was my sixth assignment for the books1001 challenge. Join us and read and write reviews for all those books you've always wanted to read someday but never gotten around to.

Book Review: Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë

One-line summary: Broody McBrooderson starring in Emily Brontë's pioneering work of dysfunctional obsessive lovers may shed some light on why so many chicks dig Snape.



Originally published 1847, approx. 116,570 words. Available for free at Project Gutenberg.

Wuthering Heights", Emily Brontë's only novel, is one of the pinnacles of 19th-century English literature. It's the story of Heathcliff, an orphan who falls in love with a girl above his class, loses her, and devotes the rest of his life to wreaking revenge on her family.

( Wait, what? This is supposed to be a romance? Also, lots of people die, so be warned that I am totally including spoilers for this 164-year-old novel. Y'all better respect my review, yo, so chime in and say something - I watched SEVEN versions of 'Wuthering Heights' on DVD for you! )

Verdict: Wuthering Heights is one of those novels that most people love or hate. I didn't love it. It's gloomy and full of unpleasant characters, it's written in the stilted, formal prose of a sheltered young Victorian writer, and it's a "romance" only in the original, classic sense. But the moody atmosphere, an unsentimental plot of surprisingly subtlety, and one of the most memorable anti-heroes in English literature makes this a book that deserves to be read. You may not enjoy it, but it's one of those books you should read to understand its legacy and the debt owed by so many later writers: Heathcliff is a modern Campbellian archetype, and Emily Brontë was a genius for creating him.

This was my sixth assignment for the books1001 challenge. Join us and read and write reviews for all those books you've always wanted to read someday but never gotten around to.