I know a couple who use the ring from Lord of the Rings as their wedding ring and had the always quote from Harry Potter monogrammed onto all of their wedding dishes and Cutlery
Your Dad was a true romantic, so forgive him. Don’t forget Cathy was quite a feisty woman, perhaps he wanted you to be. I hope this cheers you up. It is a nice name after all.
Wuthering Heights is one of my favorite books because Brontë is so intentional with how she describes characters and their actions. She lets the reader read between the lines to figure out plot points. Her portrayal of Heathcliff is particularly interesting because she creates one of the most cruel characters of all time, but Brontë allows the reader to feel sorry for him and also understand why he is the way he is- you can sympathize with him but also absolutely condemn his actions as wrong. The complexity of every character is what gets me.
I read this book when I was a bit too young, and English is also not my first language. I couldn't keep up at all haha. I'm not necessarily saying this is the fault of the book, but my experience of it. Interesting to see that you love letting the readers read between the lines, but my experience of it was "wait hang on, these characters apparently love each other??? since when?". Maybe I need to give it another chance!
See this is literally the only reason why I enjoyed the novel. I really believe it's the mark of a great writer to make you love and hate a character. But it's a bigger achievement to do this with more than half your characters. I hated the characters so much (even Nelly) it almost took the enjoyment out of the novel for me. But when I finished it and reflected on it, I could not stop thinking about all the characters and how complex they were. Emily Bronte's writing is amazing.
@@sigridsimmen I mean if you love being told stuff straight up you won’t like WH and you probably wouldn’t like a lot of my favourite books, but I do recommend you to reread it otherwise because while it’s quite challenging to keep up with as a non-native English speaker (the bloody accent is the bane of my existence truly), it’s an incredible piece of writing
I absolutely love this book because everyone is so rotten- there's no discrimination between male and female, everyone is just bitter and cruel. And I feel that's so rare in classics, where there's usually a saintly redeeming female lead, that it's actually quite refreshing. I recommend the 2011 film version! Although it had some problems, like most adaptations, the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous and captures really well the wild and isolated feeling of the book!
Joli, this is why I love Austen's Emma. By conventions of the time, Jane Fairfax should be the point of view character saintly orphan that she is, and Emma the antagonist. This book shows the story from the mean girl's side... And she doesn't know she's a mean girl!
The book follows no class conventions of the time, I loved that so much the first time I've read it! It was so refreshing and new, I couldn't believe it was written almost 200 years ago
Exactly! It's fascinating, especially for a Victorian novel. There's no decency and no moralizing, no matter how awful and insane things get. It invites us to hate and love the characters the way they hate and love themselves.
This book sat with me years after, the cruelty that people inflicted on their apparent nearest and dearest. I remember hating everyone but couldn't put it down. I can safely say though, that Cathy and Heathcliff deserved each other.
Interesting that you picked up on the fact that all of heathcliffe and Cathy’s love is reported; I quite like that because we feel so shut out from their relationship- it heightens their obsession and insulatority I think. I actually feel shut out from all the characters- feels like we’re peeking in the windows of the houses
I fell very deeply in love with this book as a teenager, but I'm pretty sure I never thought it was romantic. It's filled with horrible characters doing horrible things, it's cold, creepy, violent, repulsive... but in a deliciously good way. I distinctly remember being around 17, sitting in my bed and reading the whole book in one day.
I dont totally get why so many people hate wuthering heights, it's so interesting and unique. It's about the cycle of abuse and PTSD and bpd and womanhood and growing up and obsession and soulmates
It's just tastes. I don't like it and there's nothing wrong about it, and you do and there's nothing wrong about it too :) It's kind of interesting to see how people think so many different things about the same book
I think, if approached through that lens, it's compelling, but I think that a lot of people who aren't familiar with the Brontës kind of assume she's like an Austen and are expecting a romance or something. Maybe that's just my experience coming from a white, lower middle-class, conservative background, but it was way darker than baby Ginger had expected it to be, haha. But if we want to examine the dark stuff (which I love *now* but didn't when I was 18, haha), then I think it's great.
Think it just comes down to expectations, a lot of readers that hated Wuthering Heights expected a brooding romance but what they got was a novel of horrible people doing horrible things. My cousin is a massive Austen fan and she started reading Wuthering Heights so she asked me what I thought as she knew I read it and I told her I loved it (it's my fav classic) but I said if she's expecting romance out of this novel she's gonna be really disappointed.
@@sabzc3898 I completely agree. For most classics, having a tad bit of background info on the book is helpful to set expectations, both for the structure of the novel and for the time period/region in which it was written. I would have hated Anna Karenina if I didn't know what I was getting into.
I was swept away when I read and studied Wuthering Heights 50 odd years ago. How did Emily Brontë, living such a restricted life in a remote location, ever conceive of and write this book? Who was Emily? I think she had a wild interior life, mirrored by the bleak moors, and that wildness floods her book. To me, this book is so different from other books of this period because of exploding emotions. The 1939 movie with Lawrence Olivier is a classic film that captures the romanticism, beautifully acted and filmed.
Yes! After reading Wuthering Heights I became obsessed with Emily. I even went to Haworth to see the Brontë home and walk the same street she did. Also I have never forgiven how mean Elizabeth Gaskell was in her portrayal of Emily in her biography of Charlotte. She never even met Emily and to this day I refuse to ready any other Gaskell work as solidarity in with Emily 🙃
Have you read Anne's books, though? I find them at least as surprising (and like them a great deal more). SO modern and forward thinking, in the way she describes relationships, abuse, substance abuse, self-preservation, and strong women who will not be cowed by men or society.
@@corvuscorone7735 I loved the Tenant of Wildfell Hall. It's a great novel and I agree very surprising and modern. I have to say though maybe it's the wildness or maybe even just the age at which I read it but for me there is just something so intriguing and magnetic about Emily and Wuthering Heights.
This is one of my favorite novels of all time. It’s such a fantastic exploration of where the line is between too much society and not enough society. Heathcliff representing impulse and lawlessness and chaos and Linton representing class rigidity, rules, and order. And Catherine and Cathy in between, mirror images of each other-one ruined by being too free, the other on the verge of being ruined by being too constrained. Ugh, such a stellar, insightful novel, and dramatic AF. I think I read it five times as a teenager lol.
This is one of my favorite books of all times. It’s so nice and refreshing to see a book about love but not the romantized kind, it’s a book about trauma and prejudice, I feel encapsulates better what it felt like to be a woman or person of color in the past .
Please don't treat the new film as a biopic by any means, it will absolutely reveal nothing of any semblance to Emily's true character because all we have are conjectures. All we know of her is that she was near obstinately introverted, petrified of being away from home, and kept very little society. She was an enigma even to Charlotte, who she ended up having somewhat kind of a strained relationship with her in the end as their brother became more unwell. Some psychologists have gone on to ponder if Emily may have fallen somewhere on the ASD spectrum which, not going to lie, fills me full of pride as an autistic person and with WH being my favourite ever, ever book. She had no romances, and I was gutted to see her genius being discredited to some type of lived experience in 'Emily'. Wuthering Heights to me is an incredible, unflinching look at generational trauma and almost I may imagine may be seen as a cathartic release from the moral pressures of 19th century society. Unrestrained wildness of emotion. I absolutely loved to hate all the characters. 🤣
I personally think Wurthering Heights should be considered one of the first works of psychological fiction. It's basically about how trauma effects how people make decisions -- badly -- and the self-sabotage it leads to. Emily Bronte was writing psychological fiction before psychology was even a science! Edited to add my classics recommendations: The Shooting Party by Anton Chekhov. It's Chekhov's only novel and one of the earliest examples of the mystery genre. But forget all the tropes of the modern mystery genre: this is Russian-style mystery, and it's far more twisted then any mystery novel you'll ever read! My other recommendation is Fifth Business by Robertson Davies. This book starts off with two 10-year-old frenimies taunting each other as they're walking home from a sledding hill in the middle of winter. One throws a snowball at the other, he ducks the snowball, and it instead hits the head of the young heavily-pregnant wife of the local Baptist minister, bringing about the premature birth of a third boy. The novel then follows the lives of the 2 boys -- one who takes on more guilt then his due, and the other who blocks the event from him mind and takes no responsibility for it at all -- and explores how guilt and shame can alter the course of our lives.
6:05 I read somewhere that Emily was actually quite mad that some women at the time thought Heathcliff was hot while she had pourposly made him a terrible human being and not to be desired
I remember reading this years ago and while I forgot most of the plot points by now, I distinctly remember the heavy mood it conveyed and how striking it was. I read it in Hebrew at the time since that was more readily available to me, so good job on the translator's part as well for conveying that intensity so well I can recall it years later - wildly different languages!
Wuthering Heights is my favorite classic for many reasons. For one, I love Emily's poetic prose. "Be with me always--take any form--drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss where I cannot find you! Oh, God, it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!" That is so BEAUTIFUL and tragic. It's also very different yet timeless and relevant for being a classic about the cycles of abuse and trauma. I think the Laurence Olivier movie adaptation from the 1930s (and most adaptations that followed) has really skewed the public's interpretation or image of WH for only telling half the story. Readers who come from the movies expect this brooding, Jane Austen-like romance and don't know what to do when what they get is actually isolated people hurting from lifetimes of mistreatment and hurting others as they feel trapped by their limited options, class expectations, and toxic relationships and for living with the consequences of their immature, abusive behavior. And yet! the book ends on a hopeful note with Hareton and Cathy, Jr. bettering each other and learning to love each other despite their flaws as they both begin to grow past the mistakes of their parents' generation. Wuthering Heights is poetic realism, and I really appreciate Emily (and the Gothic genre at large) for exploring this difficult side of human nature.
Thanks for confirming that it's not just me who finds it difficult to read this book. I thought it's because English is my second language, but I know that some classics I didn't struggle with at all. I'm still on page 50 and have been for over 4 weeks 😂 just not enjoying it at all, struggling to follow all the characters and the what's happening. But at the same time I feel like I have to read it to feel EdUcAtEd.
There is an Audible version (included with subscription) that is INCREDIBLE. Read by Joanne Froggatt. It had me absolutely glued to the story and I was able to understand it completely. I had also tried and struggled with the book itself (and I am a native English speaker with many years of post grad education lol). I am listening to all of the free Audible classics on my morning walks and while doing chores etc and it's changed my experience with them. Just also finished Persuasion read by Florence Pugh-amazing as well! Anyways, just wanted to share in case it helps.
@@shaynaloveswiss1 I also really struggled with Wuthering Heights but Jane Austen for example was so much easier for me to read, as well as Little Women or Jules Verne, especially Around the World in 80 Days. I think that's partially because the characters didn't all hate just each other.
@@shaynaloveswiss1 for example one of the 'younger' classics - 'the remains of the day' . Or even similar stuff to WH - Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice etc. But this one I just CAN'T pay any attention. I keep re-reading the same sentence and it's not sinking it. I have not got a clue what she's on about 😂🙈 I'm page 55 now... 8 days later 🙂😭
My #1 classics rec is Middlemarch. A beast of a book, but SO worth it. Also a surprisingly easy read in terms of language, most of the time! It's just the most ridiculously well-observed novel, with this pinpoint accuracy about psychology, about how gossip works, about the small choices that can set a whole life on a different path, about religion and ethics and the different ways they can (or should) function... Ugh its just SO BLOODY GOOD.
@@schoo9256 Middlemarch? I find the ending really satisfying! It follows several different people, and they each have their own path, so I can't say it's 100% happy. But it's definitely not a tragedy, and compared to Wuthering Heights it's the world's happiest story 💀
@@18becbec thanks for the reply! The ending sounds good to me, in fact the whole book sounds very Jane Austen-y in some ways. Can't wait to give it a go!
@@schoo9256 I'm so glad you're interested! Austen and Eliot are both incredible at observing people, it makes the characters and social politics feel so real. Eliot's life story is also really interesting, she was pretty radical and I think it comes through in her work 😊
I really love the Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte! I would highly recommend it - I feel like it's not nearly as popular as other Bronte books and it's also interesting how different it is from both Emily and Charlotte Bronte.
I have to start with the caveat that my experience of the book was positively affected by the fact I read a (fantastic) translation of it, so I didn't have to struggle with old-fashioned English, but it is one of my favourite stories of all time 😅 I completely agree with the "none of the characters are likable" judgement, but to me that's a testimony to its brilliance: it's rare to be captivated by a book without being really invested in any of the characters. I have to say I didn't have trouble with anyone's motivations; they are all very selfish, self-centred and damaged people, and they act in ways that reflect that. All that said, I loved this video and would love to see more of this kind in the future 💚
I studied this book at A Level and at the beginning of every essay (including the exam) we had to declare which of the Catherines we would be referring to as 'Catherine' and which would by 'Cathy' so that the examiners didn't get confused and give us awful marks
Conflicted about watching this when it premieres, because Wuthering Heights absolutely lured me back into reading and most characters’ situations in the novel touched me while reading. I adore WH!!!
this video could've easily be titled "I read Wuthering Heights so you dont have to" coz i feel like i learnt what i needed from it hahah i've been so tempted to pick this up coz I've never read any of the sisters books and I feel bad. but this does not sound like something i'd enjoy lol. I'm interested in the show tho, didnt even know it was coming out!
honestly if I'd judged based on what people had told me about this book and considering my usual tastes I would've never read it and would have missed out on one of my favorite reading experiences. I can't even describe how it made me feel with a word other than feral, it was so intense and heart-wrenching, some of the quotes still give me chills when I think about them. That being said yeah it's not for everyone
it's now a year later from this video and i ended up reading Wuthering Heights and HOLY HECK THIS VIDEO COULDN'T BE MORE RIGHT. at least now I know for sure it wasn't for me 😅
The only classics book I enjoyed reading in school was Bulgakov's 'The Master and Margarita', even though 'Crime and Punishment' and 'War and Peace' are more popular and more beloved where I'm from. Also Griboyedov's 'Woe from Wit'. Definitely worth a shot.
Nelly always impressed me by how unfazed and badass she was after all her years with the family when Hindley is threatening her and trying to shove a knife in her mouth she's just like "stop it, that's the fish knife, it tastes disgusting" and he's like "alright fair enough" lol
I loved Wuthering Heights as a child (although I always said "withering") but I also had an abysmal childhood so there was a sense of mentally playing out how I thought my future would be as a coping mechanism and fantasising about how being rich meant food was always available 😂. I honestly thought these people were so nice compared to my family 🤣 Looking back on it it makes me sad for my child self and so proud of where I am now. This book has definitely been integral to my life and I'm so glad you picked it up! Thank you Leena 💚💚
Wuthering Heights is my favorite book, Emily tricks you into emphasizing with the motives for the cruelty and the injuries of the characters. It's a bizarre slight of hand that wouldn't work without the confusion of the names. The names are the symmetry of the story, the resolution in having Catherine Earnshaw the ghost spirit finally returning to home through "Cathy" getting the last name back. Also the resolution of Hareton who is Heathcliff's true offspring as experiencing the same struggles and abuse as Heathcliff but actually softening and healing as does Cathy. Their love story is the perfect resolution.
I’ve never clicked on something so fast. The rage I still feel 10+ years later thinking about when I had to write a paper on this book in 10th grade English. Controversial opinion, but I also hate Catcher in the Rye which was also a paper topic in 10th grade.
I'm so glad you read this bc I picked up a graphic novel edition for this and I haaated it so much for a lot of the reasons you mentioned in this video. I did enjoy hearing more about the cultural context from you though! A tip for Dutch speakers: there's a poetry collection about Emily Brontë called "Ik zeg Emily" by Yentl van Stokkum that I actually really loved, would recommend that.
Seems like this is an interesting video. I don’t get to see many classics enthusiasts rave about Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. We will definitely look forward to this review, Leena.
Literally came along here to beg you to do more Classic reads videos. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde... Doooooooooooo it. It's Fabulous. But also thank you for unshaming me for not having read this book!! I did an English and Philosophy degree - I've read a lot of books before, during and since - but I've read so few of the greats. I feel way less guilty now and that's because of you. Genuinely, thank you xx
I love this book because it's so different from any other work in that century. It's not moralistic at all and no a single character is worried about social conventions or what it was propper. No one is a role model, they're just people, and not very nice people. You need to be a genious to tell a story like this in that context. I think modern readers often miss all of this because now writters aren't worried about morals in general and expectations about literature are different.
I absolutely LOVE this book. I first read it when I was 22 or something, and it was the most incredible experience ever. It is definitely not a book with characters that you are meant to fall in love. I love how the book is narrated by a unreliable character, you don't know exactly if everything that Nelly says is true; she was young when the events of the beginning unfold, and she makes clear, again and again, how she despised the adult Catherine's behavior; of course that affects the way she describes the story. I like to theorize that maybe Heathcliff was indeed Cathy and Hindley's brother (maybe that's why Mr. Earnshaw loved him so much, despite any logical reason, and why Mrs. Earnshaw hated him so much, she even dies from sadness), and that's maybe why their mutual feelings (I wouldn't say "love") was doomed to failure and disgrace. There's a lot of nature in the book, so I don't know, just a theory!
I didn't know they were making the movie!!! So huge thanks for that... and I'm not sure which classics you haven't read, but keeping it on theme for "books with controversial movie choices" might I suggest Breakfast at Tiffany's? It's very short (I believe around 100 pages, maybe even less) and I was surprised by everything they decided to cut for the infamous Hepburn film!
I read this book in my early 20's and was expecting, for reasons you cover in the video, some sort of Elizabeth-and-Mr. Darcy-esque love story. Obviously, it is not remotely that. I do not remember enjoying it at all, and had no intention of rereading it. But, I think it would be interesting re reading it without that expectation. Also, highly highly recommend A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. It was my absolute favorite book as a pre-teen/teenager and should be recognized more as A Great American Novel.
I only seen the Tom Hardy adaptation of this book, never read it, it seemed weird to me. But, what's even weirder is how much of a homebody she was, and how quiet she was, but she had such a dark imagination, like, where the hell did that come from, lol
Well, sure, but her brother was an alcohol and drug addict, she knew stories about people who'd experienced horrendous physical and emotional abuse (including her own siblings), and she and her family were encouraged to read lots of different material. So it's not like she didn't know anything about the world, she just chose to limit her participation in it.
@@TheBooklover1848 agreed. Just because they lived in quite an isolated place, people think they were very insular and naive. However they had lives as governesses and had friends from whom they’d learn news/gossip as well as being put through some trauma by their alcoholic brother and his scandalous doings. They’d also had personal experience of much grief given their young ages. Add to that an incredible natural wilderness of an environment and pure literary talent - I’m not surprised at all the Brontë sisters had such an incredible and sometimes dark imagination!
Let us count the sources..............she's of Irish descent, mother long dead, brilliant religious father (northern Irish one would guess, not Papist), precocious sisters and an alcoholic brother, steeped in religion but NOT living in a garden, lots of "Christians" around her not at all acting the part, a nearby church yard FILLED with people dead far too soon, sickness and disease all around, superior artistic endowment with a wild imagination.....................where could WH POSSIBLY have come from????
I read this novel when I was really young, like 12-13 years old. We had a vague summer reading assignment in-between school years: it was implied that the more we read, the better we'd be graded the next year. But we weren't given an actual list of appropriate books to choose from, so I just devoured a ton of classic literature I was definitely too young to understand. Well, unlike other masterworks like Jane Eyre or Pride & Prejudice, which I simply consumed on a surface level and/or heavily romanticized, I can tell you in all honesty I blocked Wuthering Heights from my memory. I just remember characters locked in rooms and me hating every minute of it. I put it down and never touched it again and it's been almost 2 decades since then. But this video has convinced me to finally give it another go. It would be funny if midway through reading it I'll suddenly remember it all and completely spoil myself. 😂
Thank you for vocalizing all my thoughts. I wish I’d read this one with a book club because there is sooo much to discuss. Oh! And thank you for saying you loved Nelly! You’re the first I hear say that and I concur completely!
I read it in college. I also did not care much for the book. I will say that college for me was over 30 years ago, and I still remember the characters and the story quite clearly, so it is memorable. I have no desire to ever see it onscreen or read it again.
I've actually never read Wuthering Heights but I've seen the movie adaptation you're talking about and everything you're saying about the book, I got that from the movie. The bleakness, the unlikable characters and OF COURSE the violence (oh boy is it violent !), also the cinematogrpahy is absolutely beautiful (helped by the Yorskshire moores obviously).
I haven’t watched the video yet, but I can tell you I have TRIED to read this book several times. I just can’t do it!!! Every time I pick it up I give myself a mental pep talk - you can do this - it’s so short - just keep going. Nope I can’t finish it, I want to understand the hype but I think……I hate it.
i didn't think to look for a sketch so i only understood the timeline and the relationships towards the end, Really love it tho! in a way, he ends up being Cathy's gift in the sense that he matches her in a way none of the others can, coincidentally, that means they're both insane. edit edit: the disconnect from the characters, the obtuse narration are all aspects that made me like it, but one of the Most interesting things is how Cathy behaves almost as a storm and a curse on everyone around her and not a victim, even when she dies in such a tragic way
I actually was assigned to read Wuthering Heights in high school but I still didn't finish it and wrote my essay based on Sparknotes lmao maybe I'll have to try rereading it now but back then, I remember it being painful and tedious to get through. You're a real trooper, Leena!
TW for suicide and eating disorders: Whether or not Heathcliff is POC (I agree it's plausible), I read him as being so traumatised by poverty and being looked down upon, that even when he essentially becomes part of the upper class, he is still ruined by it and can't accept Cathy The First because of it. He seems to have a real loathing resentment towards her for being born into privilege. Even if Heathcliff and Cathy 1 aren't biologically related, they are still raised as siblings which is enough to give a modern reader the ick. It reminds me of Frankenstein where Victor is betrothed to his sort of foster sister (or his cousin, depending on which version you read). Watching your review, I am seeing parallels between Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights, which also has a story within a story within a story. I think you can read one of the morals of WH as being that wild, angry, passionate obsession is not the basis for a great relationship! I wish more romances took that stance, honestly. Mark says something very similar in Peep Show! I read WH aged 16 and loved it, but I think [Spoilers Spoilers spoilers] taking yourself to bed and essentially tantruming yourself to death is more relatable at that age. (That was my favourite part, the intensity of those scenes blew me away). Speaking of, from a history of women's health perspective, Cathy 1's starvation is pretty fascinating. People will claim that eating disorders are a modern issue, and it's hard to know what to make of Cathy 1's situation. I highly recommend Frankenstein if you haven't read it. After all, Mary Shelley practically invented two new genres 1. As a teenager 2. For a parlour game 3. Surrounded by trash men. IMO the book is poorly paced but fun and short, and so thematically rich you could view it through many different lenses (feminist, queer, religious etc).
Frankenstein is a great suggestion for Leena's classic reads! David J Bradley has a UA-cam video called The Queer Legacy of Frankenstein, if anyone is interested. It includes discussion of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
I had to read this book over the summer in high school once, and we had to do a project of our own choosing to describe our experience reading it (it was supposed to be more exciting than just an essay). I decided to rewrite the lyrics to "American Pie", putting a summary of different sections in each verse, and then the chorus following it would explain my opinion. My opinion was very negative; I got more annoyed with the book the more pages I read. I can't remember all the lyrics, but the final chorus ended with "I've rhymed everything that goes with 'french fry', now I'll say, I don't like Wuthering Heights." My teacher gave me an A, too!
The first time I read Wuthering Heights I really disliked it. Then we were assigned to read it in school and I don't know what happened but it suddenly became brilliant. It's a grower. I think a lot of it had to do with being able to see the end from the beginning and it's the kind of plot that really works with that. It rereads really well, actually :) I ended up rereading it every year for years (been a couple of years since I last read it so I may need to change that). Loved your review/vlog!
I adore Wuthering Heights! The mistake is people assume it's a romance. 😄 It's a story about horrible people fucking things up for each other and everyone around them. It's like beauty and the beast, if both the main characters were the beast and neither got any better than he is in the first act. It delves into the darkest pits of human behaviour and doesn't excuse or shy away from any of it. Gloriously Gothic!
I've read this book pretty much every year for over 50 years since I was 12. It started with the Laurence Olivier movie, which was actually something of a romance. That was on a Friday night. On Saturday I devoured the book in one sitting. It helped that my mom's copy of the book had very evocative, dreamlike illustrations. She warned me that the narrative structure might be confusing, but I navigated it fine. At that age I thought it was a romance. After a few years I realized it wasn't. So why do I keep coming back, when all the characters are so awful? Partly nostalgia for my childhood, and partly for the one "character" I do love: the moors themselves. This book is stored in my brain with another book I've read every year for about the same amount of time: "The Secret Garden". I first read that one at age ten, and it was in that book I learned the word "wuthering." Besides the moors and the wuthering winds, both books feature grieving fathers who have lost their wives in childbirth, a spoiled sickly boy who is soothed when his girl cousin reads to him, a dead woman whose ghostly voice calls her lover's name. And in both there is healing and light at the end. If I hadn't loved "The Secret Garden" first, who knows whether "Wuthering Heights" would have grabbed me as a kid, or whether I'd still love it half a century later.
I found your video really interesting. This is one of the few books I've abandoned shortly after starting it, but I might give it another chance now with all these reflections in mind.
One of my friends said that she read a book wherein the main characters are discussing the quote on the back of the book and one of them mishears it as “whatever arseholes are made of, his and mine are the same”, so I can’t hear it any other way now. Also I read this book for school and it was definitely the worst book I was ever assigned.
I read Wuthering Heights as a teen and loved it... I can't exactly remember why. I should re-read it before watching Emily, if only to see what was up with me as a kid.
I also have never read it until three months ago. Okay, I tried to. Less than 70 pages in, I felt like I was reading in a dark room by candlelight. That's how dreary and dark the setting and tone were. That's how cold and unwelcoming the characters were. I barely got started and found myself having trouble reading in a brightly lit room. That's a lovely book cover btw. I've also never read Jane Eyer but heard positive things about it. I'm so glad I clicked on your video. No real spoilers and it's the push I needed to try to read it again. I may also try the audio book.
I read it a few years ago expecting to read an epic love story, and was very surprised to find out that it really isn't! I specifically remember someone describing Heathcliff as "the man with whom you'd cheat on Mr. Darcy"... and I'm not even the greatest Darcy fan, but what the hell?! I'm very sceptical about the movie, as it seems to focus on a love affair that Emily never seems to have had. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the BBC movie about the Brontë sisters that came out a few years ago, called "To Walk Invisible". My favourite classics are all of Jane Austen's novels, and also Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, which is an absolute beast of a book, but one you learn to love even at its most absurd (and the fact that it has an actual fandom online is amazing). I'd love to hear you talk about more classics!
One novel to recommend and that sticked in my mind long after I had read it was "The Thorn Birds" from 1977 by Colleen McCullough. It really good. Romantic book that also has a frustrating, annoying and stupid man as a love interest. The story is frustrating, but on the same time I was glued to it and couldn't put it down. It's about a young woman in the beginning of 1900 that falls in love with a Catholic Priest. He love her too but loves being a devoted priest too, and he tries to both "ceep the cake and eat it at the same time". ..I recommend it.
At 59 I read Wuthering Heights for the first time recently. I enjoyed hearing about your experience reading it and laughed at some of your reactions as I could relate.
Ah, this was so much fun! (And I love the The Guardian article with all the stats!) I haven't read this since I was 13 so I have no strong opinion on it today, but I remember not liking it at the time, which isn't very surprising seeing how dark it is 😂Anyway, since you've read both Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, you really should read something by Anne too if you haven't. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is such an underrated book!
If you want more Brontë-drama before Emily comes out, Sally Wainwright did a drama called To Walk Invisible which I loved. Lots of stuff on how different the sisters were but how they united due to their situation (aka violent alcoholic messy brother Branwell) - definitely worth a watch if you can catch it!
I loved this format!! More please! It might be because I had so many similar feelings reading it! Surprised you didn't touch on the young Cathy storyline, that turned it around for me abit more.
Oh perfect timing, I've spent my entire last semester with 19th century woman's literature and just finished 2 papers on this while never having read any of the Bronte sisters stuff. And now I don't need to! Thank you Leena
I absolutely love Wuthering Heights I love Minnie, the pony and Catherine, riding barefoot across the moors on a cold winter night in the snow… I can relate to that, there’s layers and layers… A love story, where every character is flawed. Brilliant!
I read "Wuthering Heights" at the age of 16 in High School because it was one of our set texts for English Literature class. I have never had the urge to re-read it in the last 20 years. Enough said I think.
My general feelings about this books is that I wish I could pull almost every single character from the pages and just swat at them with a broom yelling BEHAVE!! 10/10 love it
Loved your take(s) on WH. I'm reading it for the 2nd time. 1st time I did what you did: audio book+book (Juliet Stevenson version). Had similar responses to yours the 1st read. I have to admit, I really like it the 2nd time through. It's just so cleverly written, shocking for its time, and remarkably that our mysterious Emily could have managed it. The 2nd time thru, the violence is even more egregious, if that's possible.
I have a sentimental place in my heart for Wuthering Heights. I was in a play version in high school, which only had three characters: Nelly, Heathcliff, and Cathy. The intimacy of the play made all the aggression and violence and passion of the characters so evident, because everyone in the story (maybe save Nelly??) is truly awful. It's a horrible cycle, but I do think the ending sees a bit of hope that the cycle will be broken by the following generation. Who knows?
I started reading Withering Heights at ~ 14 because it was Bellas favourite book in twilight, which was my favourite book at the time so I obviously had to read it. Quickly put it down though because it was not what I expected and also way above my reading level. I‘m tempted to pick it up again with what I‘ve learned from your video in mind.
Have you seen To Walk Invisible? It’s my fav film about the Brontës. Hareton and Cathy to me are the true love story of the novel. My fav Brontë novel is actually Agnes Grey, because Weston is totes adorable and it’s so unlike the other sisters’ novels.
I read Wuthering Heights during lockdown (because the world wasn’t dark enough at that point, I guess). Call me a simp, but I hated it. I tried to find something redeeming; a lesson, a commentary, something about gender or class that would help me to understand English culture a bit more, but nothing was illuminating. The only thing I can think of that gets close is that everyone is so selfish and this is slightly reflective of reality- trauma begets trauma begets trauma. Every character in this book fully plays the part of main character. Heathcliff is obviously a sociopath in the clinical sense, but almost everyone else is incredibly narcissistic and self serving. All around a slog of a book. Womp womp.
I recently read WH for the first time. Like you, I never encountered it in school, even as a college major in English and Education. In my career I taught many classics but never this one, and am glad for that. I can’t imagine how young people today could enjoy the unnecessarily tangled plot and the cruel, stupid characters, regardless of their motivations and limited lives, plus the careless and frequent abuse of animals. Your explanations of your reactions to the book paralleled mine throughout! I, too, read some background and found the possible ethnicity of Heathcliff intriguing and the only aspect of the book I wished had been more developed. I’m glad I read it, but it was a dreary haul. I can check this off my list of “should read” books now. Thank you for your enthusiasm and insights!
I just listened to the audiobook version. I thought it where going to be like a Jane Austin- Pride and prejudice- type of romance with a Gothic tone, but no! It was very dark and tragic and sorrowful. But I'm glad that it had some sort of happy ending in the end, even if it wasn't the one I expected before reading.
I’ve tried to read wuthering heights twice, my pal absolutely loves it (she bought and papered her room with the prose) but I just can’t get into it 😂 might give it a 3rd try later but after that I’m charity shopping my copy lol
Immensely refreshing take. This is the book that everyone recommends me since it's so similar to things I love, but every time I try reading it (including for grad school) it falls so incredibly flat. ):
I'm sorry, but quoting Wuthering Heights at your wedding is basically cursing your marriage, holy heck 😂
I know a couple who use the ring from Lord of the Rings as their wedding ring and had the always quote from Harry Potter monogrammed onto all of their wedding dishes and Cutlery
wedding quotes are always the wildest choices
Do you think it was read at Harry and Meghan's wedding?🤭
It's the worst and most toxic enmeshment and somehow it's an airy fairy Pinterest quote now. 🤷🏻♀️
Hahaha those poor people.
My dad named me Catherine after this book. Still to this day have no idea why he thought that was aspirational for his daughter.
🤣😂 your poor Dad has probably never lived his choice down. I am sure he meant only the best for you.
I’d like to think it was because of Kate Bush’s enticing depiction of her haha😅
@@moominmay I'll take that 😂
girl same here my mom did this to me
Your Dad was a true romantic, so forgive him. Don’t forget Cathy was quite a feisty woman, perhaps he wanted you to be. I hope this cheers you up. It is a nice name after all.
Wuthering Heights is one of my favorite books because Brontë is so intentional with how she describes characters and their actions. She lets the reader read between the lines to figure out plot points. Her portrayal of Heathcliff is particularly interesting because she creates one of the most cruel characters of all time, but Brontë allows the reader to feel sorry for him and also understand why he is the way he is- you can sympathize with him but also absolutely condemn his actions as wrong. The complexity of every character is what gets me.
Yes! That’s what I love about him as a character! You see the abuse he suffers and can understand his antipathy while condemning its consequences.
I read this book when I was a bit too young, and English is also not my first language. I couldn't keep up at all haha. I'm not necessarily saying this is the fault of the book, but my experience of it. Interesting to see that you love letting the readers read between the lines, but my experience of it was "wait hang on, these characters apparently love each other??? since when?". Maybe I need to give it another chance!
Wuthering Heights is a novel about the problems created by child abuse. People don't get that enough.
See this is literally the only reason why I enjoyed the novel. I really believe it's the mark of a great writer to make you love and hate a character. But it's a bigger achievement to do this with more than half your characters. I hated the characters so much (even Nelly) it almost took the enjoyment out of the novel for me. But when I finished it and reflected on it, I could not stop thinking about all the characters and how complex they were. Emily Bronte's writing is amazing.
@@sigridsimmen I mean if you love being told stuff straight up you won’t like WH and you probably wouldn’t like a lot of my favourite books, but I do recommend you to reread it otherwise because while it’s quite challenging to keep up with as a non-native English speaker (the bloody accent is the bane of my existence truly), it’s an incredible piece of writing
I absolutely love this book because everyone is so rotten- there's no discrimination between male and female, everyone is just bitter and cruel. And I feel that's so rare in classics, where there's usually a saintly redeeming female lead, that it's actually quite refreshing. I recommend the 2011 film version! Although it had some problems, like most adaptations, the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous and captures really well the wild and isolated feeling of the book!
Joli, this is why I love Austen's Emma. By conventions of the time, Jane Fairfax should be the point of view character saintly orphan that she is, and Emma the antagonist. This book shows the story from the mean girl's side... And she doesn't know she's a mean girl!
@@carlatate7678 second this 100%!
The book follows no class conventions of the time, I loved that so much the first time I've read it! It was so refreshing and new, I couldn't believe it was written almost 200 years ago
Exactly! It's fascinating, especially for a Victorian novel. There's no decency and no moralizing, no matter how awful and insane things get. It invites us to hate and love the characters the way they hate and love themselves.
I agree that's what is amazing about the book, it didn't have moralising undertones.
I think you need a series with reading classic novels and reviewing them! Very curious to hear you talk about Rebecca :)
Now that's a good book
Seccond this!
I loved Rebecca so much!
Sooo good! Would love to see this
Yes please!
"I'm an optimistic book buyer and a pessimistic reader." I felt that
This book sat with me years after, the cruelty that people inflicted on their apparent nearest and dearest. I remember hating everyone but couldn't put it down. I can safely say though, that Cathy and Heathcliff deserved each other.
Interesting that you picked up on the fact that all of heathcliffe and Cathy’s love is reported; I quite like that because we feel so shut out from their relationship- it heightens their obsession and insulatority I think. I actually feel shut out from all the characters- feels like we’re peeking in the windows of the houses
But since it is a ghost story In a way, it makes since that she wrote it that way. Keeps it very intriguing and haunting
I fell very deeply in love with this book as a teenager, but I'm pretty sure I never thought it was romantic. It's filled with horrible characters doing horrible things, it's cold, creepy, violent, repulsive... but in a deliciously good way. I distinctly remember being around 17, sitting in my bed and reading the whole book in one day.
me too. And it is still my favourite novel.
Exactly. It's my favoruite book, but it annoys me to no end that it's gotten a rep as a romance. It's as romantic as the cycle of abuse.
Yes yes and yes!
I dont totally get why so many people hate wuthering heights, it's so interesting and unique. It's about the cycle of abuse and PTSD and bpd and womanhood and growing up and obsession and soulmates
It's just tastes. I don't like it and there's nothing wrong about it, and you do and there's nothing wrong about it too :) It's kind of interesting to see how people think so many different things about the same book
I think, if approached through that lens, it's compelling, but I think that a lot of people who aren't familiar with the Brontës kind of assume she's like an Austen and are expecting a romance or something. Maybe that's just my experience coming from a white, lower middle-class, conservative background, but it was way darker than baby Ginger had expected it to be, haha. But if we want to examine the dark stuff (which I love *now* but didn't when I was 18, haha), then I think it's great.
I lovee it toooooo xxx
Think it just comes down to expectations, a lot of readers that hated Wuthering Heights expected a brooding romance but what they got was a novel of horrible people doing horrible things. My cousin is a massive Austen fan and she started reading Wuthering Heights so she asked me what I thought as she knew I read it and I told her I loved it (it's my fav classic) but I said if she's expecting romance out of this novel she's gonna be really disappointed.
@@sabzc3898 I completely agree. For most classics, having a tad bit of background info on the book is helpful to set expectations, both for the structure of the novel and for the time period/region in which it was written. I would have hated Anna Karenina if I didn't know what I was getting into.
I was swept away when I read and studied Wuthering Heights 50 odd years ago. How did Emily Brontë, living such a restricted life in a remote location, ever conceive of and write this book? Who was Emily? I think she had a wild interior life, mirrored by the bleak moors, and that wildness floods her book. To me, this book is so different from other books of this period because of exploding emotions. The 1939 movie with Lawrence Olivier is a classic film that captures the romanticism, beautifully acted and filmed.
Yes! After reading Wuthering Heights I became obsessed with Emily. I even went to Haworth to see the Brontë home and walk the same street she did.
Also I have never forgiven how mean Elizabeth Gaskell was in her portrayal of Emily in her biography of Charlotte. She never even met Emily and to this day I refuse to ready any other Gaskell work as solidarity in with Emily 🙃
Have you read Anne's books, though? I find them at least as surprising (and like them a great deal more). SO modern and forward thinking, in the way she describes relationships, abuse, substance abuse, self-preservation, and strong women who will not be cowed by men or society.
@@corvuscorone7735 I loved the Tenant of Wildfell Hall. It's a great novel and I agree very surprising and modern. I have to say though maybe it's the wildness or maybe even just the age at which I read it but for me there is just something so intriguing and magnetic about Emily and Wuthering Heights.
I read this book a few years ago and I distinctly remember how delightfully terrible people the characters were, like I couldn't look away
This is one of my favorite novels of all time. It’s such a fantastic exploration of where the line is between too much society and not enough society. Heathcliff representing impulse and lawlessness and chaos and Linton representing class rigidity, rules, and order. And Catherine and Cathy in between, mirror images of each other-one ruined by being too free, the other on the verge of being ruined by being too constrained. Ugh, such a stellar, insightful novel, and dramatic AF. I think I read it five times as a teenager lol.
This is one of my favorite books of all times. It’s so nice and refreshing to see a book about love but not the romantized kind, it’s a book about trauma and prejudice, I feel encapsulates better what it felt like to be a woman or person of color in the past .
Please don't treat the new film as a biopic by any means, it will absolutely reveal nothing of any semblance to Emily's true character because all we have are conjectures. All we know of her is that she was near obstinately introverted, petrified of being away from home, and kept very little society. She was an enigma even to Charlotte, who she ended up having somewhat kind of a strained relationship with her in the end as their brother became more unwell. Some psychologists have gone on to ponder if Emily may have fallen somewhere on the ASD spectrum which, not going to lie, fills me full of pride as an autistic person and with WH being my favourite ever, ever book. She had no romances, and I was gutted to see her genius being discredited to some type of lived experience in 'Emily'. Wuthering Heights to me is an incredible, unflinching look at generational trauma and almost I may imagine may be seen as a cathartic release from the moral pressures of 19th century society. Unrestrained wildness of emotion. I absolutely loved to hate all the characters. 🤣
I personally think Wurthering Heights should be considered one of the first works of psychological fiction. It's basically about how trauma effects how people make decisions -- badly -- and the self-sabotage it leads to. Emily Bronte was writing psychological fiction before psychology was even a science!
Edited to add my classics recommendations:
The Shooting Party by Anton Chekhov. It's Chekhov's only novel and one of the earliest examples of the mystery genre. But forget all the tropes of the modern mystery genre: this is Russian-style mystery, and it's far more twisted then any mystery novel you'll ever read!
My other recommendation is Fifth Business by Robertson Davies. This book starts off with two 10-year-old frenimies taunting each other as they're walking home from a sledding hill in the middle of winter. One throws a snowball at the other, he ducks the snowball, and it instead hits the head of the young heavily-pregnant wife of the local Baptist minister, bringing about the premature birth of a third boy. The novel then follows the lives of the 2 boys -- one who takes on more guilt then his due, and the other who blocks the event from him mind and takes no responsibility for it at all -- and explores how guilt and shame can alter the course of our lives.
6:05 I read somewhere that Emily was actually quite mad that some women at the time thought Heathcliff was hot while she had pourposly made him a terrible human being and not to be desired
And sadly many are still like that, like those women that wrote letters to serial killers.
I thought it was published after she died?
I remember reading this years ago and while I forgot most of the plot points by now, I distinctly remember the heavy mood it conveyed and how striking it was. I read it in Hebrew at the time since that was more readily available to me, so good job on the translator's part as well for conveying that intensity so well I can recall it years later - wildly different languages!
Wuthering Heights is my favorite classic for many reasons. For one, I love Emily's poetic prose. "Be with me always--take any form--drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss where I cannot find you! Oh, God, it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!" That is so BEAUTIFUL and tragic. It's also very different yet timeless and relevant for being a classic about the cycles of abuse and trauma. I think the Laurence Olivier movie adaptation from the 1930s (and most adaptations that followed) has really skewed the public's interpretation or image of WH for only telling half the story. Readers who come from the movies expect this brooding, Jane Austen-like romance and don't know what to do when what they get is actually isolated people hurting from lifetimes of mistreatment and hurting others as they feel trapped by their limited options, class expectations, and toxic relationships and for living with the consequences of their immature, abusive behavior. And yet! the book ends on a hopeful note with Hareton and Cathy, Jr. bettering each other and learning to love each other despite their flaws as they both begin to grow past the mistakes of their parents' generation. Wuthering Heights is poetic realism, and I really appreciate Emily (and the Gothic genre at large) for exploring this difficult side of human nature.
You have expressed the depth and complexity of this novel with such articulation. Thank you.
i hope this type of video becomes a series, i loved hearing your thoughts and getting to come along the reading journey with you
Thanks for confirming that it's not just me who finds it difficult to read this book. I thought it's because English is my second language, but I know that some classics I didn't struggle with at all.
I'm still on page 50 and have been for over 4 weeks 😂 just not enjoying it at all, struggling to follow all the characters and the what's happening. But at the same time I feel like I have to read it to feel EdUcAtEd.
Which classics did you nit struggle with?
There is an Audible version (included with subscription) that is INCREDIBLE. Read by Joanne Froggatt. It had me absolutely glued to the story and I was able to understand it completely. I had also tried and struggled with the book itself (and I am a native English speaker with many years of post grad education lol). I am listening to all of the free Audible classics on my morning walks and while doing chores etc and it's changed my experience with them. Just also finished Persuasion read by Florence Pugh-amazing as well! Anyways, just wanted to share in case it helps.
@@shaynaloveswiss1 I also really struggled with Wuthering Heights but Jane Austen for example was so much easier for me to read, as well as Little Women or Jules Verne, especially Around the World in 80 Days. I think that's partially because the characters didn't all hate just each other.
That's funny, because this is one of my favorite books. I've read Wuthering Heights so many times, my copy is falling apart.
@@shaynaloveswiss1 for example one of the 'younger' classics - 'the remains of the day' . Or even similar stuff to WH - Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice etc. But this one I just CAN'T pay any attention. I keep re-reading the same sentence and it's not sinking it. I have not got a clue what she's on about 😂🙈 I'm page 55 now... 8 days later 🙂😭
My #1 classics rec is Middlemarch. A beast of a book, but SO worth it. Also a surprisingly easy read in terms of language, most of the time! It's just the most ridiculously well-observed novel, with this pinpoint accuracy about psychology, about how gossip works, about the small choices that can set a whole life on a different path, about religion and ethics and the different ways they can (or should) function... Ugh its just SO BLOODY GOOD.
Agree!
I need a warning--does it have a happy ending?
@@schoo9256 Middlemarch? I find the ending really satisfying! It follows several different people, and they each have their own path, so I can't say it's 100% happy. But it's definitely not a tragedy, and compared to Wuthering Heights it's the world's happiest story 💀
@@18becbec thanks for the reply! The ending sounds good to me, in fact the whole book sounds very Jane Austen-y in some ways. Can't wait to give it a go!
@@schoo9256 I'm so glad you're interested! Austen and Eliot are both incredible at observing people, it makes the characters and social politics feel so real. Eliot's life story is also really interesting, she was pretty radical and I think it comes through in her work 😊
I really love the Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte! I would highly recommend it - I feel like it's not nearly as popular as other Bronte books and it's also interesting how different it is from both Emily and Charlotte Bronte.
This is my favourite book so I am terrified by this video but also going to watch it anyway! Can't wait for the new Emily film :)
What do you think now that you’ve watched Leena’s review? 😊
Please make more of these with other classics! I was a very bad English student in college and skipped a lot of them
I love this format and topic!! Please make more read-along classics videos.
I have to start with the caveat that my experience of the book was positively affected by the fact I read a (fantastic) translation of it, so I didn't have to struggle with old-fashioned English, but it is one of my favourite stories of all time 😅 I completely agree with the "none of the characters are likable" judgement, but to me that's a testimony to its brilliance: it's rare to be captivated by a book without being really invested in any of the characters. I have to say I didn't have trouble with anyone's motivations; they are all very selfish, self-centred and damaged people, and they act in ways that reflect that.
All that said, I loved this video and would love to see more of this kind in the future 💚
You should definitely do more reading vlogs! I loved to hear your thoughts about this!
I studied this book at A Level and at the beginning of every essay (including the exam) we had to declare which of the Catherines we would be referring to as 'Catherine' and which would by 'Cathy' so that the examiners didn't get confused and give us awful marks
Conflicted about watching this when it premieres, because Wuthering Heights absolutely lured me back into reading and most characters’ situations in the novel touched me while reading. I adore WH!!!
this video could've easily be titled "I read Wuthering Heights so you dont have to" coz i feel like i learnt what i needed from it hahah i've been so tempted to pick this up coz I've never read any of the sisters books and I feel bad. but this does not sound like something i'd enjoy lol. I'm interested in the show tho, didnt even know it was coming out!
If you read only one Brontë, read Jane Eyre
Wuthering heights is exceptional, just because she didn't get it doesn't mean you wouldn't love it
honestly if I'd judged based on what people had told me about this book and considering my usual tastes I would've never read it and would have missed out on one of my favorite reading experiences. I can't even describe how it made me feel with a word other than feral, it was so intense and heart-wrenching, some of the quotes still give me chills when I think about them. That being said yeah it's not for everyone
it's now a year later from this video and i ended up reading Wuthering Heights and HOLY HECK THIS VIDEO COULDN'T BE MORE RIGHT. at least now I know for sure it wasn't for me 😅
The only classics book I enjoyed reading in school was Bulgakov's 'The Master and Margarita', even though 'Crime and Punishment' and 'War and Peace' are more popular and more beloved where I'm from. Also Griboyedov's 'Woe from Wit'. Definitely worth a shot.
“…The flippin’ flap…” 😂
In other words, I really enjoy you and your videos, Leena. 😁
Nelly always impressed me by how unfazed and badass she was after all her years with the family when Hindley is threatening her and trying to shove a knife in her mouth she's just like "stop it, that's the fish knife, it tastes disgusting" and he's like "alright fair enough" lol
I loved Wuthering Heights as a child (although I always said "withering") but I also had an abysmal childhood so there was a sense of mentally playing out how I thought my future would be as a coping mechanism and fantasising about how being rich meant food was always available 😂. I honestly thought these people were so nice compared to my family 🤣 Looking back on it it makes me sad for my child self and so proud of where I am now. This book has definitely been integral to my life and I'm so glad you picked it up! Thank you Leena 💚💚
Wuthering Heights is my favorite book, Emily tricks you into emphasizing with the motives for the cruelty and the injuries of the characters. It's a bizarre slight of hand that wouldn't work without the confusion of the names. The names are the symmetry of the story, the resolution in having Catherine Earnshaw the ghost spirit finally returning to home through "Cathy" getting the last name back. Also the resolution of Hareton who is Heathcliff's true offspring as experiencing the same struggles and abuse as Heathcliff but actually softening and healing as does Cathy. Their love story is the perfect resolution.
I’ve never clicked on something so fast. The rage I still feel 10+ years later thinking about when I had to write a paper on this book in 10th grade English.
Controversial opinion, but I also hate Catcher in the Rye which was also a paper topic in 10th grade.
Great video, I’m now reading the book after seeing the film Emily. I saw the film twice, cried both times.
I'm so glad you read this bc I picked up a graphic novel edition for this and I haaated it so much for a lot of the reasons you mentioned in this video. I did enjoy hearing more about the cultural context from you though! A tip for Dutch speakers: there's a poetry collection about Emily Brontë called "Ik zeg Emily" by Yentl van Stokkum that I actually really loved, would recommend that.
Seems like this is an interesting video. I don’t get to see many classics enthusiasts rave about Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. We will definitely look forward to this review, Leena.
Spooky that this video was uploaded just as i’m halfway through this book.
I’m absolutely loving it.
Literally came along here to beg you to do more Classic reads videos. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde... Doooooooooooo it. It's Fabulous.
But also thank you for unshaming me for not having read this book!! I did an English and Philosophy degree - I've read a lot of books before, during and since - but I've read so few of the greats. I feel way less guilty now and that's because of you. Genuinely, thank you xx
I love this book because it's so different from any other work in that century. It's not moralistic at all and no a single character is worried about social conventions or what it was propper. No one is a role model, they're just people, and not very nice people. You need to be a genious to tell a story like this in that context. I think modern readers often miss all of this because now writters aren't worried about morals in general and expectations about literature are different.
I did not enjoy reading it very much but it's one of those books I love reflecting on after having read it
I absolutely LOVE this book. I first read it when I was 22 or something, and it was the most incredible experience ever. It is definitely not a book with characters that you are meant to fall in love. I love how the book is narrated by a unreliable character, you don't know exactly if everything that Nelly says is true; she was young when the events of the beginning unfold, and she makes clear, again and again, how she despised the adult Catherine's behavior; of course that affects the way she describes the story. I like to theorize that maybe Heathcliff was indeed Cathy and Hindley's brother (maybe that's why Mr. Earnshaw loved him so much, despite any logical reason, and why Mrs. Earnshaw hated him so much, she even dies from sadness), and that's maybe why their mutual feelings (I wouldn't say "love") was doomed to failure and disgrace. There's a lot of nature in the book, so I don't know, just a theory!
I didn't know they were making the movie!!! So huge thanks for that... and I'm not sure which classics you haven't read, but keeping it on theme for "books with controversial movie choices" might I suggest Breakfast at Tiffany's? It's very short (I believe around 100 pages, maybe even less) and I was surprised by everything they decided to cut for the infamous Hepburn film!
This video was incredibly entertaining!! Thank you so much for making it!!!
I would recommend watching" To Walk Invisible " it is a shorter film but covers so much more.Also loved your video great fun.
OMG, I loved this book as a teenager, but after watching this, I think I need to read it again through my adult brain!
I read this book in my early 20's and was expecting, for reasons you cover in the video, some sort of Elizabeth-and-Mr. Darcy-esque love story. Obviously, it is not remotely that. I do not remember enjoying it at all, and had no intention of rereading it. But, I think it would be interesting re reading it without that expectation.
Also, highly highly recommend A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. It was my absolute favorite book as a pre-teen/teenager and should be recognized more as A Great American Novel.
I only seen the Tom Hardy adaptation of this book, never read it, it seemed weird to me. But, what's even weirder is how much of a homebody she was, and how quiet she was, but she had such a dark imagination, like, where the hell did that come from, lol
Yeah true!!!
Well, sure, but her brother was an alcohol and drug addict, she knew stories about people who'd experienced horrendous physical and emotional abuse (including her own siblings), and she and her family were encouraged to read lots of different material. So it's not like she didn't know anything about the world, she just chose to limit her participation in it.
@@TheBooklover1848 agreed. Just because they lived in quite an isolated place, people think they were very insular and naive. However they had lives as governesses and had friends from whom they’d learn news/gossip as well as being put through some trauma by their alcoholic brother and his scandalous doings. They’d also had personal experience of much grief given their young ages. Add to that an incredible natural wilderness of an environment and pure literary talent - I’m not surprised at all the Brontë sisters had such an incredible and sometimes dark imagination!
Let us count the sources..............she's of Irish descent, mother long dead, brilliant religious father (northern Irish one would guess, not Papist), precocious sisters and an alcoholic brother, steeped in religion but NOT living in a garden, lots of "Christians" around her not at all acting the part, a nearby church yard FILLED with people dead far too soon, sickness and disease all around, superior artistic endowment with a wild imagination.....................where could WH POSSIBLY have come from????
I read this novel when I was really young, like 12-13 years old. We had a vague summer reading assignment in-between school years: it was implied that the more we read, the better we'd be graded the next year. But we weren't given an actual list of appropriate books to choose from, so I just devoured a ton of classic literature I was definitely too young to understand.
Well, unlike other masterworks like Jane Eyre or Pride & Prejudice, which I simply consumed on a surface level and/or heavily romanticized, I can tell you in all honesty I blocked Wuthering Heights from my memory. I just remember characters locked in rooms and me hating every minute of it. I put it down and never touched it again and it's been almost 2 decades since then.
But this video has convinced me to finally give it another go.
It would be funny if midway through reading it I'll suddenly remember it all and completely spoil myself. 😂
Updates?
Thank you for vocalizing all my thoughts. I wish I’d read this one with a book club because there is sooo much to discuss. Oh! And thank you for saying you loved Nelly! You’re the first I hear say that and I concur completely!
I read it in college. I also did not care much for the book. I will say that college for me was over 30 years ago, and I still remember the characters and the story quite clearly, so it is memorable. I have no desire to ever see it onscreen or read it again.
I've actually never read Wuthering Heights but I've seen the movie adaptation you're talking about and everything you're saying about the book, I got that from the movie. The bleakness, the unlikable characters and OF COURSE the violence (oh boy is it violent !), also the cinematogrpahy is absolutely beautiful (helped by the Yorskshire moores obviously).
I haven’t watched the video yet, but I can tell you I have TRIED to read this book several times. I just can’t do it!!! Every time I pick it up I give myself a mental pep talk - you can do this - it’s so short - just keep going. Nope I can’t finish it, I want to understand the hype but I think……I hate it.
i didn't think to look for a sketch so i only understood the timeline and the relationships towards the end, Really love it tho!
in a way, he ends up being Cathy's gift in the sense that he matches her in a way none of the others can, coincidentally, that means they're both insane.
edit edit: the disconnect from the characters, the obtuse narration are all aspects that made me like it, but one of the Most interesting things is how Cathy behaves almost as a storm and a curse on everyone around her and not a victim, even when she dies in such a tragic way
I actually was assigned to read Wuthering Heights in high school but I still didn't finish it and wrote my essay based on Sparknotes lmao maybe I'll have to try rereading it now but back then, I remember it being painful and tedious to get through. You're a real trooper, Leena!
TW for suicide and eating disorders:
Whether or not Heathcliff is POC (I agree it's plausible), I read him as being so traumatised by poverty and being looked down upon, that even when he essentially becomes part of the upper class, he is still ruined by it and can't accept Cathy The First because of it. He seems to have a real loathing resentment towards her for being born into privilege.
Even if Heathcliff and Cathy 1 aren't biologically related, they are still raised as siblings which is enough to give a modern reader the ick. It reminds me of Frankenstein where Victor is betrothed to his sort of foster sister (or his cousin, depending on which version you read). Watching your review, I am seeing parallels between Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights, which also has a story within a story within a story.
I think you can read one of the morals of WH as being that wild, angry, passionate obsession is not the basis for a great relationship! I wish more romances took that stance, honestly. Mark says something very similar in Peep Show!
I read WH aged 16 and loved it, but I think
[Spoilers Spoilers spoilers]
taking yourself to bed and essentially tantruming yourself to death is more relatable at that age. (That was my favourite part, the intensity of those scenes blew me away).
Speaking of, from a history of women's health perspective, Cathy 1's starvation is pretty fascinating. People will claim that eating disorders are a modern issue, and it's hard to know what to make of Cathy 1's situation.
I highly recommend Frankenstein if you haven't read it. After all, Mary Shelley practically invented two new genres 1. As a teenager 2. For a parlour game 3. Surrounded by trash men. IMO the book is poorly paced but fun and short, and so thematically rich you could view it through many different lenses (feminist, queer, religious etc).
Frankenstein is a great suggestion for Leena's classic reads! David J Bradley has a UA-cam video called The Queer Legacy of Frankenstein, if anyone is interested. It includes discussion of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
I also think Heatcliff is POC probably of Romani descendence.
Heathcliff possibly being a victim of the Irish Famine is also pretty fascinating when contrasted with rich people starving themselves in the novel.
@@gamewrit0058 agreed, that's a great video.
I just finished Wurthering heights and I also just discovered your channel.. and I adore both btw
Found this book to be as loathsome as every single character depicted in it. DNF'd it a third in, I couldn't take it anymore :D
The best way for Heathcliff to get back at Edgar would be to put him through the absolute misery of reading Wuthering Heights.
The family tree broke my brain for a while there 😅 I paused the video and couldn’t unpause for, I’m not kidding, about 15 minutes
I had to read this book over the summer in high school once, and we had to do a project of our own choosing to describe our experience reading it (it was supposed to be more exciting than just an essay). I decided to rewrite the lyrics to "American Pie", putting a summary of different sections in each verse, and then the chorus following it would explain my opinion. My opinion was very negative; I got more annoyed with the book the more pages I read. I can't remember all the lyrics, but the final chorus ended with "I've rhymed everything that goes with 'french fry', now I'll say, I don't like Wuthering Heights." My teacher gave me an A, too!
The first time I read Wuthering Heights I really disliked it. Then we were assigned to read it in school and I don't know what happened but it suddenly became brilliant. It's a grower. I think a lot of it had to do with being able to see the end from the beginning and it's the kind of plot that really works with that. It rereads really well, actually :) I ended up rereading it every year for years (been a couple of years since I last read it so I may need to change that). Loved your review/vlog!
I adore Wuthering Heights! The mistake is people assume it's a romance. 😄 It's a story about horrible people fucking things up for each other and everyone around them. It's like beauty and the beast, if both the main characters were the beast and neither got any better than he is in the first act. It delves into the darkest pits of human behaviour and doesn't excuse or shy away from any of it. Gloriously Gothic!
I've read this book pretty much every year for over 50 years since I was 12. It started with the Laurence Olivier movie, which was actually something of a romance. That was on a Friday night. On Saturday I devoured the book in one sitting. It helped that my mom's copy of the book had very evocative, dreamlike illustrations. She warned me that the narrative structure might be confusing, but I navigated it fine.
At that age I thought it was a romance. After a few years I realized it wasn't.
So why do I keep coming back, when all the characters are so awful? Partly nostalgia for my childhood, and partly for the one "character" I do love: the moors themselves.
This book is stored in my brain with another book I've read every year for about the same amount of time: "The Secret Garden". I first read that one at age ten, and it was in that book I learned the word "wuthering."
Besides the moors and the wuthering winds, both books feature grieving fathers who have lost their wives in childbirth, a spoiled sickly boy who is soothed when his girl cousin reads to him, a dead woman whose ghostly voice calls her lover's name. And in both there is healing and light at the end.
If I hadn't loved "The Secret Garden" first, who knows whether "Wuthering Heights" would have grabbed me as a kid, or whether I'd still love it half a century later.
I found your video really interesting. This is one of the few books I've abandoned shortly after starting it, but I might give it another chance now with all these reflections in mind.
One of my friends said that she read a book wherein the main characters are discussing the quote on the back of the book and one of them mishears it as “whatever arseholes are made of, his and mine are the same”, so I can’t hear it any other way now.
Also I read this book for school and it was definitely the worst book I was ever assigned.
I love listening to your opinions on things, and I’m so happy you’re sharing ❤
I read Wuthering Heights as a teen and loved it... I can't exactly remember why. I should re-read it before watching Emily, if only to see what was up with me as a kid.
I also have never read it until three months ago. Okay, I tried to. Less than 70 pages in, I felt like I was reading in a dark room by candlelight. That's how dreary and dark the setting and tone were. That's how cold and unwelcoming the characters were. I barely got started and found myself having trouble reading in a brightly lit room. That's a lovely book cover btw. I've also never read Jane Eyer but heard positive things about it. I'm so glad I clicked on your video. No real spoilers and it's the push I needed to try to read it again. I may also try the audio book.
There’s also an anagram in the beginning when Lockwood is speaking: “I was over head and ears” = “I rove as dead Earnshaw.”
I read it a few years ago expecting to read an epic love story, and was very surprised to find out that it really isn't! I specifically remember someone describing Heathcliff as "the man with whom you'd cheat on Mr. Darcy"... and I'm not even the greatest Darcy fan, but what the hell?! I'm very sceptical about the movie, as it seems to focus on a love affair that Emily never seems to have had. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the BBC movie about the Brontë sisters that came out a few years ago, called "To Walk Invisible".
My favourite classics are all of Jane Austen's novels, and also Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, which is an absolute beast of a book, but one you learn to love even at its most absurd (and the fact that it has an actual fandom online is amazing). I'd love to hear you talk about more classics!
Is romanticizing Heathcliff actually a thing??
@@ludmilamaiolini6811 Oh yes, I'm afraid so! 😅
@@Maria_Efe that must be why it was Bella’s favorite book. Twilight is also about an abusive relationship
Bad boy syndrome.
One novel to recommend and that sticked in my mind long after I had read it was "The Thorn Birds" from 1977 by Colleen McCullough. It really good. Romantic book that also has a
frustrating, annoying and stupid man as a love interest. The story is frustrating, but on the same time I was glued to it and couldn't put it down. It's about a young woman in the beginning of 1900 that falls in love with a Catholic Priest. He love her too but loves being a devoted priest too, and he tries to both "ceep the cake and eat it at the same time". ..I recommend it.
Yay! Always love your in-depth book videos❤❤
You are delightful! I can’t wait to hear your opinion on the next book.
At 59 I read Wuthering Heights for the first time recently. I enjoyed hearing about your experience reading it and laughed at some of your reactions as I could relate.
Ah, this was so much fun! (And I love the The Guardian article with all the stats!) I haven't read this since I was 13 so I have no strong opinion on it today, but I remember not liking it at the time, which isn't very surprising seeing how dark it is 😂Anyway, since you've read both Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, you really should read something by Anne too if you haven't. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is such an underrated book!
If you want more Brontë-drama before Emily comes out, Sally Wainwright did a drama called To Walk Invisible which I loved. Lots of stuff on how different the sisters were but how they united due to their situation (aka violent alcoholic messy brother Branwell) - definitely worth a watch if you can catch it!
I love Wuthering Heights but i will never get over my English teacher calling this the greatest love story of all time
I loved this format!! More please!
It might be because I had so many similar feelings reading it! Surprised you didn't touch on the young Cathy storyline, that turned it around for me abit more.
I JUST started teaching this to my students, so I’m incredibly happy to see this video!!
I’ve literally just finished reading Wuthering heights yesterday and i absolutely loathed it! Glad i am not alone!
You never fail to entertain and make me laugh with these videos 🤣 Never stop making videos!
Oh perfect timing, I've spent my entire last semester with 19th century woman's literature and just finished 2 papers on this while never having read any of the Bronte sisters stuff. And now I don't need to! Thank you Leena
I absolutely love Wuthering Heights I love Minnie, the pony and Catherine, riding barefoot across the moors on a cold winter night in the snow… I can relate to that, there’s layers and layers… A love story, where every character is flawed. Brilliant!
I read "Wuthering Heights" at the age of 16 in High School because it was one of our set texts for English Literature class. I have never had the urge to re-read it in the last 20 years. Enough said I think.
My general feelings about this books is that I wish I could pull almost every single character from the pages and just swat at them with a broom yelling BEHAVE!! 10/10 love it
Loved your take(s) on WH. I'm reading it for the 2nd time. 1st time I did what you did: audio book+book (Juliet Stevenson version). Had similar responses to yours the 1st read. I have to admit, I really like it the 2nd time through. It's just so cleverly written, shocking for its time, and remarkably that our mysterious Emily could have managed it. The 2nd time thru, the violence is even more egregious, if that's possible.
I have a sentimental place in my heart for Wuthering Heights. I was in a play version in high school, which only had three characters: Nelly, Heathcliff, and Cathy. The intimacy of the play made all the aggression and violence and passion of the characters so evident, because everyone in the story (maybe save Nelly??) is truly awful. It's a horrible cycle, but I do think the ending sees a bit of hope that the cycle will be broken by the following generation. Who knows?
I started reading Withering Heights at ~ 14 because it was Bellas favourite book in twilight, which was my favourite book at the time so I obviously had to read it. Quickly put it down though because it was not what I expected and also way above my reading level. I‘m tempted to pick it up again with what I‘ve learned from your video in mind.
Have you seen To Walk Invisible? It’s my fav film about the Brontës. Hareton and Cathy to me are the true love story of the novel.
My fav Brontë novel is actually Agnes Grey, because Weston is totes adorable and it’s so unlike the other sisters’ novels.
I read Wuthering Heights during lockdown (because the world wasn’t dark enough at that point, I guess). Call me a simp, but I hated it. I tried to find something redeeming; a lesson, a commentary, something about gender or class that would help me to understand English culture a bit more, but nothing was illuminating. The only thing I can think of that gets close is that everyone is so selfish and this is slightly reflective of reality- trauma begets trauma begets trauma. Every character in this book fully plays the part of main character. Heathcliff is obviously a sociopath in the clinical sense, but almost everyone else is incredibly narcissistic and self serving. All around a slog of a book. Womp womp.
I recently read WH for the first time. Like you, I never encountered it in school, even as a college major in English and Education. In my career I taught many classics but never this one, and am glad for that. I can’t imagine how young people today could enjoy the unnecessarily tangled plot and the cruel, stupid characters, regardless of their motivations and limited lives, plus the careless and frequent abuse of animals. Your explanations of your reactions to the book paralleled mine throughout! I, too, read some background and found the possible ethnicity of Heathcliff intriguing and the only aspect of the book I wished had been more developed. I’m glad I read it, but it was a dreary haul. I can check this off my list of “should read” books now.
Thank you for your enthusiasm and insights!
I just listened to the audiobook version. I thought it where going to be like a Jane Austin- Pride and prejudice- type of romance with a Gothic tone, but no! It was very dark and tragic and sorrowful. But I'm glad that it had some sort of happy ending in the end, even if it wasn't the one I expected before reading.
Only Bronte novel that ages relatively well and is genuinely satisfying: Tenant of Wildfell Hall. You're welcome.
I’ve tried to read wuthering heights twice, my pal absolutely loves it (she bought and papered her room with the prose) but I just can’t get into it 😂 might give it a 3rd try later but after that I’m charity shopping my copy lol
OMG i just finished Wuthering Heights yesterday !!! You are the best !
Immensely refreshing take. This is the book that everyone recommends me since it's so similar to things I love, but every time I try reading it (including for grad school) it falls so incredibly flat. ):