Wuthering Heights (Collins Classics)

Dark, passionate, and haunting

—Wuthering Heights is a love story like no other. And I mean it. Emily Brontë weaves a tale of obsession, revenge, and heartbreak set against the wild Yorkshire moors. While the gothic atmosphere is beautifully written, the characters are intense and brutal, sometimes to the point of frustration. Love or destruction? You decide. A classic worth reading, but not for the faint of heart! 💔📖✨

Über dieses Buch werde ich noch oft nachdenken. Es ist heftig und düster. Bis auf einen Charakter sind alle unsympathisch und dennoch habe ich so mitgefühlt. Interessant, dass das Buch nie aus der Sicht der Protagonisten erzählt wird, sondern immer nur von Dritten.

Caution! There’s rambling ahead! Usually I don't read reviews in order to find out about the plot of a certain novel. I read reviews to find out about the reading experience. This is also why I write reviews. And I really don't think the world needs another plot overview of Wuthering Heights. Instead I want to talk about how my perception of this classic changed and how I came to love what I once found utterly boring. I don't really know how I could have been so completely unaware of the plot of a classic like Wuthering Heights but apart from the famous names of Heathcliff and Catherine and the fact that it takes place on the wild English moors I knew next to nothing about it. Most of my knowledge comes from that one episode of FRIENDS where Phoebe and Rachel attend a literature class for fun and Rachel never finishes the reading material and tries to cheat her way through it. So yeah, my knowledge was very profound, as you can see. In 2009 I decided I need to read WH. It’s one of these absolute classics and everyone seems to think it’s really good. So, you know, I gave it a shot. And boy was I disappointed. I dragged myself through the first 50 pages, was bored out of my mind, and called it a day. I’ve always had second thoughts about the fact that I quit. And five years later, in March 2014, I ordered myself a copy of WH. The idea was to make myself read it again – so many people love this book; 98,000 five-star reviews can’t be wrong! (btw, apparently they can – Fifty Shades has 226,000!!) At least in the case of WH they aren’t! Yes, the first 50 pages are a bit tough to get through because you have no idea what’s going on and all these names are thrown at you and the narrator seems to have nothing to do with the actual story. But once you get past that! The tragedy! The stupidity of the characters! The evilness! I loved it all. Above all, I loved to hate almost every single character. I am not quite sure why this novel is so often treated as a tragic and passionate love story and everyone seems to be pining away about Heathcliff. I hated him with all my heart. Same goes for Catherine. And that brat Linton! But every single one of them got what they deserved in the end. I’ve heard a lot of people state that they can only like a book if at least one character is likeable. WH is not for them. I guess, one can argue that Nelly might be likeable, but I don’t buy it. I loved it because everyone acted terribly selfish and ruthless; and there was absolutely no one to like. What I am trying to say here is that I went from giving this book one star to giving it five. There is always a right time or mood for a book. And maybe I needed to be in a certain mind set in order to appreciate the beauty that is Wuthering Heights; which makes me think there might be other books out there that I need to reconsider. I guess this review is not as informative as most people would want it to be but I needed to get this off my chest. Thank you for your kind attention!

Gute Geschichte mit unsympathischen Charakteren

Wuthering Heights von Emily Brontë erzählt die (Liebes)Geschichten zweier Familien über zwei Generationen, von welchen eine Geschichte ein glückliches und die andere ein tragisches Ende hat. Emily Brontë arbeitet viel mit Kontrasten, wobei selbst die Namen der Familien bedeutungstragend für Charaktere und ihre Entwicklung sind. Dies betrifft sowohl die beiden Catherines, wie auch Isabella. Das Buch schneidet unter anderem das Thema der Klassengesellschaft an, wobei letztlich unklar ist, wie die Autorin dazu steht. Im ersten Teil des Buches scheint sie Heathcliffs Diskriminierung aufgrund seiner Klassenzugehörigkeit als ungerecht zu empfinden. Doch im weiteren Verlauf des Buches ist sein sozialer Aufstieg die Ursache vielen Unglücks. Emily Brontës Schreibstil ist recht poetisch. Um die Klassenzugehörigkeit bestimmter Charaktere zu unterstreichen, wird ihre mündliche Rede im Yorkshire Accent geschrieben, welcher teils schwierig zu verstehen ist. Wie es für gothic literature typisch ist entspricht die Szenerie häufig der Atmosphäre. Geister spielen eine Rolle in der Geschichte, obgleich in Brontës Roman ihre Existenz nie tatsächlich bestätigt wird, was es dem Leser freistellt selbst darüber zu entscheiden, ob übernatürliche Dinge am Werk sind. Insgesamt handelt es sich um einen spannenden Roman, dessen größte Schwäche die zu unsympathischen Charaktere sind. Besonderes in der ersten Generation ist keiner der Charaktere besonders ansprechend, was das Interesse an ihrem Schicksal vermindert. In der zweiten Generation verbessert sich dies, obwohl auch hier die Charaktere ihre Fehler besitzen.

Love to hate it? Spaß beim Lesen: 1/5 Sternen Interesse an den Charakteren: 2/5 Sternen Würdigung des Werkes in Bezug auf die Zeit in der es entstanden ist: 5/5 Sterne weil wow Emily einfach wow Nachhallende Wirkung: 3/5 Sternen Durchschnitt: 2,75/Sternen

I know it's a classic and I'm sorry to say this but I absolutely HATE this book

i love myself some tragedy with absolutely no happiness and people seeking revenge. This one wasn't quite it for me though. I was expecting revenge as in Monte Christo and Tragedy I would enjoy (unlike R&J). Got the later not the first though. Sadly The choice of narrative was a terrible one and it only kept getting worse. I liked Heathcliff as a Character though he was dull and two dimensional a lot of the times. Sadly the others were worse. The last 100 pages were just overly boring to read for me. I couldn't have cared less for Hareton, Cathrine L. or Linton. There jsut wasn't enough of a connection (or in Catherine's case she just bored me). They just were there and they there was jump after jump to get to Heathcliffs death but ofc he needs the revenge (which was not really all that awesome either). They all just act like spoiled brats and I couldn't get entertainment out of it. Will I get a pretty hardcover copy? Absolutely. I didn't hate it and I am irresponsible with money. Will I read it again or recommend it? Probably not. I loved the Chapters with Catherine E. & Heathcliff though. And I did feel bad for some people sometimes. Just not enough to give it 4 stars.

This book is one of my all time favourites and I keep rereading it every so often. I just love it so much ❤️

I first read a German translation of Wuthering Heights out of interest during my school days; and then in University, I took several classes on Victorian literature, so of course I read WH not only once and under different view points. What I love most, and what kept me going through all the complicated relationships and the non-chronological order and aaaall the kitschy suffering - was how extreme the characters were. Not even likable - I'm not sure I feel much sympathy for any of them, truth be told -, but there are so many layers there to be analysed. I loved discovering how twisted both Cathy and Heathcliff are, and maybe try to grasp what made them that way, what motivated them etc. And then their harsh and unforgiving 'romance'. It isn't a classic for nothing, is all I can say.

After having some issues with the language (English is not my mother tongue) at the beginning, this book has become one of my absolute favourites. It strikes me that Emily Bronte wrote such a complex and horrid story being so young. I absolutely adores delving into the characters and their journeys. My moods and feelings towards them shifted and changed with every turning page. Also, the Gothic elements and the beautiful language round of this classical tale, that I definitely worth a read. I cannot wait to read more of the Bronte sisters.