I am not a book reviewer. When writing about a fiction work, you could discuss the plot, the characters, what messages are being delivered, the influence on the work of the society in which it was produced, etc. All I am trying to do is mostly say if I thought a book was worth reading, deserved the acolytes it did or didn’t get, and if it accurately conveyed something of the human condition. So I apologize in advance if I either deliver spoilers or don’t do justice to a book. I just finished Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, as part of my current run through classic literature. Mostly I am reading Western works, and they tend to come from the 1800s and early 1900s, the period when so much great literature was produced. I intend to explore Asian, South American and African literature if I have time, but there is so much to read.
Wuthering Heights surprised me, I truly remembered nothing from my initial read of it decades ago as a school assignment. The item that struck me most was the relentlessly chilling portrayal of the main character Heathcliff, who is on a lifelong mission to exact economic and emotional revenge on those he perceives as his enemies, in the most cruel manner. The plot in brief is a story of a young boy who was found on the streets of an English city and taken in by a somewhat well-off family in rural England. He falls in love with a young girl from the family, but is banned from marrying her and she marries a neighboring lad. Bronte’s depiction of the emotional manipulation conducted by Heathcliff is masterful and would apply to many situations and relationships today. The novel has a nominally happy ending; but along the way Heathcliff ruins many lives, including his own.
I am struck by how many of these English novels are realistic in the sense of portraying the often dark side of humans and human behavior and the complexity of characters. As is usually the case, the book is well worth a read or re-read.
