Book 5: Wuthering Heights

[vintagewitch]

Oof. OOF. What to say about this one.

My book club chose this book because it was one of our members' favorite classics, and we all wanted to read more classics. And I have to say, this book was not at all what I thought it was, but it was also absolutely, out-of-the-blue fantastic! For some reason (probably because of this great Puppini Sisters cover), I thought it was a romance/satire, along the lines of Austrn. Not, in fact, true at all.

I think this is such a curious work of fiction because it's really hard to nail down a genre. I'm not sure if it's a romance, a tragedy, gothic, romantic ... I was engrossed, and blown away by the ending because I had no idea where Bronte was going. I can't think of one similar work. And I loved that.

It's amazing to me to read (relatively) early novels because the plot is so much more experimental. I can't imagine this book being written now. If it had been, I feel like it would have been either straight romance, or straight tragedy. Not this mix of both.

I think this resonated with me because I love stories where the characters aren't that like able. That's part of why I love Girls, and also part of why I can't watch it too faithfully.

Anyway, next up for book club is The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan. I've read it before, but I have a different impression every time.

Comments

[trplnrdscre1.livejournal.com]

Wow! It's so wild that your experience with Wuthering Heights was so distinctive! I didn't know that you'd thought it was going to be more of an acerbic romantic satire and/or high society commentary a la Mansfield Park or Pride and Prejudice. I love that you enjoyed the surprise you were in for!

We talked about the genre dilemma at book club, too, a little bit -- it is technically framed as a sort of romance, but it isn't really. If anything it's more of a tragedy, or possibly a horror. If there's a hero at all, it's sure as shit not Heathcliff, and if there's a heroine, it's definitely not Catherine. The psychotic codependence is the tip of iceberg much too big to get into here, but I definitely want to talk more about this later!

Meanwhile, I hope you keep digging The Red Tree. I know I am! Looking forward to spending more time with you soon!

[alee_grrl]

Often I've seen Wuthering Heights referred to as a classic example of gothic romance, where romance is fraught with tension and tragedy. It's not the sort of explicit horror that we would see nowdays, but there are the seeds of that underneath with the hint of madness that runs through the story. It has long been an influence in gothic and horror literature, especially in stories where the setting and home are essentially characters themselves. I'm very much looking forward to the movie Crimson Peak that comes out in October as it will draw heavily from this style of story.