Classics: Wuthering Heights

[dragoness_e]

Courtesy of my e-book reader and FREE BOOKS from Project Gutenburg, I am reading classics I avoided reading as a student, or re-reading some I did (and was bored by). I have also re-read many things I liked as an adolescent/college student. I find a mature adult perspective changes my attitude remarkably.

I find I like many of the classics *now*; I would not have enjoyed them as an adolescent or college student. I recently read Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, which is a totally awesome train wreck of dysfunctional characters. The author very carefully keeps your sympathies from battening too hard on to characters doomed to destruction, and preserves the characters she finally does let us like. I greatly enjoyed the book. I would have hated it as a student and not "gotten" it. I rather doubt I'd push it on adolescents in general, as I think they'd miss half of what's going on in that story, and care about less.

I have yet to re-read The Great Gatsby to see if it still sucks as much as it did in high school, though.

Having read and understood Wuthering Heights, what I'd like to know is this: What idiot got the idea that Heathcliff is any kind of hero, Byronic or otherwise? Heathcliff is the freaking villain!

Comments

[seawasp]

I heard people describing Wuthering Heights as a novel which could be interpreted as a vampire novel with Heathcliff as one of the villains.

[wrongly-amused.livejournal.com]

Haha, I once heard Wuthering Heights described as "a romance between two sociopaths who destroy the lives of everyone around them." I keep meaning to get around to reading it. Did you know Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series based on her love of WH and its "romantic" storyline. Explains a lot, doesn't it?

I remember really enjoying Gatsby in high school, though I think it's something I'd understand better now that I'm older.