Wuthering Heights- An Intense tale of Passion with excess Morbidity

Wuthering Heights is a timeless classic penned by Emily Bronte of the famous Bronte Sisters. This book is one of the first works of Gothic Fiction published and the fact that this was penned by a female author of that era adds to the allure. I have heard so much about this book and was debating whether to pick this up or not; watching fellow bookstagrammers divided for their love or hatred for this book only intensified my curiosity, so I added this to the list of classics for my August Reads. I came out of the read with a love-hate relationship with the book.

Overview:

Author: Emily Brontë

Genre: Gothic, Classic

My Ratings: 3.5/5★

This book gave me an experience unalike any other offered by other books. I ended having a mix of feelings scattered across both ends of the spectrum, so don't mind me fluctuating wildly, torn between deep admiration and loathing.

The plot as such is pretty ordinary but the whole atmosphere the book produces is something unreal. The excess of morbidity added to the peculiar charm of the book. This book transported me to the isolated moor filled with wilderness and let me breathe the sharp air while watching the story unfold. The story didn't make me feel any rapport with the characters, I went to Wuthering Heights a observer and returned with a soul satisfied with at least a long exploration of the landscape. The characters are myriad and each very different; the leads extreme in their measures and actions, Heathcliff in particular. He is the perfect embodiment of wildness that he seems extremely unlike a human yet he is the most intense human you'd come across. The book will make you loathe the characters yet feel fleeting pity for each of their predicaments and maybe even develop a soft corner for a character or two. This book made me want to chuck it yet crave for more; the more I read the more this paradox of a feeling intensified. The passionate dialogues in particular was something that enhanced the experience. They were the life of the book and perfectly brings the essence of the book to the fore and highlights every crevice and pore. I've added a few shining excerpts that won't spoil the read in any way below:

There are quite a few aspects that made reading this difficult (except from of course, the complex characters. That is the basic essence of the book.) The language of the book takes some using to, especially the Scottish dialect of the long-serving servant Joseph. I spent most of the read trying in vain to comprehend what he was saying, for he is a crucial character. That, coupled with the slow start, made me take time to get in the book. But I feel the difficulty of comprehending Joseph's dialogues is sorted. If you're also like me wondering what he meant whenever he spoke, there's a site that has the conventional English translation for his dialogues! I discovered this site as I started writing this, so I hope this will help out for those who are to begin reading this book or who read but only half-understood based on conjecture and context (like me).

If you noticed, I specifically didn't add the blurb for this as I feel it does a great injustice to the book and actually deters from reading it (it did for me). This book perfectly captures the rawness and fiery wildness within its pages and offers a very different view on Life than most are accustomed to. This book will leave a profound effect on the reader; it did for me. Writing this made me feel maybe I'd want to take another look at the book, maybe I'd venture back into the wildness with the knowledge of what's to happen (I could hazard a great deal even the first time yet it did nothing to soften the impact) and analyze how I feel the second time around. This, in short, is an ideal read for people who love excesses of morbidity and wildness about. To those, I say, this might truly test your limits.

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~Reviewed by Kaveri (@bibliophilerants)~

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