Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

"... one of Emily Bronte's most extraordinary achievements in this novel is the domiciling of the monstrous in the ordinary rhythms of life and work, thereby making it at the same time less monstrous and more disturbing." --Introduction, p. 29

I agree with the more disturbing, less monstrous and extraordinary achievement, not so much. I read this novel in college, and apparently wrote a paper about the role of marriage in the novel based on the notes in my copy. My recollection of the book was that it was a solid novel. My experience on rereading is that I can't believe I ever liked this. The characters are horrible, petty people who do things that make no sense at all--including more than one character murdering puppies, apparently for recreation--and the actions they take are out of all proportion to the events that cause those actions. I cannot imagine why anyone would have a desperate passion for Heathcliff or Catherine as they are both horrid to everyone around them and incredibly self-centered. The fact that everyone has the same names is supposedly symbolic of the cyclical nature to the novel and of life, but I found it confusing.
If you want a tale of emotional intensity with a dark brooding hero read Rebecca.
This book counts toward the RIP IX Challenge (which is really the only reason I finished it).