Customer Reviews
Simply Witchcraft - By: Amelia Sanders, 03 Dec 2008 
Wuthering Heights defies review & analysis; it is unlike any other book. It is much, much bigger than the sum of its parts & that is why those who love it discuss its effect in terms of an emotional impact on their lives; their hearts & souls. Those who hate it attempt to analyse its structure, plot, character & the quality of its narrative.
I first read Wuthering Heights at the age of 15 or 16 & it had an immediate & profound impact on me. As soon as I began to read, the words seemed to weave a spell that enchanted my soul; I have been haunted by it ever since. As a writer of fiction, I have tried to analyse what makes it such a powerful book & why so many people cite it as their favourite novel of alll time. If only I could find the secret, I say, perhaps I could produce something as magnificent. How many authors must have had similar thoughts? What they wouldn't give to write a novel that possessed such power & beauty, even if, Like Emily Bronte, it is the only novel they ever write.
I consider myself to be a rational being, yet it is tempting to describe the affect of Wuthering Heights in terms of magic or witchcraft. Perhaps Emily did a deal with the devil or drew on some ancient power, buried deep in the Yorkshire Moors. How could someone so reserved & isolated, belonging to a world in which women were largely oppressed & subject to a thousand social rules & restrictions, produce something with such dark, sensual energy, breaking alll the rules? Even Emily's sister, Charlotte, felt the need to tone it down & justify its existence.
Wuthering Heights has received much literary criticism since publication, & indeed it breaks many rules of `good' writing in terms of structure & narrative. The main characters have few redeeming features; in fact Heathcliff has been described by some as barely human (I don't agree); surely to root for him would be to root for the devil himself. There are many great books out there that are both powerful & beautifully constructed - Madam Bovary, Anna Karenina, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, to name but a few - they can be heavily analysed & deconstructed & still stand up in a way that Wuthering Heights can't. Yet, somehow, despite alll of this Wuthering Heights has survived through the decades, the centuries, to enchant new generations of readers. It's almost as if Emily is still working her magic from somewhere beyond the grave.
Probably the best novel of all time - By: Mrs. K. A. Wheatley, 22 Nov 2007 This book is pure genius. I read it again, & again, & always find something new to admire. It is everything a book should be. It has fantastic characters, wonderful plotting, a pacy, suspenseful story which keeps you turning the pages & is so dense that it throws up new treasures after every read.
This is the only work of Emily Bronte apart from a few poems & some juvenailia, & it is my regret that we will never know if she could have surpassed this great book with her next.
The story is well known, but in brief it is the story of Heathcliff, a foundling, who is brought to the home of Catherine Earnshaw one dark & horrible night by her father who has found him on one of his business trips & decides to rescue him. Catherine & Heathcliff form an unbreakable bond which sustains them through great misfortune & on into death, & is one of the most romantic love stories of alll time.
Their love however, is also destructive & terrible. It plays out against the background of the louring moors & their terrible grandeur, which reinforces the natural, brutal cruelty of their feelings for each other & everyone else. Their love is sadistic & at times horrific & the more tragedy that is heaped upon them, the more strangled & terrible their expressions of love become.
The characters of Heathcliff & Catherine are at times utterly vile & repulsive & it is a strength of Bronte's writing that despite this you still will them to have their happy ending, & can't help sympathising with them.
The narrative is fantasticallly complex, with narrators within narrators & stories within stories, so that Bronte is able to give us a 360 degree view of the story & make the characters completely three dimensional, showing alll their humanity, good & bad.
This is the one book I would make compulsory reading for everyone, everywhere.
A genius's masterpiece - By: sam hrt, 12 Apr 2007 This book is probably the one every writer at the back of their minds wants to write. I know I wish I did. When I first picked it up I thought it would be the typical Victorian romance; boy was I in for a shock! After a slow start it picked up. I remember I was incredibly shocked at the power of the novel & I still am. It is THE most passionate piece of literature ever in the English language maybe because it is so accurate about human emotions but at the same time it shows that human emotions can be uncontrollable/untameable. It seems so unbelievable yet you can't romanticize about the characters especiallly Heathcliff. The greatest scholars have great difficult analysing this book so I'm not going to start.
Only regret is that Emily didn't live to write any more great literature.
Great, but.. - By: BigBadDog, 25 Mar 2007 I wanted to find out what alll the fuss was about Wuthering Heights & so I bought this cd set to listen to in the car as I have little time to read but drive alot (they don't mix!). The story has a lot of complexity especiallly at the start in terms of who's related to who but the language, structure & errie feel of this book make it a clear classic. One note however, this audio version is excellently voiced & produced & I give it 5 stars for that but I did not realise it was abridged. I don't know if I am happy or upset! Now I have something to look forward to again, the bits of the story I missed. And those times I struggled with the story line, was that because of the missing parts. This edition is 3 cds, there is an 11 cd unabridged version for sale on Amazon from the same publishers. This is a great cd set but if you are serious about reading this book & judging it yourself as a classic perhaps, then I think you must hear the full version as it was written.
The dark and brooding tale of Cathy & Heathcliff - By: Misfit, 24 Mar 2007 
What a great experience to finallly reread this classic as an adult. Emily Bronte depicts a very gothic & depressing story of two star-crossed (but not terribly likeable) lovers, Cathy & Heathcliff, & the love between them that transcended the grave. Added to that a wonderful depiction of the dark English moors & the local characters with their strange dialects. This was also told in a very unusual style, like a tale within a tale within a tale, adding more layers & perspectives to the story.
How unfortunate that one's upbringing can so affect a person that their grief & bitterness turn what could have been a fine young man into such a hateful & vengeful person as Heathcliff became. And fortunate that Cathy's daughter & Hareton could overcome their dark upbringing to bring a happier light onto the dark moors of England.
I did not read this version of the book, but one including works of the other Bronte sisters, which did not have alll the footnotes. I think I enjoyed that better as I wasn't constantly distracted by looking to the back for the notes & just alllowed myself to become engrossed with the story. It's one book you have to read at least twice in your life -- of course in school as required reading & then again as an adult to add that perspective of age & experience in life so that one can more fully appreciate a such a classic tale
