book stuff

[amelia_petkova]

I'm about 3/4 of the way through reading Wuthering Heights for the first time. My main reactions:

--Ellen Dean fits the trope of Only Sane Man (in this case, Woman). I have no clue how she managed to put up with the other main characters for so long.

--I would never admire Cathy and Heathcliff as a romantic couple. They're horrible people and I want to punch them (along with most of the main cast).


--Cathy dies halfway through the book? Seriously? I'll admit, I got to that point and said, "So what the hell is supposed to happen for another couple hundred pages? It's like when Anna Karenina dies and there are several more chapters on the rest of the cast. Except that, you know, WH goes on for much longer.

Comments

[hasufin.livejournal.com]

I have held similar feelings about other works by the Brontes. I'm told it's just cultural, but I cannot muster respect for most of the people. Even the ones who aren't actively hurting others are utterly failing to be decent people.

[amelia-petkova.livejournal.com]

I mostly like Jane Eyre. I'm glad that I read Wuthering Heights but it's not a book that I'd read over and over again. I think that one of my problems is I have trouble finding the characters sympathetic--I don't have to want to be best friends with all the characters in the novels I read but I do need to find something about them that I can empathize with, and I don't have that in this book.