Book 38- Wuthering Heights (31st book)

Ah, Wuthering Heights. One of the first classical novels I ever read. I picked it up as a teenager out of anger that Jane Austen's book should be considered classics. One of my friends were reading  everything they could get by her, but to me the novels seemed like fluffy fiction. I chose Wuthering Heights for its darker elements and as a more realistic counterpart to the Jane Austen classics. In terms of re-reading it for the  list of Novel 100, I didn't. I purchased a 1967 BBC DVD version of the story so that it might refresh my memory of my teen reading of it. Book 38- Wuthering Heights was the very first one I ever read off of the list.

I am highly amused, because it now seems equally as contrived as Jane Austen's novels. Although it plumbs the depths of  the darkness of the human heart and shows how singular incidents in a person's life can twist them into "monsters" beyond human recognition, it is filled with angst. It takes the theme to an extreme and reminds me of just how angst-y I was as a teen.The story is good however, and keeps the attention. This time around I hated everyone in the book though and wanted to beat each of the characters to within an inch of their life!

The one part that I did like, and the only memory I have of the book from my original reading of it is the image of the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange being confronted by Catherine's ghost. I found that image extremely chilling, and they movie version watched did equally as well at portraying the eeriness of it.

The other thing that the DVD did well at conveying was the wind along the moors. I remember that being a very big feature of the book too. Overall, the thing that I like Wuthering Heights for is that it conveys a mood of melancholy very well. I have always been a fan of blustery days and would love to see what Wuthering Heights would actually be like.

I will very quickly be on to book 39-The Tin Drum. I happened to find it at a used bookstore for $3 so I am very excited to read it.