Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Let me start off by saying this book is a depressing yet highly realistic view into a tragic love story that viscously and contemptuously destroys almost every character in this novel. I want to say it's more a story about dispair and self-distruction than it is a love story, but it's not; it's both. It's a novel that highlights obsession and tormented love at it's finest.

The main characters of Wuthering Heights are both complex and compelling. Once you think you may have one figured out it becomes apparent that you really don't. Catherine Earnshaw is a crazy, selfish brat who I loved to hate (she is seriously BANANAS) and Heathcliff is a tortured and displaced soul who I hated to love. I would like to believe Heathcliff is misunderstood and deep down has a kind heart, but after finishing the novel it becomes clear he is truly malicious. But I still couldn't hate him. Rather, I felt bad for him. I wanted him to be happy or at least find a sliver of kindness in his body, but it never happened. He was a tortured soul until the end. I also really liked the structure of the novel. Told through Mr. Lockwood's diary as narrated from Nelly, the servant who has witnessed the novel's events unfold - genius.

For me, this was very much a departure from the bittersweet, everything-is-rainbows-and-butterflies type of love story and I liked that. I liked it a lot. It's like when I'm really upset about something and for one whole day I allow myself to be completly useless and embrace my sadness; eat pizza, drink wine, don't work out, watch tv, embrace it. That's what this book was like for me. It was a look into a world where nothing is happy and everyone hates each other and they die miserable.

That being said, those of you who haven't read this probably won't want to. But you should. Really. It's worth it. You can't help but relate to the tortured characters. Even crazy Cathy when she complains, "Oh, I am burning! I wish I were out of doors! I wish I were a girl again, half savage and hardy, and free; and laughing at injuries, not maddening under them!"

Publisher: Barnes and Noble Classics

Year of First Edition: 1847