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Post by Dominique on Sept 19, 2006 0:16:39 GMT -5
Wow, I take back what I said before about feeling sorry for Heathcliff, he really turns into a monster doesn't he? His treatment of Isabella is appalling, having failed in attaining Catherine he seems to have acquired a hatred of women.
It seems the abusive and neglectful treatment he suffered as a child did not break him, but his consuming and thus far insatiated passion for Catherine succeeds in turning him in to an inhumane, morally reprehensible character.
Currently halfway through the book.
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czarval
Collection of short stories published by an independent editor
Posts: 607
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Post by czarval on Sept 19, 2006 11:36:19 GMT -5
I don't know if I would call him a monster. He wasn't treated very well, and that's how he ended up. I think he's a little redeemed in the end, the way he keeps loving Catherine. But you may not be that far along yet.
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Post by Dominique on Sept 19, 2006 19:08:29 GMT -5
I liked him in the beginning for ages but in the middle it's very difficult to continue to do so. I'm not that far along yet.
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czarval
Collection of short stories published by an independent editor
Posts: 607
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Post by czarval on Sept 20, 2006 17:46:44 GMT -5
Oops, sorry. I really liked Heathcliffe and Catherine. They had an intensity that you don't usually find in book characters, and not really at all in the Brontes' books. I like the ending too, but I won't go into that.
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Post by Dominique on Sept 23, 2006 5:58:31 GMT -5
ok I just finished it. I have to say it's one of the best books I've ever read. All the characters are so strong and so well drawn. I loved it. Particularly how Catherine and Harleton got together I thought was poetic, it was like a mirror of Catherine and Heathcliff's relationship and I liked the way the two persecuted characters of the two households found love in eachother in an otherwise desolate world.
I still didn't like Heathcliff's character in the end, but I did feel sympathy for him. To me he strikes me as someone with a mental disorder of some sort. Wonderful character though, so complex with so many levels and shades. Emily Bronte is truly talented.
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czarval
Collection of short stories published by an independent editor
Posts: 607
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Post by czarval on Sept 25, 2006 17:23:38 GMT -5
I thought you might feel that way. The end really changes how you see Heathcliffe's character. It's one of my favourite-est books ever.
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Post by Dominique on Sept 26, 2006 21:33:21 GMT -5
yeah it has definately earned a spot on my fave books list. One of my friends was named after one of the Catherines in the book... I wonder which one it was...
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czarval
Collection of short stories published by an independent editor
Posts: 607
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Post by czarval on Sept 27, 2006 9:36:27 GMT -5
I would hope the nice one.
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neh
Collection of short stories published by an independent editor
"I live in two worlds; one is a world of books"
Posts: 943
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Post by neh on Oct 8, 2006 3:34:56 GMT -5
Nope; i can attest that Cath was indeed named after bratty whiny self-centered central Cathy and she loathes the text as a result. I myself think the novel was very well-written, but i hate practically everyone in it. I have to re-read it for Uni and it's not proving to be a pleasurable experience.
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lostgirl
First short story featured in regional newspaper
Posts: 132
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Post by lostgirl on Oct 9, 2006 20:46:09 GMT -5
It's one of my favorites. That said there are really only a few characters I can sympathize with. Heathcliff is really brutal, Cathy is selfish, Edgar is shallow and spiteful... I find myself clinging to the fringe characters like Nelly and Isabella. They seem more human to me
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neh
Collection of short stories published by an independent editor
"I live in two worlds; one is a world of books"
Posts: 943
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Post by neh on Oct 9, 2006 21:02:39 GMT -5
Ditto to that (and i don't mind Cathy Jnr really, or sober REASONABLE Hindley) Sadly almost everyone in my Rom Vic Lit class dislike and distrusy Nelly, whereas for the most part she's the only one i cared for (i know the sympathy Isabella evokes in you LG, and i understand that, especially in light of your work, but she's one very foolish girl - i know that's harsh though)
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lostgirl
First short story featured in regional newspaper
Posts: 132
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Post by lostgirl on Oct 9, 2006 23:53:23 GMT -5
She's not "foolish" she's more naive and romantic. She pays for it though! And at least she takes some action to change her life
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neh
Collection of short stories published by an independent editor
"I live in two worlds; one is a world of books"
Posts: 943
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Post by neh on Oct 9, 2006 23:55:51 GMT -5
Sorry LG *cuddle* i'm too harsh on her, i know
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czarval
Collection of short stories published by an independent editor
Posts: 607
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Post by czarval on Oct 11, 2006 13:36:11 GMT -5
I'm pretty harsh on Isabella too. She's so simply clueless. I think that Wuthering Heights is one of those books I like, even though I don't really like any of the characters.
Is it just me, or do you think it was written so you don't really like the characters?
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neh
Collection of short stories published by an independent editor
"I live in two worlds; one is a world of books"
Posts: 943
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Post by neh on Oct 12, 2006 2:53:48 GMT -5
I think it's a mark of a gifted writer when you can compose a tale that still interests the reader yet doesnt attempt in any way to coerce your affections towards its characters; in my mind that's what WH does. I think it holds some truly wonderful moments of prose and houses two of the most diasgreeable and subsequently well-suited lovers known to Lit land!
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