The reading club commenced. Our first selection...Wuthering Heights. Seemed like a classic, romantic selection...but the three of us (my mom, my sister and I) did not truly understand what we were diving into.
Several chapters in, we have unanimously decided to abandon this one! Wuthering Heights is a dark, eerie book with strange characters and mysterious plot. Please know that this book, defined by many as a classic, I do not recommend!
For certain, nothing in this book leads a reader's thoughts to dwell on "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely..." (Philippians 4:8)
4 comments:
I've never read this book, and I think a lot of the 'classics' aren't all they are cracked up to be. If a book doesn't grab me by about 50-75 pages, I don't read it.
My word verification is 'marbawyv' and that is how I feel about some of the classics! LOL!
Linda,
It was not so much the book was uninteresting, but that the content was quite disturbing and not worth my time. I read through chapter 12, but when the main character began throwing tantrums and making herself go insane... I decided that is not what I want to be dwelling on.
There are much better books to be spending my time on!
I read the book years ago and could hardly put it down, but it affected me adversely (I felt a demonic oppresion). The Lord convicted me and my copy went into the fire. It certainly doesn't measure up to our guideline, Phil. 4:8. Aunt Pris.
I usually don't comment, but this one drew me out of the woodwork. I've always loved Wuthering Heights. The content IS disturbing. It's the story of people who are self-consumed and self-involved and who don't truly know how to love. The characters end up destroying their lives and the lives of those around them because they make one selfish decision after another. I think if you had read to the end, you would see that the author was trying to illustrate the dangers of self-obsession and consuming passion. It's a commentary on the horrors of a life lived apart from love, mercy, compassion and grace.
What makes Bronte's story a classic is that she did something no author had done before -- she wrote the anti-love story. The characters are the antithesis of what they should be and the story devolves as they become increasingly selfish. This was groundbreaking literature at the same -- made even more shocking by the fact that it was written by a woman.
Many people who read the book don't like it -- the characters aren't meant to be liked. But that doesn't make it a bad book or something that people should avoid. At the least, it serves as a cautionary tale of the result of a selfish life. At best, it reminds us of our sinful condition and utter wretchedness apart from Christ.
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