Book Overview
One of English literature's classic masterpieces--a gripping novel of love, propriety, and tragedy. Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read Emily Bront 's only novel endures as a work of tremendous and far-reaching influence. The Penguin Classics edition is the definitive version of the text, edited with an introduction by Pauline Nestor. Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange, situated on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before. What unfolds is the tale of the intense love between the gypsy foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw. Catherine, forced to choose between passionate, tortured Heathcliff and gentle, well-bred Edgar Linton, surrendered to the expectations of her class. As Heathcliff's bitterness and vengeance at his betrayal is visited upon the next generation, their innocent heirs must struggle to escape the legacy of the past. In this edition, a new preface by Lucasta Miller, author of The Bront Myth, looks at the ways in which the novel has been interpreted, from Charlotte Bront onwards. This complements Pauline Nestor's introduction, which discusses changing critical receptions of the novel, as well as Emily Bront 's influences and background.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0141439556
ISBN13:9780141439556
Release Date:December 2002
Publisher:Penguin Classics
Length:416 Pages
Weight:0.70 lbs.
Dimensions:1.0" x 5.0" x 7.6"
Age Range:18 years and up
Grade Range:Postsecondary and higher
Related Subjects
0 - 2 Years 13 - 17 Years 9 - 12 Years Classics Fiction Literature & Fiction RomanceCustomer Reviews
7 ratings
Excellent!
Published by Michelle_Belle , 11 months ago
Excellent quality, condition as described.
Timeless
Published by F. Perkins , 4 years ago
One of my favorite books of all time! Haunting gothic romance with such beautiful prose to accompany the unique and twisted story.
Easily in my top three favorites of all time
Published by Steff D , 5 years ago
A fantastic book to be sure, weeks after reading it I still find myself thinking about it and all the characters, halfway through I was already excited to re read it!!! I would recommend reading a couple classics before this one, because at times it is slightly challenging, but if you have experience with prose style and other classics this should be not only a breeze but a huge perspective changer on life and literature as a whole. You will love and hate and relate to all the characters at the same time
Once a classic, always a classic
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 16 years ago
This is a good version, the whole book is there (some versions have made it two volumes) with space between chapters to write your notes. Short, concise and helpful notes on the themes and motifs in the front of the book. As for the book itself, it has old-fashioned language though it is poetic enough for anyone to enjoy. The tone is dark, but en-capturing and exiting on a social psychological level. It can teach you a thing or two about the effects society and upbringing have on people.
Critical edition
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 16 years ago
This edition of withering heights has many useful critical essays on the text and some pretty pictures too.
A novel unsurpassed in it's force of being.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
Emily Jane Bronte wrote Wuthering Heights not to show what love IS. But what love can DO to those who are encompassed by desire. This novel is simply brilliant and by far the greatest novel of the Brontes and (in my opinion) the greatest novel ever written. I say this because Emily laid aside all the conventional types of victorian writing and imbued her novel with persons and events that are not ordinary, but utterly fascinating. Almost completely unrealistic at times, yet perfectly sound in their meanings. Some say to me that Wuthering Heights is impossible to enjoy. While others say they dislike the characters so much that they had to stop reading. I also hear that they cannot figure out all the plot twist and turns. But I say, is this not what REAL-LIFE is? There is no certainty of happiness in the lives of Catherine and Heathcliff. Certainly there is no certainty of happiness for ANYONE in the novel. (Which goes the same for all of us.) As wretched as this seems, Emily (in my opinion) did not write a full blown epic of true romance, despite what many say they love about this novel. She took humans and turned them into what is surprizingly MORE realistic. Emily filled them with faults and turned Cathy and Heathcliff into selfish and undeserving people who destroy each other, not out of love, but out of greed and their own unharnessable animal-like behaviour of what love was TO THEM. What they do and say isn't romantic, but a sign (or even a warning from Emily) of what self indulgence and obsession can do to people pushed beyond their limits of common sense. Cathy and Heathcliff brought themselves to believe that their love was REAL, when in fact their grasp of love was (as Charlotte said, PERVERTED.) Unrelenting in it's destructivness, thus leading to the various calamities their actions bestowed upon the (somewhat) innocent people surrounding them. As brilliant as this novel is, the greatness lies in the story telling of the many different characters we meet. The many different view points from Nellie to Edgar to Isabella and Hindley, spread across the pages and show you how they interact and react with one another as they expierence the situations which seem so very wild and incredible yet ring so very true. This (to me) is not exactly a novel about unbending love. But more of a study of the weaknesses that is stored in everyman. Emily gave us a written guide to show that following your instincts and passions is not always the best path to take. And Emily accomplished this with the most brilliant and unsurpassed written novel in history. It's pages burn with life and it's characters speak in tongues which, even now, I cannot always fully understand. Wuthering Heights can be looked upon as a fascinating study of a particular human race (at what could be any time frame) covering the ground of but a few persons, admist the many open miles... Thank you for your eyes...
Best English Assignment
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
I'm 16 and fall into the vast catogory of Wutehring Heights readers who had to finish it for a highschool english assignment. If I hadn't been, er, forced to read it, I never would've encountered this amazing book. The themes that it encompasses, love, hate, revenge, isolation, are so masterfully blended in this book that I found it extremely powerful. True, it is not a romance - it is so much more. I didn't find it confusing, although Joseph's lines had to be read allowed several times before they were actaully understood. The doubling-up of names just increases the sense of isolation within the book, something which I think is rather important to the story. I hardly find this book boring at all, it's passionate and full of action, something which took me completely off guard. Please, give it a chance. And even though he was a complete jerk, my favourite character is still Heathcliff. *G*
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