Wuthering Heights Reading Group

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hi there, got an invite from Stardust! I havent read WH in such a long time, since I was a teen really. It affected me a lot I remember, all that wild unfulfilled passion and tragedy. Must also admit to Kate Bush's song keeping this book alive in my memory!

If anyone doesnt have a copy of the novel (like me), you can read it free online here:

https://www.wuthering-heights.co.uk/wh/ ... chapter_01

On reflection, I like the character of Lockwood. When I’ve previously read WH I’ve looked past what he said to try to get to what I thought of as the ‘actual story’, which was a mistake as we’re seeing things through his eyes so I should have paid more attention. It seems his social struggles are what sent him to seek isolation, only to find that’s not what he wanted and ending up tangled in the messiness of WH- and he gets lost in the snow. Poor guy. And the window scene do you think it was Catherine’s ghost, or a dream or something else?

I loved the snowy descriptions, I could just imagine looking out and the landscape being unrecognisable. I generally love any winter descriptions in books.

I’m really enjoying the story through Nelly’s eyes, too. I like how honest and forthright she seems- admitting her initial fear of Heathcliff, her taking part in teasing him and later growing fond in a way of him- thinking he was uncomplaining and not vindictive. The animal imagery Nelly uses is quite interesting too and full of contrasts- on one hand, she says Heathcliff is uncomplaining as a lamb, but also describes this as being from hardness which doesn’t seem lamb-like at all, and also describing him as a Cuckoo.

I also found in interesting how she classes herself one of the Lintons, calling them ‘us’ and this contrast between her being a part of the family (being offered a gift by Mr Earnshaw and eating porridge with Cathy and Hindley), and Heathcliff’s introduction to them all. Who is Heathcliff? I remember wondering on my last read if he was actually Mr Earnshaw’s son or a relation of some sort.

I've only started wading through the vast list of characters already in Chapters One and Two and am confused. This is all me and I dont like reading books online either, you can't dog ear an online page...

Yes it was a ghost, her icy little ghost hand. Someone posted a photo of Catherine's room at Ponden Hall on Twitter,
I got chills looking at it (I hope this works!)

[https://twitter.com/hell4heather/status/857877773511270401

If you read it on the kindle app I think you can bookmark it?
I think when looking through this thread I came across a previous post by Isabella saying the characters all have similar names/sounds on purpose to mystify the reader. If that's true it certainly works, lol.

Here's a brief summary of the characters (thinking if we get confused we can just refer back to this ):

Lockwood: First character we meet, new tenant of Thrushcross Grange.

Heathcliff: Landlord of Thrushcross, orphan that Mr. Earnshaw brings home from Liverpool and raises alongside his own children, Isabellas husband. Linton’s father

Catherine Earnshaw/Linton: Daughter of Mr Earnshaw, sister of Hindley, wife of Edgar, Catherine’s mother.

Hindley Earnshaw: Son of Mr Earnshaw, brother of Catherine, Husband of Frances, Father of Hareton

Mr Earnshaw: Father of Hindley and Catherine

Edgar Linton: Brother of Isabella, husband of Catherine, father of Cathering (younger)

Isabella Linton: Sister of Edgar, wife of Heathcliff, mother of Linton

Frances Earnshaw: wife of Hindley, mother of Hareton

Hareton Earnshaw: son of Frances and Hindley, cousin of Catherine (younger)

Linton Heathcliff: Son of Isabella and Heathcliff, cousin and husband of Catherine (younger)

Catherine (younger/jnr): daughter of Catherine and Edgar, wife (widow) and cousin of Linton, cousin of Hareton

Joseph: Servant that’s worked at WH for a long time, speaks in Yorkshire dialect

Nelly Dean: Servant first of WH and later Thrushcross

The descriptions of the hand are very creepy aren't they?

That's such a fitting and atmospheric photograph. Ponden Hall is brilliant
(Ponden is the setting of a recent book, too- 'the girl at the window' by Rowan Coleman. It sounds brilliant and a bit spooky too, I plan to read it soon )

Anyone feel like reading WH ?