Tuesday, February 8, 2011

WUTHERING HEIGHTS

I first came into contact with Wuthering Heights through the movie staring Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon, when I was a teenager.  My mother loves old movies and we used to watch them together.  Now, almost 25 yrs later after seeing the movie for the first time, I am now reading the novel behind it and find myself really engrossed in it.  I tend to shy away from books from this era because I am not familiar with the history or culture. I am pleasantly surprised by this novel and find it hard to put down.  There are some discrepancies between it and the movie, and I find myself thinking "hmmm....that's not what I remember from the movie", but anyone who has read a book and then witnessed the movie that it was based on, knows that this is true to form.

I also find the back story of the Bronte clan very interesting.  Especially how the women had to assume masculine identities in order to get their works published.  We tend to think that the practice of marketing and spin is a new concept, but I can see that this is an old practice.  It's tragic that Emily never knew that impact that her novel has had on the generations that followed her, having died so young.  It's also interesting to see how her life is somewhat mirrored in the novel Wuthering Heights.  As we continue to study this volume, it will be interesting to see how the story unfolds and how it relates to Emily's personal history.

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