W. Somerset Maugham Presents Wuthering Heights (The Ten Greatest Novels Selected By W. Somerset Maugham)

Hot on the tails of 'Jane Eyre', I read 'Wuthering Heights' not knowing anything beyond that it concerned two families and their warring relationship.

This did not prepare me for the utterly gripping yet despicable plot. There is not a single likeable character in the entire novel. Even the narrators are not exempt and I found Nell particularly unreliable being an active participant/manipulator of events.

It is such a dark story! Yet it can mean different things to different people and that helps to explain its status as a classic. One can read the setting as a symbol of hell wherein nobody can ever escape from their torment, among many other themes that have been uncovered down through the years.

I did not like a single character however, I found Isabella's development the best of all. She not only escapes Heathcliff, but Brontë also offers us a glimpse of character depth when Hindley shows her his knife and gun and she shares the inner feeling that holding the knife brought to her. No other character gets such an opportunity to share such a hidde admission.

I plowed through this book and its structure supported if not enabled such progress. It started fairly quickly and kept going at a constant pace.

Would I read it again? Perhaps. I certainly share the respect it deserves as a classic of English literature, but I cannot love it like I do other books. It is just too dark for my usual preferences. But if you have not read it, I encourage you to do so.