That's the only word to describe my relationship with Heathcliff and Cathy*. Regardless of the setting, era or their names, I think I'll always want to punch them both in the face.
So, due to nothing other than my own issues, I've decided to stop reading The Heights, Brian James' contemporary re-imagining of Wuthering Heights. Because otherwise I might get more violent than I already am.
But someone else with a higher tolerance for their assiness should read it to let me know how it is.
Because I am curious. And I'd like to know if I should just get over myself and keep reading.
Maybe I'll talk my long-suffering co-worker into taking it home.
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*Oh, except for Heathcliff in Wuthering High. But he was funny in that one. And he was played for laughs in at least one of the Jasper Fforde books, too.
Well, you're better than me. I can't stand Wuthering Heights, and I had to read it for three different classes in college. Ugh. I even went to Haworth and walked on the very moors that inspired Bronte, and I still couldn't get into it. My problem lies more with Cathy than Heathcliff, but I'm still not going to read this. Thanks for the warning. :)
Posted by: Jessi | 11 August 2009 at 08:45 AM
Like I said, though -- it's totally my* problem. I'm not blaming the author or the book or anything. I'm sure there are loads of people with less issues who will enjoy it.
*Although, I guess if you also have the WH hate, it's yours, too!
Posted by: Leila | 11 August 2009 at 08:50 AM
I also suffer from a complete inability to find anything worthwhile or sympathetic in the story of Catherine and Heathcliff, so I suspect this book will likewise be Not For Me.
If Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes couldn't make me care about these characters (and I dutifully sat through the whole of that movie adaptation just in case I'd been having a bad day when I read the book) then IMO nobody can.
Which is a pity, because the idea of a contemporary re-imagining is actually kind of cool.
Posted by: R.J. Anderson | 11 August 2009 at 10:30 AM
Favorite lines from Bridget Jones's Diary:
"It struck me as pretty ridiculous to be called Mr. Darcy and to stand on your own looking snooty at a party. It's like being called Heathcliff and insisting on spending the entire evening in the garden, shouting 'Cathy' and banging your head against a tree."
Posted by: LaurieA-B | 11 August 2009 at 10:49 AM
Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES! I love that line.
Posted by: Leila | 11 August 2009 at 11:02 AM
Oh good! I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thinks that the characters of Wuthering Heights should have been drowned as children. I mean, I know it's a classic and all, but much like when I read a Brett Easton Ellis book I quickly cam to the conclusion that everyone in the story was a selfish jerk who brought his or her unhappiness upon themselves and would probably be much happier dead...and it would make me happier too.
Posted by: Str4y | 11 August 2009 at 12:15 PM
Bwahaha! Thanks for the laugh, and for the threatened violence to Heathcliff and Cathy, and for use of the word "assiness".
Posted by: Kelly Fineman | 11 August 2009 at 01:45 PM
I always thought Cathy was an annoying "heroine". And I felt sorry for Heathcliff for somehow falling in love with her.
Posted by: Sharry | 11 August 2009 at 08:26 PM
In one of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books he has this great bit where the whole WH group are in therapy and Heathcliff keeps failing for anger mgmt issues. It's about the only time I've ever enjoyed reading about them. I wish someone could explain to me why in the hell this disfunctional relationship is a classic. (I didn't even crack the cover on "The Heights" when it showed up - just immediately put in the donate pile."
Posted by: Colleen | 11 August 2009 at 09:17 PM
Ohhh, it was Heathcliff and Cathy who drove you nuts! ME TOO. Dear God. The only thing that's ever made them tolerable for me is that Monty Python sketch of "Semaphore Wuthering Heights," which is pretty much what you'd imagine.
Posted by: EM | 12 August 2009 at 06:42 AM
Colleen, that awesome, awesome scene was in The Well of Lost Plots. And there's a comparison to Titus Andronicus that prompts Linton to moan, "I don't want to be baked in a pie..."
It still cracks me up.
And EM, that skit rules as well. (It starts at about the one minute mark.)
Posted by: Leila | 12 August 2009 at 07:50 AM
As one of the Four Bitchin' Babes said, "Cathy, get some therapy!"
Posted by: web | 15 August 2009 at 04:04 PM