Plain View #66 - April 12, 2007

Bufe

Kids collection

Ski trip

Talladega Nights

Potty talk

Sweet Hereafter

(the rural juror)

Research paper

Atheists

Extreme Home Makeover

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This is a book I can't really do much justice to because I didn't treat it fairly while reading it. I started Wuthering Heights as the logical next choice since I'm going through my books alphabetically by author. No, I haven't gotten very far since I'm only on "Bronte", but that's mostly because I get distracted a lot because of brand new books in series or books being adapted to film. So I started Emily Bronte's book in August while waiting in the car dealer for my Mini to be serviced. I didn't read any of it again until I went in for another service in January, and since then I've finally caught up with it and finished it. Poor Emily - she's only got one bestseller to her name, and I didn't really treat it with respect.

Quick setup: There's an estate called Wuthering Heights, rich family, and the father adopts Heathcliff, a gypsy-like boy. He's a wild child, and he's the best of the friends with his adopted sister, Catherine, with whom he eventually falls in love. Catherine and Heathcliff are two peas in a pod for several years, until she meets Edgar Linton and he proposes. She stupidly accepts even though she's in love with Heathcliff, and Heathcliff stupidly does nothing to stop her. She marries Edgar Linton and moves to his estate called The Grange. Heathcliff goes away for a while and comes back rich and ready for revenge on everyone who ever kept him from his beloved Catherine, and he accomplishes that hatefully and thoroughly, though he suffers much himself.

Emily Bronte's writing style is definitely a bit more blunt and unfeminine than sister Charlotte's. It's less flowy yet more rambling, and while Charlotte's story begins darkly and emerges into the light, Emily's moves in the opposite direction. While it's easy to see the similarities between the two due to their shared experiences in life, it's a lot of fun to see the different approaches they take.

This moody piece is told by way of a narrative within a narrative. A person from the outside enters the world of the Grange and Wuthering Heights as a tenant, only to find himself captivated by Nelly the maid's long tale of the two families. I like that. It's like a film within a film within a film when Nelly repeats dialogue from other people, especially the cranky and religious Joseph. I like the many layers by which the story comes across to me as the reader, because since it's so far removed from the actual happenings, it's already become somewhat of a legend. It's easy to imagine that the story has been overexaggerated in some areas, or that details were lost in others. At any rate, it's that storytelling aspect that makes it more engrossing to me as a reader.

Something I also appreciated was Bronte's ability to make Heathcliff a character who is meant to be despised, but also pitied. He accomplishes so much to make us hate him, yet when he (poetically) describes what life without Catherine is like, we want to make everything work for him. This love-hate relationship between protagonist and reader was very interesting. Actually, I'm not even sure I ever hated him - he did some really cruel things, but somehow I always rooted for him anyway, and when he sinks to his lowest depths at the graveyard, it somehow seemed excusable because his love somehow made him more human.

Anyway, the only writings I read about this book were those included in the introduction (which really shouldn't be read until afterwards anyway). I liked the focus on how Heathcliff and Catherine are somehow one, and how the lines between their individuality are often blurred, especially with the introduction Catherine and Edgar's daughter, also called Catherine. I don't really have a lot to elaborate on there, but I liked perusing that discussion.

This is pretty much all on the surface. I should probably do some more reading about the book - we'll see if I find the time. At any rate, I thought it was great and am surprised I never read it earlier, considering my tendency to enjoy darker tales. I'm sure Becky's reading this and thinking, "Yeah, finally!" :)

Didn't get tickets to Coachella? Didn't want to brave the heat and crowds (for which I don't blame anyone)? Have no fear, you can still watch the show, from the looks of things, at the AT&T Blue Room, which is actually a pretty decent music site. The coverage starts tomorrow at 3 PM Pacific and goes til Midnight each night of the show.

Oh man, I forgot to mention a recent happening. The guy who was largely responsible for me leaving Disneyland, the one who didn't get in any kind of trouble at all over the events that occurred, was fired recently. I don't know why and I don't really care. Chalk that one up to the Karma Police. That's all I have to say about that.