Sunday Salon - June 26

A little of this and a little of that for you this week, all book-related for a change! From NPR, a couple of links for you. First up, some literary getaways for this summer, including Ann Patchett's State of Wonder and Miss New India by Bharati Mukherjee. What literary getaway would you recommend for summer reading?

Also from NPR, Nancy Pearl's 10 Terrific Summer Reads. Delighted to find on Ms. Pearl's list The Coffins of Little Hope by Timothy Schaffert. So now, don't just take my word for it, listen to the wonderful librarian and get yourself a copy!

(Joe Shlobotnik/Flckr)

On Point Radio, with Tom Ashbrook (heard on NPR--you think maybe I listen too much?!), recently compiled a list of listener's best summer read picks. The list includes everything from classics to just released titles; fiction to non-fiction to memoir. Some book "experts" also gave their suggestions for the summer. Are any of these on your agenda in the coming months? I've got a couple that I'm hoping to get to, including The Gap Year by Sarah Bird and Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan.

From Barnes & Noble, their Bookseller's Guide to Good Reading. Included are some hot reads (Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, Before I Go To Sleep and the last installment of the Stephanie Plum series), cool books (The Man in the Rockefeller Suit, The Astral, and I Wore The Ocean In The Shape of A Girl) and modern classics (The Poisonwood Bible, Cloud Atlas and Housekeeping). I always think I know most of what's out there, and then one of these lists comes along and proves me wrong.


I'm very excited to have discovered, in the newspaper today (thank heavens newspapers haven't completely disappeared yet!) that Omaha's Joslyn Castle will be hosting "Romance at the Castle: The Brontes" in July. There will be movies, readings, and a one-woman play. I won't be able to get to nearly all of it but I'm hoping to round up a couple of other Bronte fans to get to a few of the offerings.

I'm looking forward to the coming weekend--not so much for the Fourth of July celebrations but for a three-day weekend with, I hope, plenty of time to sit on the patio and read. For those of you in the U.S., do you have big plans for the coming weekend?

What are you reading this week?

Jane Eyre Giveaway

 

You may have heard me mention (once or twice, at least) that Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre is one of my all-time favorite books.  So you can imagine how excited I am about the new adaptation of the book that's now in theaters, starring Mia Wasikowska (she of Alice in Wonderland) and Michael Fassbender (he of Inglorious Basterds) as Jane and  Edward Rochester.  Focus Features is sponsoring a giveaway to promote the film and I'm delighted to be able to offer one of my readers the opportunity to win the following:

* Soundtrack sampler

* Bookmark

* Journal

* Pencil
* Copy of the book (the movie tie-in edition)

How about twittering with Charlotte Bronte?  Check out this Twitter Lib to make your own version of some of Charlotte's famous quotes:



There was a video in this post when I put it together; no idea what happened to it.  To see a preview of the movie, click on this link.
I'm joining my sister this weekend to support my niece who's prom royalty.  I think the price for driving her across town and back will be that she's going to have to go the this movie with me!

UPDATE: My sister is off the hook--my entire book club is excited to go see this movie so I'm going to line up a girls night out. 

Villette Readalong Week 6

Once again, poor suffering Lucy Snowe will have her heart broken.  She is so heartsick because of Dr. John, and so embarrassed by the idea that others may be reading her letters from him and laughing at her, that she finally seals his letters in a bottle and buries it.  Then the sad little thing is made to sit with Ginevra at a party so that Pauline can see if Dr. John prefers Pauline over Ginevra.

Lucy's relationship with Monsieur Paul becomes something of a roller coaster ride in these latest chapters.  In one moment he is berating her and the next he is asking her to call him friend.  Yet I think she actually thinks of their "friendship" as something of a game and delights in teasing M. Paul.  But she also appreciates that he sees in her something that her long-time friends do not see.  John speaks of her as "quiet Lucy" and says that she is over-grave in tastes and manners. But she writes of M. Paul "there starts up a little man, differing diametrically from all these, roundly charging you with being too airy and cheerful--too volatile and versatile--too flowery and coloury."

You may remember that last week, I was longing for Lucy to come out of her shell a bit, maybe even get angry.  And what do you know?  In these chapters, she finally does begin to show some spirit.  After the party in which John did appear to choose Pauline over Ginevra, Lucy had to ride home with the latter.  Of course, Ginevra was having a little spoiled fit and Lucy finally let her have it.  And as M. Paul's attacks continue, Lucy finally has the courage to respond.  At one point I was reminded of the movie "You've Got Mail." Meg Ryan's character at one point is bemoaning her inability to conjure up just the right response when she finds herself under attack.  Later she ends up apologizing for finally finding herself able to do just that. Lucy makes no such apology; she feels, rightly so, entirely justified.

The emphasis at this point in the book seems to be on the relationship between Lucy and M. Paul but I really can't imagine, yet, what she might ever see in this man that she frequently refers to as "despotic."  But while we are watching Lucy grow and change, maybe we'll get to see some changes in M. Paul as well that might make him more likable.  One can only hope.

Villette Readalong Weeks 4 and 5

Yes, that's right, I'm behind again.  I'm trying to listen to this while I'm working and some days just don't yield much listening time!

Week Four's reading was a pleasant respite after all of the goings on in Week Three's reading.  Lucy spent the time recovering from her breakdown at the home of Dr John and Mrs. Bretton.  While she delighted in spending time with friends after spending so much time alone, they delighted in introducing her to the delights of Villette.  Interestingly, Monsieur Paul Emmanuel, appears more and more in Lucy's story.  When we were first introduced to him, Lucy had nothing nice at all to say about him, But when he finds her in an art gallery, sitting in front of a painting he doesn't approve of and moves her to more "appropriate" works, she finds his concern for her less annoying than you might expect.  Gradually she seems to be finding good characteristics in M. Paul and they agree to be friends.

John's relationship with Ginevra Fanshawe, which we only just discovered, is, perhaps, irreparably damaged when, while at the theater, she snubs Mrs. Bretton and openly flirts with another man in front of him.  Now that Lucy has spent so much time with John and finding him now unattached, her heart begins to run away with her a bit.  But Lucy is nothing if not reasonable and she and her Reason spend a lot of time together and Reason generally seems to win.  But it's not able to stop Lucy from beginning to visions of a ghost nun.

Just as Lucy begins to hope that John may care for her, Polly home and her father return in the guise of the de Bassompierres.  Mr. Home has been given the title of Count and Polly is now a Countess.  Despite the fact that she is still little more than a child, John becomes smitten with her.  Now it is also revealed that Polly and Ginerva are cousins and poor Lucy has to put up with the foolishness of both of the girls. But she's more than willing to tolerate it because she's both exceedingly tolerant and unwilling to put her friendship with the families at risk.

I am so ready for Lucy to just take a chance, to cut loose a little bit and maybe even to throw a temper tantrum because she's so darn tired of being the poor little poor girl.

Villette Readalong - Week 3?

Okay, well, technically it's week 2 for me but as it's week 3 for everyone else, we'll go with that.

When last we left Lucy Snowe, she was on a ship headed for France, with only the vaguest idea what she would do when she got there.  On the ship, she met a young girl, Ginerva Fanshawe, who confided that she was on her way to school in Villette.  So off to Villette Lucy headed.  Despite the fact that she speaks no French, Lucy managed to get all of the way to Villette and completely by mistakes finds herself at the door of the very school Miss Fanshawe spoke of.


Madame Beck, the proprietress of the school, hires Lucy as a nanny to her two young children, primarily it appears, because she is English.  Also because Madame Beck is kind of crazy about letting employees go.  Which soon results in Lucy finding herself as a teacher.

And now things are really picking up...and love is in the air.  Ginerva confides that she has a young man whom she calls "Isidore" who is buying her expensive baubles and before long we discover that this is none other than the doctor that has become a frequent visitor at the school.  He also happens to be the son of Lucy's godmother who she hasn't seen in many years, but he doesn't recall her. Lucy's godmother, Mrs. Bretton, is also staying in Villette.  Lucy discovers this when she collapses after a long walk in the rain while she is suffering from exhaustion and depression after being left alone in the school for many weeks. 

So it turns out that Lucy, who has known all along that Dr. John was Graham Bretton, is not a reliable narrator, that she will hide things from us. At the time Villette was written, this was an unusual twist marking Bronte as a writer who was willing to take a chance.  In these chapters, Bronte once again points out the degree to which Lucy's station in life has changed and the effect this has had on her.

"Villette" Readalong

Wallace of Unputdownables is hosting a readalong of Charlotte Bronte's Villette.  Which started last week but I had completely forgotten about until I started reading those first posts.  So I'm starting late.  I'd hoped to be caught up this week but no such luck. Villette was Charlotte's last novel, published in 1853.  Many people consider it to be a greater work than Bronte's Jane Eyre.

This week I read the first five chapters in which we're introduced to our narrator, Lucy Snowe.  Much of what we learn about Lucy, we learn from hints of her past.  I'm wondering if Bronte will just leave us to wonder what might have happened or if we will learn more as the story progresses.  We first meet Lucy when she is 14 and spending some months with her godmother.  In the next chapter we've skipped forward eight years.  Bronte leads us to understand that some tough things have happened to Lucy, but again, we don't learn much as to what they might be.

I think I'm going to like Lucy very much--she's one very brave girl.  After spending some years working for an invalid (Miss Marchmont, who passes away), Lucy makes the decision to head to London without any references or family to stay with.  From there she decides, almost immediately, that she wants to go to France to find work there.  At then end of Chapter Five, the ship is just taking leave of the English coast and Lucy is becoming acquainted with her fellow passengers.

I'm a cowardly, nervous Nelly--I can't imagine making such big changes in my life, although Lucy feels that she hasn't much choice.  Perhaps in her shoes, I might be a little more courageous.  But I doubt it!

"Agnes Grey" by Anne Bronte

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
Published by Wordsworth Classics
Source: bought this one

When Agnes Grey's father loses the family savings in a disastrous investment, 18-year-old Agnes feels it is time for her to learn to take care of herself and earn her own way.  Although sad to leave her family, Anne heads off to Wellwood Mansion full of high hopes.  Unfortunately, the Bloomsfield family quickly makes Agnes realize how inferior they consider her to be; even the children show her very little respect.  Things are little better for Agnes when she becomes the governess for the Murrays of Horton Lodge, although here Agnes will start to find a way to make her own life.

I've read Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (love it) and Emily's Wuthering Heights (I've read it three times, trying to find out what makes it so popular and still don't get it).  I had great hopes for Anne; my friend Sarah, of Sarah Says, declares that Anne is her favorite of the Bronte sisters. She's going to have to do much more than she did with Agnes Grey before she can unseat Charlotte in my opinion.

This book is a largely autobiographical account of Anne's own time as a governess.  Which is not particularly an exciting or fast-paced life, of course.  But the first half of this book really felt like it was crawling along for me.  Anne was clearly an introspective woman, as well as a deeply religious person, and long passages of the book were nothing more than Agnes' reflections.  I began to long for Wuthering Heights' Catherine Earnshaw.

Anne did not think much of the British upper class, if this book is a true reflection of her own opinion.  The fathers in both families that Agnes served were absent, the mothers delusional about the merits of their children, and the children spoiled and lazy. Agnes was given charge of the children but no authority at all to discipline them.  Agnes Grey picked up for me when the Murray children grew older.  Agnes began to venture out into the community and Bronte's commentary was able to become more far reaching.

I'll keep this one and perhaps give it another read one day.  In the meantime, I'll pick up Anne's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and see if I enjoy it as much as Sarah did.

Wuthering Heights Wednesday - Final Post - Finally!

I started late...and finished late. But I finally got through Wuthering Heights! It's the third time I've read it now and I'm still not sure I wonder why it's so universally lauded.

Here's what happened since my last post--the quickie wrap up.

Chapters 16 - 18

Catherine, Edgar and Linton's daughter is born and Cathy dies in childbirth. Both Edgar and Heathcliff are devastated. Isabella finally escapes from Heathcliff af. She goes on to London where she has Heathcliff's son, Linton, "an ailing, peevish creature." Hindley ends up drinking himself to death and then it comes out that he had mortgaged everything he owned to Heathcliff. Twelve years pass (it really is just like a soap opera--Bronte had to skip ahead to get the children grown up enough to make them interesting). Young Catherine is spoiled and confined on the grounds of The Grange. Isabella becomes ill and while Edgar is away tending to her last days, Catherine finally escapes the grounds, comes across Wuthering Heights and meets Hareton. She's appalled to find out he's her cousin.


Chapters 19-21

Edgar returns with a frail Linton. Word gets to Heathcliff immediately and he demands his son be brought to him so the next day Nelly takes him to Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff says he'll take good care of Linton because he want his heir to rule Thrushcross Grange. But Nelly soon learns that a lack of sympathy has made Linton selfish & disagreeable. On Catherine's 16th birthday she finally meets Heathcliff and he brings her to Wuthering Heights where she's excited to be reacquainted with Linton. Despite her father's protests, Catherine and Linton start sending each other love letters...until Nelly finds out and burns the letters.

Chapters 22-24

Edgar and Nelly both get sick so Catherine takes advantage of no one watching her and sneaks off to see Linton every day. When Nelly finds out (again!) she tells Edgar and he forbids (again!) any more visits.

Chapters 25-27

Edgar writes to Linton who convinces Edgar that he and Catherine should be allowed to meet each other outdoors on the outer edges of the grounds of The Grange. But on the second visit Linton and Heathcliff trick Nelly and Catherine into entering Wuthering Heights where they are held hostage and Catherine is forced to marry Linton.

Chapters 28-30

Edgar dies, Heathcliff continues to hold Catherine at Wuthering Heights and he begins seeing visions of Cathy. Mrs. Dean (Nelly) finishes the story she's been telling Mr. Lockwood by telling him what she's learned of Catherine's life.

Chapters 31-34

Mr. Lockwood visits Wuthering Heights and sees that Catherine treats Hareton terribly. The next week he returns to London and doesn't return to the area for eight months. When he returns, he's startled to see that Catherine and Hareton are now very fond of each other and he's been much civilized. Nelly is now working at Wuthering Heights and tells Mr. Lockwood that two weeks after he left, she was called to the Heights and once there Catherine's demeanor improved and she began being nice to Hareton. They will soon be married. Just a few month earlier, Heathcliff also died after he became more and more obsessed with Catherine, ventured out on the moors in the rain, not sleeping and not eating. Good riddance.

Oh, yeah, and, obviously somewhere in those last few chapters Linton died but for some reason I didn't make a note of it. Probably because he was so worthless.

My thoughts

Yep--still don't get it. Not that it isn't well written. Except for the characters with the same or similar names. Or those whose names entirely change. You do get a visceral feeling for the characters but if you read this and end up liking any of them, I'll be very surprised. It really isn't as much a love story as a story of revenge. I never did grow to understand what made Heathcliff tick--talk about holding a grudge!

So I suffered through this, again, as part of Wuthering Heights Wednesday, hosted by Softdrink at Fizzy Thoughts and also for the Gilmore Girls Challenge and the Brontes Challenge. Now on to see if I don't like Anne Bronte better than Emily.

Wuthering Heights Wednesday, er, Friday

Welcome to Wuthering Heights Wednesday, hosted by Softdrink at Fizzy Thoughts! I'm late this week because I had so many other great things to share with you but I didn't want to miss playing. Things are are really starting to heat up now--big, big drama is building!

Chapter 13
Two months has passed and Cathy is only just now starting to recover from her brain fever but she's by no means the same person despite Edgar's best nursing attempts. Yeah, bleeding will do that to you.

Heathcliff and Isabella finally return, married, and Nelly receives a letter from Isabella detailing how miserable she is and how much she regrets marrying Heathcliff and how awful things are at Wuthering Heights. And will Nelly please have Edgar come to visit Isabella and won't Nelly please come.

Chapter 14
Ellen (Nelly) goes to Wuthering Heights but Edgar won't have anything more to do with Isabella so he sends nothing. Ellen is appalled to find that things have fallen into even worse disrepair than the last time she was there, including Isabella. Heathcliff, who looks quite the gentelman, brags to Ellen about how he hanged Isabella dog and how he has made her hate him.

Heathcliff is desperate to see Catherine, especially when Ellen tells him how bad she's been, and finally convinces her to take a note to Cathy to see if she'll allow him to come visit.

Chapter 15
Heathcliff comes to the Grange while Edgar and most of the servants are at church. He can't believe how different Catherine is.

"The flash of her eyes had been succeeded by a dreamy and melancholy softness: they no onger gave the impression of looking at the objects around her: they appeared always to gaze beyound, and far beyond - you would have said out of this world. Then the paleness of her face - its haggard aspect having vanished as she recovered flesh - and the peculiar expression arising from her mental state..."

He's distraught when Cathy curses him to suffer after she dies and the more upset he becomes, the meaner she gets. Finally, she sees that she's pretty much crushed him and begs him to come to her and they fall into each other's arms, kissing.

Ellen sees Edgar coming but Cathy begs Heathcliff to stay so, of course, he does. Cathy passes out just before Edgar returns and before Edgar can even think about raising a hand to Heathcliff, Heathcliff hands Cathy to him and walks out

My Thoughts
I know I should be feeling sorry for Cathy; she's in a terrible state. But, come one, she completely brought it on herself. Heathcliff I'm having mixed feelings about. Seriously, the first thing he did when Isabella came to him was hang her dog? On the other hand, he is so obviously painfully in love with Catherine and devastated by her condition. Isabella--don't feel a bit sorry for her; she brought what she got on herself and made it so much easier for Heathcliff to wreck havoc.

Wuthering Heights Wednesday

Wuthering Heights Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Fizzy Thoughts. This week we're talking about Chapters 10-12 and spoilers will abound. Also posting about the book are:

• Literate Housewife
• Vivienne( Serendipidy)
• Messy Karen
• Victoria
• Jenny (Take Me Away)
• Ti (Book Chatter)
• Dar@ Peeking Between the Pages
• J.C. Montgomery (The Biblio Blogazine)
• Whitney
• JoAnn (Lakeside Musing)
• Gentle Reader (Shelf Life)
• Amy at New Century Reading
• Geri at One More Foggy Notion
• Rob at Books are Like Candy Corn

Chapter 10
When last we saw her, Cathy had just married Edgar and moved to Thrushcross Grange to become the mistress of that house and Ellen has come along with her. For six months everyone is pretty happy--Edgar quickly learns to avoid making Cathy upset and she's on her best behavior. But then:

"It ended. Well, we must be for ourselves in the long run; the mild and generous are only more justly selfish than the domineering and it ended when circumstances caused each to feel that the one's interest was not the chief consideration in the other's thoughts."

Those circumstances? None other than the return of Heathcliff who is very much changed although he won't tell anyone where he's been or how he came to have money. Cathy is thrilled to have him back and pretty much acts a fool when he first comes to the house. Edgar? Not so thrilled to have Heathcliff back or about the way Cathy is acting.

"...Catherine, try to be glad, without being absurd! The whole household need not witness the sight of your welcoming a runaway servant as a brother."

Now there's a problem. Because Cathy sees Heathcliff as at least a brother, certainly an equal. But there is nothing that will convince Edgar that Heathcliff is anything more than a servant. Then Isabella develops a raging crush on Heathcliff. Cathy tries to talk Isabella out of throwing herself at Heathcliff.

"Pray, don't imagine that he conceals depths of benevolence and affection beneath a stern exterior! He's not a rough diamond - a pearl-containing oyster of a rustic; he's a fierce, pitiless, wolfish man."

But Isabella, spoiled teenager that she is won't listen and accuses Catherine of being jealous.

"But she uttered falsehoods, didn't she? Mr. Heathcliff is not a fiend; he has an honourable soul, and a true one, or how could he remember her?"

So Catherine decides to embarrass Isabella by talking about Isabella's infatuation right in front of Heathcliff. You can practically see him rubbing his hands together with an evil look as he begins plot how he can use this information.

Chapter 11
Heathcliff has been staying at Wuthering Heights since he's been back which is pretty surprising considering how much Hindley hated him. But Hindley's gone off the deep end and is more than willing to accept Heathcliff back since Heathcliff is paying him. When Ellen stops by, we begin to see that Heathcliff is having a terrible effect on little Hareton and helping Hindley dig himself an even bigger hole.

One day Heathcliff arrives at Thrushcross Grange and he and Catherine get into a huge fight. She's all "stay away from Isabella" and he's all "no I won't and mind your own business." Ellen thinks things are getting out of hand and goes to warn Edgar who heads off to the kitchen to take care of the problem. Too bad he's not up to the battle. Heathcliff really backs him down and makes him look like a coward but then ol' Edgar hauls off and whacks him in the throat. While Heathcliff is recovering, Edgar runs to get some servants to help him kick Heathcliff out.

At this point, Cathy loses it. She's mad at Ellen for dragging Edgar into the whole thing and insists she could have handled it. She's mad at Edgar for banning Heathcliff and threatens to break her own heart if Heathcliff can't come back. Once again Ellen steps in and basically tells Edgar "tsk, tsk, never mind her; she's just putting on an act." So when Catherine locks herself into her bedroom for a couple of days, no one seems to be too concerned.

Chapter 12
Finally on the third day, Catherine lets Ellen into her room. Surprise! In the past couple of days Catherine has done lost her mind. She's imagining things, her moods are changing by the second and she doesn't even seem to know where she's at some of the time. When Linton comes to the room he blames Ellen for giving him bad advice and sends her off to fetch what passes for a doctor, Mr. Kenneth. When she gets there, Kenneth tells her that word is out that Isabella and Heathcliff were seen leaving the area the night before. Ellen rushes back to tell Edgar but he just says that from now on Isabella is his sister in name only because she has disowned him.

My Thoughts
I'm much less cranky about Heathcliff's behavior at this point. The guy's been treated pretty badly in the past. But I'm completely with Edgar when he bans him from Thrushcross Grange. Seriously, the guy has designs on both Edgar's wife and sister. And Catherine? So over her. She's been bending everyone to her will all of this time and is surprised to find out that they don't all just love her.

"How strange! I thought, though everybody hated and despised each other, they could not avoid loving me."

I'm thinking the whole lot of them deserves to be whacked upside the head!

Several of you asked for pictures of my book so here they are.
I actually quite like the expression on Heathcliff's face but I have no idea why they would have made him a redhead! Next week I'll try to remember to take a picture of the drawing of Emily Bronte that's inside the book--the one that makes her look like she's smelled something awful.

Wuthering Heights Wednesday - The Friday Catch Up Edition

When Jill from Fizzy Thoughts announced that she was going to be doing a read-along of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, I jumped at the chance to join in. Wuthering Heights was on several of my challenge lists for the year and, what the heck, I already own the book so remembering to pick up a copy wouldn't be a problem. Turns out that finding my copy was, however. In the end it was right where it was supposed to be; I was just looking for a completely different book. I had forgotten that my copy of the book is a little (just barely 4" x 7"), almost forty year old, inexpensive hardcover. And by inexpensive, I mean $1.60--even by 1960's standards, that's inexpensive.

Each week the bloggers that are participating in the read-along are posting their summaries and thoughts on three chapters at a time. This is week three--since I'm behind and have nine chapters, I'm going to be doing a Cliff's Notes edition of my thoughts.

Chapters 1-3
Mr. Lockwood opens the book recalling a visit he has just paid to his new landlord Mr. Heathcliff at Wuthering Heights. Mr. Lockwood declares Mr. Heathcliff "a gypsy in aspect; in dress and manner a gentleman." Lockwood feels as though he and Heathcliff are a "suitable pair." Uninvited, Lockwood drops by for a second visit. After being stranded by a snowstorm and forced to spend the night at Wuthering Heights, Lockwood changes his opinion. It's on this visit that Lockwood also meets a young man named Hareton (whom Lockwood finds repulsive), young Catherine (the wife of Heathcliff's late son) and Heathcliff's servants Zillah and Joseph.

After Lockwood has finally fallen asleep, he is awakened by a tapping at the window sill. He breaks out a windowpane trying to brush away what he assumes is an offending tree branch. Instead he is grasped by a young woman's hand and she begs to be let in. Fearing what is happening, Lockwood lets out a scream that causes Heathcliff to come to the room; furious, he tells Lockwood to leave. As Lockwood is leaving, he witnesses Heathcliff at the window begging Catherine to come in.

Chapters 4-6
When Lockwood is able to return home the next morning, he asks his housekeeper, Mrs. Dean (Ellen or Nelly), if she knows anything about Heathcliff. Well of course she does! It turns out that she was a servant in the Earnshaw house then Catherine and Hindley were young. The Earnshaws were a happy little family until Mr. Earnshaw went off to London on business. Instead of returning home with gifts for his kids as promised, Earnshaw brought home a raggedy, sullen orphan. The spoiled Earnshaw children are really mean to him at first but Catherine soon begins to dote on him. But Hindley hates the boy, who is named Heathcliff, and his hatred grows the more his father dotes on Heathcliff.

Then Hindley goes off to college and old Earnshaw grows ill. Joseph (he was around even then) is constantly preaching and telling old Earnshaw the children are all bad. Earnshaw only seems to hear it about Cathy and she starts to grow hard the harder her life becomes.

When Earnshaw dies, Hindley returns for the funeral with a sickly wife and promptly banishes Heathcliff from the house, makes him work as a outside servant, and stops his education. Cathy and Heathcliff take to running wild and roaming the moors. One day they decide to go spy on the richy rich Lintons at Thrushcross Grange and, while they're there, Cathy is attacked by a dog. Heathcliff is sent home but the Lintons take Cathy in until she is healed.

Chapters 7-9
When Cathy's leg is healed, she returns to Wuthering Heights. She has changed a lot and Heathcliff realizes how far apart they have grown. At first he decides to become as dirty and unkempt as possible but soon asks Ellen to help him become better.

"Were I in your place, I would frame high notions of my birth, and the thoughts of what I was should give me courage and dignity to support the oppressions of a little farmer."

Then the Linton children, Edgar and Isabella, begin visiting and Heathcliff is pushed further and further away from Cathy; she is torn between wanting to fit in with them and wanting to be with Heathcliff.

When Frances gives birth to Hareton, the consumption she has been battling becomes much more serious. Hindley goes crazy with grief and becomes a drunken bum.

Cathy develops two personalities--at home she's awful but around the Lintons she's charming and she manages to charm Edgar into proposing. Cathy accepts even though she confesses to Ellen that she really loves Heathcliff but that she can't marry him because he's below her and they would be beggars. If she marries Edgar, Cathy says, she can help Heathcliff. He happens to overhear only the part where she says she wouldn't marry him and decides to run away.

Within the next three years, both of Edgar's parents die and Cathy and Edgar are married.

My Thoughts
Whew--I had forgotten how much happened in these first few chapters! Bronte packed in a lot of characters and plenty of action while still creating a wonderful sense of place and fully realized characters.

When I read this before I really did not like Heathcliff--he seemed to come to the Earnshaws already a person who would always be disagreeable. But as I read the story again, I did begin to feel sorry for him and think that if he had been treated better from the time he came to live at Wuthering Heights, he may have turned out much differently. Had old Mr. Earnshaw not given so much of his affection to Heathcliff, Cathy and Hindley might not have turned out to be such unpleasant people.

My favorite passage was Cathy describing her love of Heathcliff to Ellen:

"I cannot express it; but surely you and everybody have a notion that there is or should be an existence of your beyond you. What were the use of my creation, if I were entirely contained here? My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff's miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning; my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger; I should not seem a part of it."

So now I'm caught up with the read-along and caught up in the book. I'll be back Wednesday with my next update!