Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Cumbres borrascosas by Emily Brontë

50 reviews

pau_line's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

Halleluja, ich habs endlich geschafft.
Was soll ich sagen, nh...ich hab das buch gekauft, weil ich mal wieder einen klassiker lesen wollte und es schön aussah, aber das buch hat mich schon fertig gemacht.
Ich glaube, ich habe selten ein buch gelesen, in dem ich so gut wie alle hauptchaaktere nicht ausstehen konnte, aber so wars :/
Aber erstmaaal das positive: warum ich das buch weiterlesen wollte, lag mitunter an der "Verpackung" der Geschichte. Ich mochte die Sprache und den Schreibstil, obwohls ein Klassiker aus dem 19. Jahrhubdert ist und auch den Rahmen der Erzählung, die Erzählperspektive wurde interessant gewählt, die Location ist cool, etc

Was das Buch so furchtbar macht, sind die Charaktere. 
Nelly (die Erzählerin) handelt und verhält sich oft so, dass man sie am liebsten schütteln will und ist mitunter verantwortlich für so viel dummes, was passiert, was sie sich da nicht mal eingestehen will.
Catherine und Heathcliff: was soll ich sagen...deren Beziehung ist so giftiig, die sind irgendwie voneinander bessessen (v.a. Heathcliff) und zerstören sich gegenseitig. Catherine ist so oft einfach richtig böse, ich hab sie so NULL verstanden. Und Heathcliff ist noch 100× schlimmer. Trotz der Tatsache, dass man weiß, wieso er sich so entwickelt, konnte uch angesichts seiner Handlungen absolut kein Mitleid haben. Et ist wie so ein Parasit, der alles aus dem inneren zerstört, worunter noch die Generation nach ihm leiden muss, die NICHTS DAFÜR KANN, dass Catherine sich gegen ihn entschieden hat udn Hindley so ein Trottel war. Man, es hat mich so sauer gemacht.
Isabella mochte ich eigentlich ganz gerne und auch Cathy (die Jüngere) war überwiegend okay, auch wenn beide so ihre Momente hatten,bei denen ich so dachtee...was ist mit euch...Manche Charaktere haben sich noch bisschen positiver entwickelt udn das Ende war dann doch zufriedenstellend.

Trotzdem muss ich sagen, es ist supernervig, 400 Seiten zu lesen mit dem einzigen Wunsch, dass die Charaktere doch endlich sterben mögen und man seine Ruhe vor denen hat :((  
Andererseits ist das wahrscheinlich so gewollt und ich fand die Geschichte interessant, in Hinblick auf dieses Dunkle, das zeigt, wie zerstörerisch und rachsüchtig Menschen werden können, wie viel Einfluss andere darauf nehmen können und wie sehr auch andere unter diesem einen giftigen Menschen bzw Zusammenspiel aus zwei Menschen leiden müssen.

OH UND ich weiß, das Buch ist alt, aber es ist abartig, wie viel physische und auch emotionale Gewalt vorkommt, auch zwischen den Erwachsenen, aber auch gegen die Kinder...das war schon sehr erschreckend teilweise

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

aisabel's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Medical content, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

emtees's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The writing in this book is gorgeous.  The descriptions, the setting, the tone, the delineation of character traits and emotional arcs, all incredible.  I’m saying this up front because I didn’t really like the book, but I can’t rate it down when it is so beautifully written.

The story is… honestly kind of ridiculous, until you remember that this is the gothic genre, and compared to most gothics, the story here is pretty straight-forward.  What made me dislike it was that I didn’t care for any of the characters or worry about what would happen to them.  I don’t mean that the characters were flawed or even bad people - they were, but that’s to be expected in gothics - but that they were just frequently very annoying.  They all had occasional moments where you could feel sympathy with them for the ways they seemed trapped by the circumstances of their lives, but then they would do something cruel or malicious for no good reason and that sympathy faded fast.  Usually in a story like this I would expect to have at least one character I latched on to, but that didn’t happen here.  

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Racism

maryy19's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Racism

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The start of the novel wasn’t what I expected but I was drawn into the story. It was an enjoyable read, and I loved the prose! The characters could be annoying and most of them are unlikeable but the story and writing kept me reading.

I skimmed over Joseph’s dialogue every once in awhile because I couldn’t understand what he was saying 😂 and it slowed me down.

I have many tabbed pages and highlighted passages! I’m glad I finally read this classic and now I’m curious to read more from Emily Brontë.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, and Racism

Minor: Racial slurs and Suicidal thoughts

cinthiaurora's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Great book. Emily Brontë’s writing is so gorgeous at some points that it takes my breath away. Trying to read Joseph’s dialogue gives me a headache though. 

Wouldn’t necessarily say she ending is unsatisfactory but it is frustrating how Mr. Lockwood’s character was truly obsolete all along. Nelly is also kind of a frustrating character because she’s such a passive narrator. Her will never influences the outcome of the story. I know it’s because she’s a servant, but you’d think she’d have at least some influence over her own actions. Her primary purpose really IS to just be there and observe, and occasionally be used as a tool to move the plot along. Kind of depressing for a character who’s dialogue narrates literally the entire book.
Also, most of the characters are extremely unlikable but you’ll love it if you know that already going in. 

Final note; I disagree with the general  consensus that this book is slow-paced. Someone dies or gets married nearly every chapter, and there’s several years long time jumps… I don’t know how much faster it can really get. 

 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Incest, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

leapyear_reader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

i absolutely adore the descriptions of the moors. i got to say that emily brontë is an absolute genius at setting the tone by describing emotions in faces when there are no dialogues. there is not one person i like in this book even though i greatly empathise with each and every one of them. A MASTERPIECE OF WRITING! 
now, the things i didnt love about the book: the part of the book where the affair between catherine linton and linton is dealt with is just dragged on for too long…they should have been left side characters rather than create a new generation of protagonists. also, heathcliff is literally an abomination of a human and his violence really made me cry, BUT THEN every time he talks about catherine i see him as a person again. damn your genius miss brontë.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, and Classism

tonihdd3's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship

lectricefeministe's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Classism

bronbaewr's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

You've got to read it like you watch messy reality TV. Its bad people doing bad, messy stuff in the middle of nowhere. Some very beautiful prose and descriptions that are really nice to read, but mostly frustrating. Like Why would you do that?? That's the stupidest reaction I've ever heard of!! but in a fun way.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Incest, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Grief