Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Cumbres borrascosas by Emily Brontë

37 reviews

ghostsversion's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book really was… something. Compared to Agnes Grey, this was like going from learning how to swim to diving in the middle of the ocean. This is of course a different type of book so it isn’t really a shock. I was shocked though when finding out that
the POV of this book were a Mr Lockwood and Ellen Dean, and not at the very least Catherine Linton nee Earnshaw.
It was a really interesting read and I might have rated it higher if not for
the excessive amount of incest and the constant racism and stereotyping of Romani people.
Also to the people who consider this a romance, I hear you and I somehow get you but please don’t go looking for this.

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uselesspirateraven's review against another edition

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

3.75


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bashsbooks's review against another edition

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

5.0

Writing reviews for classics that I like is never easy - I always feel immense pressure to say something profound and original about a work that 1) I enjoyed and 2) so did everyone else. Of course, the trouble with such a well-liked book is that everything profound and original about it has already been said, more or less.

So let me say some basic and trite (but none the less true to how I feel) things about Wuthering Heights.
 
First and foremost, Brontë's toxic, passionate speeches from Heathcliff and Catherine (Sr.) about each other fuck severely. Catherine's "Nelly, I am Heathcliff" confession? Healthcliff's proclamation about the depth of Catherine's affection for him compared to Linton? The "You say I killed you - haunt me, then!" argument? All bangers. Go off, you absolute maniacs. 

Secondly, and speaking of the haunting by Catherine of Heathcliff, the thread of her ghost trying to get into Wuthering Heights throughout the tale is sewn into the story with just enough detail to be compelling without being overwrought - from the early scene Lockhood witnesses all the way to Heathcliff's death under the open window. I especially like the lack of concrete proof of the ghost and the skepticism of the storytellers themselves. 

And now, thirdly, the storytellers and the frame story in general have been fun to turn over in my head. From the beginning, I wondered, why are Lockwood and Nelly our narrators? I think there are dozens of valid answers to this question. Two of my favorites includeto create distance from the narrative to drop details & increase unreliability and to provide perspectives closer to the intended readers. I'm especially obsessed with Nelly Dean and the constant interjections of her opinions into her retelling. 

Something specific to the audiobook version that I listened to - the Spotify version read by Billie Fulford-Brown - is that it was read fantastically. Fulford-Brown clearly had a great handle on the text, reading all the dialogue with accurate emotion. She also gave the characters distinct voices without being over-the-top. Her performance made Brontë's mid-19th century prose much more accessible.

Anyway. There's a lot more I could say about Wuthering Heights - for example, Brontë's descriptions of the moors are a masterclass in thematic use of setting - but I'll cut myself off here, lest I write a whole paper. Let me end by saying it's fucked up that Kate Bush managed to successfully summarize and convey the main storyline of such a complex book in a 4.5-minute song after only watching the last ten minutes of a movie adaptation.

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vickyoyarzun's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? No

5.0

Los clásicos son clásicos por algo y esta definitivamente se lleva su puesto, no sé si es el éxtasis de recién terminar de leerla o si de verdad es de tal escala, pero actualmente, en este preciso instante, es mi clásico favorito.

Que triste que no pude leer esta novela en el ámbito académico porque el ensayo que hubiera hecho habría quedado exquisito, aunque aquí (en Good Reads) no sabría cómo empezar, quizás por mi primera intención en leer este libro que fue gracias a la maravillosa Mariana Enríquez y su libro “Nuestra Parte de Noche” que cita casi textualmente Cumbres Borrascosas y me dejó impactada con estos paralelismos que demuestran su propia pasión por la obra de Bronte: “Se lo había pedido, cuando estaba viva, una vez, casi en chiste imitando a un personaje de una novela, no me dejes solo, haunt me, no había palabras en castellano para ese verbo, haunt, no era embrujar, no era aparecer, era haunt, pero ella nunca lo había tomado en serio (…)” bastó con eso para que me obsesionara de tal forma con Cumbres Borrascosas hasta poder tenerlo en mis manos y poder leer el HAUNT ME, HAUNT ME de Heathcliff hacia Catherine.

Quiero aclarar que esa obsesión no era en absoluto por las implicaciones “románticas” que demostraban, siendo que en ambos libros (el de Bronte y Enríquez) se ve también el paralelismo de una relación más dependiente que amorosa, en Cumbres especialmente ese aspecto del amor infantil, de querer volver a ser esos niños corriendo en los prados, de reírse de las desgracias de los demás en vez de padecerlas, del egoísmo, la tenacidad y el deseo, que lleva a uno a la venganza (sádica y dirigida hacia los demás), y a la otra a la autodestrucción (masoquista y vuelta hacia sí misma). 

Podría escribir para siempre pero lo dejo hasta aquí, si les gustan las novelas violentas, góticas, con fantasmas, personajes crueles, chismes, naturaleza, enfermedad y encierro, pero sobre todo con la prosa maravillosa de tremenda escritora que fue Emily Bronte, la recomiendo muchísimo, especialmente la versión de Penguin Clásicos que tiene una excelente traducción de Nicole D’Amonville Alegría.

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hjb_128's review against another edition

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

5.0


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jessamcelwain's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is the iconic Gothic love story. Definitely a classic--it's passionate, wild, and will destroy you utterly. 

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maayanaravot's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book is a total adventure to read. It has very dark themes of abuse and is filled with hate and revenge. Even so, the book is written so well and i found it enjoyabke to read. After i fished it, i didnt know what to make of it, what was the point? I wasnt sure how much i liked it. But over time ive grown to like the book more and see how it explores trauma and clinging to the past. Idk if id reccomend it to anyone tho, cuz its very tense. 

The only character i really liked is edgar, he deserved better.

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ejthephoenix's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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riverofhorton's review against another edition

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This book is incredibly violent, with every kind of toxic relationship and abuse you can think of, with the kind of casual racism and misogyny that I have at this point come to expect from 19th Century fiction. That said, I may well return to this book at a later date, since there were a few scenes that I found to be quite thrilling, and I do find myself invested in the characters and their development. Right now just isn't the right time for me to be reading a book with this amount of violence.

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lorendushku's review against another edition

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

5.0

 Wuthering Heights is a story of two people who are deeply in love, but who are also deeply flawed.
Heathcliff is a wild and untamed man, while Catherine is a proud, spoiled and headstrong woman. Their love is passionate and intense, but it is also destructive. They both make mistakes, and they both suffer as a result.

I loved the locations, the moors are a place of beauty and danger, and they reflect the tumultuous relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine.

The characters in Wuthering Heights are not saints or heroes, but real people who make mistakes and suffer the consequences.
I found myself rooting for Heathcliff and Catherine, even though I knew that they were both capable of great cruelty. However, I think that this is part of what makes the story so compelling. It is a reminder that even the most flawed people are capable of love, and that even the most destructive love can be beautiful.

I was surprised when Heathcliff, instead of protecting what Catherine left, bested her. I thought that he would be more kind and forgiving, but he was instead consumed by his own rage and bitterness. This shows that even the most passionate love can be turned to hate.

My favourite scene in Wuthering Heights is when Heathcliff runs away and Catherine says that their souls are the same. This scene shows the depth of their love, even though they are unable to be together. It is a reminder that even when love is impossible, it can still be a powerful force in our lives.

I learned a lot from Wuthering Heights:
I learned that love is a powerful force, but it can also be destructive, and that even the most destructive love can be beautiful.

Wuthering Heights is a challenging and heart-breaking book, but it is also a beautiful and unforgettable one. It is a story that will stay with you long after you have finished reading it.

He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.

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