Before reading this novel I supposed it was a gothic romance, but now I see that Emily Bronte was writing about a dysfunctional family and its repercussions through two generations. Heathcliff is not a romantic figure, but a disturbed abusive man who nourishes his grudges and takes them out on the innocent. It feels like a modern novel in that light. I liked the narrative structure of a story being recounted by Nellie the housekeeper to Mr. Lockwood a tenant of the property, sort of a story within a story. The thick Yorkshire accent of some of the servants is rather hard for me to decipher but it lends a kind of texture to narrative, another dimension of reality.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Before reading this novel I supposed it was a gothic romance, but now I see that Emily Bronte was writing about a dysfunctional family and its repercussions through two generations. Heathcliff is not a romantic figure, but a disturbed abusive man who nourishes his grudges and takes them out on the innocent. It feels like a modern novel in that light. I liked the narrative structure of a story being recounted by Nellie the housekeeper to Mr. Lockwood a tenant of the property, sort of a story within a story. The thick Yorkshire accent of some of the servants is rather hard for me to decipher but it lends a kind of texture to narrative, another dimension of reality.
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