February's book selection was Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte, with The Deep, Deep Snow, by Brian Freeman on deck for March. Thank you to all who attended (and those who let us know they couldn't make in ahead of time and gave us their thoughts!)~ warm conversations sure makes the cold days go by faster!
We offered a reminder at the meeting this afternoon that we'd like the nominations for this next year's reading list to be in on or before the March 8th book club meeting, as we're planning on voting at the April 12th meeting. The new reading list will then be ready and disbursed on or before the May meeting~ and away we go! You can submit those nominations personally by stopping into the library, or via phone or e-mail to either Susan or myself. Happy nominating!
To the book!
Set in the west Yorkshire moors, Wuthering Heights is the story of two gentry families -- the Earnshaws and the Lintons -- and their turbulent relationships with Earnshaw's adopted son, Heathcliff. Now considered to be a timeless classic, it was a polarizing and controversial work in its own day, with its frank depictions of mental and physical cruelty and ahead-of-its-time challenges to Victorian conventions and mores.
While some of us disliked this book more than others, I think it's reasonable to say almost the entirety of the attending book club members didn't care for this read. We thought the language was hard to decipher and follow at times, especially where Joseph was concerned. With few exceptions, it was hard to grow fond of any of the overly dramatic characters throughout, and in the end, we were puzzled by how this book has ever been considered a classic, let alone a classical romance novel.
It was mentioned that Emily Bronte lived a secluded life, and died at only the age of 30. It was proposed that this novel may be the construct of Bonte's possible superficial understanding of love, marriage, and romance. Or, could it be this was somehow the life she had imagined for herself? Was this tale ultimately the retelling of how relationships were carried out in Yorkshire in the early 1800's?
Let us know your thoughts below!
I'll leave you with my personal favorite line from the book, undoubtedly popular yet today: "Whatever souls are made of, his and mine are the same." -Catherine Linton/Emily Bronte.
Did you have a favorite line/scene/character?
Did you love Wuthering Heights? Fans of this book also enjoyed: Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. All of these titles are available in Viking~ reserve your copy today!
At the conclusion of every book club discussion we ask three questions and track the average answers:
Would we
recommend this to another book club for discussion?
"YES"
Would we
recommend this to a friend to read?
"NO"
Rate the
book 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating:
2.5 stars
