to think that Wuthering Heights is crap...

[blushington]

and that Emily Bronte was the least talented of the Bronte sisters?

'Jane Eyre' and 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall' were both miles better.

I eventually got past the first 3 chapters of WH, which were tedious, and got on to the main bit. They are all a bunch of hysterics. Heathcliffe is in no way a romantic hero, he's completely abusive. I could not bring myself to care about any of the characters. I didn't finish it.

AIBU to not know why so many people think it's one of the best books ever? If there's something there, I've completely missed it.

I think the thing I found attractive about Heathcliffe was his meanness, his inaccessabilty, his coldness. As an angst-ridden teen I wanted to conquer him, IYSWIM.

4 words for you- "Liver-coloured bitch pointer"

Had DH boggling, until I pointed out pointer was a breed of dog

I just found him to be an annoying twat. I couldn't see the attraction or get all the mooning over him.

Liver coloured sounds so unpleasant - but is lovely in a dog!

Hello CaptainNancy btw - how's life? :)

isn't it true that Charlotte bronte re-wrote and edited Jane Eyre when she read parts of Wuthering Heights because she knew it was a much better book than she had written?

hullo!

I am absolutely passionate about the brontes but have never got to grips with WH. Every single character in it is absolutely vile and I never found healthcliff remotely attractive. Cathy was a bitch too.In fact if they had ended up with each other it would have been what they deserved!.
Jane Eyre is my fave book in the WHOLE WORLD! but again spoiled by happy ending.

Fanjo my uni lecturer told me that too! He said it was because C did not want E to "one up" her with drama... who knows.

I love literature from that era though. Between the Brontes, Jane Austen and George Eliot... wow.

I didn't read WH until I'd read (and loved- and go on loving) all of Austen's - I wonder if that's why I dislike it so much?

I always thought Jane Eyre was a much weaker woman and character and that she deserved better.

YANBU, self obsessed fools, all.

Mr Rochester is also a difficult character though. He is attractive (I think, I certainly fancied him) but then obviously has the misogynistic side with the wife in the attic, and also constantly teasing Jane and making her wonder whether he likes her (bit emotionally abusive, one could say). She only gets him at the end when he is injured and can't be as bastardly as he was before. Not exactly free from problems, but I loved it

She might have deserved better. But I could totally relate to her feeling of inferiority. I liked how women were portrayed as human and fallible. She and pthers may have deserved better but they acted as I personally may well have done so I hold them dear in my heart. And the men that abused them, I may well have loved, too. Wonderful to see women felt weak. It's all very well to say we deserve more etc but it's not always the way life goes.

I preferred Kate Bush's version. Jane Eyre is so much better

what dittany said

So glad to read this. I've recently read it (going through a classics phase with free iBook downloads) and detested it. Thought it was the nastiest book I'd ever read. Nothing enjoyable about it at all. However, for some reason it inspired me to read the Thomas Hardys I'd always claimed to hate and I absolutely LOVED them. Just stopped night feeds a couple of nights ago and will miss my long reads (though not the sleep deprivation).
YANBU

what dittany said
also the main characters are Hareton and young Cathy IMO.

I've always thought that the Brontes' own experiences must have been questionable (at best). Branwell also seems to have been somewhat odd...

I used to like both WH and JE as a teenager but I was rather angst ridden. I don't like either of them now - for different reasons. Not keen on Villette either. I've not read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and I don't think I'll bother.

Anyway, YANBU at all!