Mark asked:
>Where would you put Wuthering Heights?<
I'm not quite sure, Mark. I did consider mentioning it among my far from
exhaustive list but I felt too many questions hang about it. Technically it
is remarkable, the only other UK nineteenth century novel that bears
comparison in that respect I think is James Hogg's 'Confessions of a
Justified Sinner' , some Henry James might have a suave sophistication but
not the combination of raw power and narrative originality that either of
those two have. Where I have questions is about the figure of Heathcliffe,
what keeps popping in my mind is a comparison with the hint of Social
Darwinism of some H.G.Wells , say 'The War of the Worlds'. I haven't read
'Wuthering Heights' for at least a decade mind you, so maybe I need go back
to it, I do recall, rather fondly though, when I was 18, myself and a
girlfriend observing my mom and dad who were watching rapt and hand in hand
the Olivier/Vivienne Leigh film. My girlfriend and I went to the kitchen and
made them both some tea and toast, clucking about them as we did.
Best
Dave
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