NB: Nota Bene

Note to self: Do NOT name a child "Cathy," especially a pretty, blond little daughter. It could be setting her up for failure.

I'm currently reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte...well, re-reading it, anyway. Note in the previous post that I've recently finished reading East of Eden (Steinbeck). What do these two have in common?? That's right: blond, beautiful sociopaths named Cathy. Did Steinbeck do this on purpose? I mean, the Heathcliff/Cathy story is one of the [horrible] greats in literature.

Wuthering Heights is an interesting study into the psychology of abuse and neglect, and a story of love and terrible loss. I must admit, though, that I'm feeling rather ambivalent about Heathcliff at this point (I'm approx. 1/2 way through). I mean, he loves Cathy desperately--like, to the point of being completely insane--and I think if she'd chosen him, he would have turned out completely different. He would surely have overcome what is probably some horribly dark, deep-seated depression. She probably would have convinced him to give up the revenge he had against Hindley for childhood wrongs as a waste of time, and he certainly wouldn't have ruined Isabella Linton's life; he wouldn't have cared in the slightest for the Linton family. Ah, but then, it wouldn't be such a famous story, would it? It's like Romeo and Juliet: no one would really care that much if Juliet and Romeo had both lived happily ever after...or lived at all, for that matter. No one would remember the evils of Heathcliff, or really of Cathy either if it hadn't been for the evils of the other. Wow. Convoluted, yes?

I can say, however, that once I've finished the re-read of W.H., I'm going to re-read something like Bridget Jones' Diary, or peruse the fiction shelves at Half-Price Books for a light read. Too many more tomes like this and I'll be slitting some figurative wrists.

Oh! And whilst searching for a post picture, I came across some interesting articles about Heathcliff's potential to be a psychological vampire. Why do so many things in my life eventually get around to that subject? Haha! I'll let you know what I think, and post the links to the articles if I think there's something there worth debating. Until then...

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