Monday, October 4, 2010

wuthering heights


I got a nasty cold this weekend. Headaches, congestion, sinus pain, bad dreams. Nasty. To combat this I took echinacea, vitamin c, tylenol cold, chicken noodle soup, clementines, watched the Bears, and started re-reading Wuthering Heights.

You may or may not have read Wuthering Heights. Some of you may have read it for English class, if you are an British Lit nerd, you may have read it for fun. Either way, this is one of the greatest novels, ever.

I haven't read many novels since graduating with an English degree, you kind of read novels until they are coming out of your ears as a lit major. The other day, however, I was sitting next to the bookcase staring at it. This is an old favorite pastime of mine, I used to spend time just staring at the bookcases in my parent's home... thinking about the books I had read and speculating about the ones I hadn't. I sometimes get caught staring at other people's bookcases.... all I can say in my defense is this, you can learn a lot from a bookcase. I happened to rest my eyes on Wuthering Heights, and began to read it while Tim worked on homework.

I have really enjoyed re-visiting the Yorkshire moors and the sad characters contained in the pages of Emily's classic book. Re-reading a book is like visiting an old friend. It brings back forgotten memories from the first read. I remember the first time I read this book very vividly. My family had driven out from California to visit our family in Illinois. We were at my grandparent's house in the country and we made a trip into town to visit my old favorite bookstore that doesn't happen to exist anymore, Pages for All Ages. I picked up a paperback of this book at my Mom's suggestion and brought it back to my grandparent's. I couldn't put it down. I believe I finished it in two days. It really is that good.

Although I read this book for the first time in the summer, it feels like fall to me. What books can you read more than once? What books contain old memories for you? What are you reading now? I'd love to hear about it.


3 comments:

  1. Unfortunately I'm not reading any novel at the moment. I want to get back into the habit of reading but it's not happening! BUT-two books that I can read over and over again would have to be "That WIld Berries Should Grow" by.Gloria Whelan and "Baby" by. Patricia Maclachlan. Both easy reads and I just love the simplicity of both stories.

    Hope you're feeling better soon, Abby!

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  2. hey I'm sick too! got sick coming home from the honeymoon and am now reading Eat Pray Love and am really enjoying it!

    old memories: short stories by O'Henry. read them with my dad growing up.

    read-over: To Kill A Mockingbird. love the simplicity of the story...

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  3. Rachel- I haven't read those books, I need to check them out sometime:-) I'm feeling a lot better, still a little congested, but much better. It was fun seeing you today!

    Karen- I can't believe you got sick after your honeymoon, I did too! I got the flu when we got back- totally put the "in sickness and health" part of our vows to work:-) I love To Kill A Mockingbird too, great story!

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