Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte was published in the 1840’s, although it was originally done so under a pseudonym of Ellis Bell. The plotline is intensely intricate: the primary ‘story’ follows Catherine and Heathcliff who develop a friendship from an early age. Nearby resides the Linton family who also have children of similar ages called Edgar and Isabella. Catherine makes the decision to marry Edgar who is wealthier and better educated; this intensifies an existing tension between Edgar and Heathcliff, who both vie for Catherine’s attention. Heathcliff runs away for 3 years during which Catherine is married to Edgar. Following from this is a lot of issues and events that occur. A few years into the future Catherine has died leaving Edgar with a baby girl whom he names Cathy, and Heathcliff is married to an unhappy Isabella. Isabella eventually leaves, she gives birth to her son Linton, and upon her early death Linton is sent to Edgar but is taken by his father Heathcliff. Further years down the line, Cathy (Junior) and Linton develop a similar bond that was shared by Catherine and Heathcliff when they were children. This plot develops still but the lives of Catherine and Cathy are predominant. The obvious main themes, and the central core of the book, are love, tragedy and revenge.

However, there are many underlying themes throughout. One of these is racial discrimination – although it’s never brought out into the forefront, Bronte uses subtle indications to suggest that Heathcliff is ‘different’, often by the uses of imagery or description. For example, “dark-skinned gypsy in aspect”, “the cheeks were sallow, and half covered with black whiskers; the brows lowering, the eyes deep-set and singular”. This could be Bronte herself expressing uneasiness perhaps or an uncertainty towards a character such as Heathcliff; however, being reasonably well educated you could also speculate that this is Bronte subtly suggesting how others would judge a character such as Heathcliff rather than any judgement by herself.

Catherine within the novel is perhaps atypical to a young girl/woman that would be expected in the late 1700’s, early 1800’s, described as “mischievous and wayward” - she is portrayed as being quite a wild character. Having said this, Bronte does revert the female characters back into roles/characteristics that would be more approved of by 19^th Century society. Through speculation you could assume that this comes from Bronte still suffering from feeling repressed; so although creating a ‘wayward’ character and showing a feminist retaliation, there is still confines to which Bronte and Catherine/Cathy (Junior) remain under.

From a personal point of view, the book itself can often feel like a labyrinth of events which can sometimes be confused when the books narrative changes tense. Also, the characters are more often than not ignorant and a little insular. Catherine in particular is often portrayed as being spoilt, childish and petulant – Heathcliff also shows similar traits. This is carried on throughout the book as a tit-for-tat style revenge occurs between two rival families. Personally, I found the characters a little frustrating and un-relatable (probably to be expected due to the difference in time periods). All in all the book is fairly readable with a definitely interesting plotline, not being completely ‘into’ this genre, maybe someone who is would really like this book. Unquestionably worth a read regardless.

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe

Alan Sillitoe was born in Nottingham, to working class parents. Like Arthur Seaton, the anti-hero of his first novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.

The novel is heavily focused on one character, Arthur Seaton. Where we see reflections of the authors own personality and behaviour, through his later understandings of humanity and oppression of the working class.
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is an unapologectic novel in it's presentation of real life. It demonstarates how the protagonist, Artur Seaton could teach contemporary binge-drinkers a thing or two: ‘With eleven pints of beer and seven small gins playing hide-and-seek inside his stomach, he fell from the topmost stair to the bottom’. He then drinks another pint and then vomits in someone’s face before fighting his way out. Arthur works at a lathe in a bicycle factory, making just enough money to drink his way through the weekend. He fishes, fights, sleeps with other worker’s wives, goes to the pictures, drinks and works. He has no ambition to speak of other than to look after himself. He hates anyone with any good authority, and only looks out for himself and, with a struggle, his family.

It isn't until he is badly beaten by soldiers he reflects on the emptiness of his existence, and comes to terms that for the first time that 'no place existed in all the world that could be called safe' as there had 'never been any such thing as safety, and never would be, the difference being that now he knew it as a fact, whereas before it was a natural unconscious state’.
After this event has taken place, it is no longer that he has told the truce about his affairs to the girl that he is dating. Despite his dishonesty they stay in a relationship and make plan's to marry.

The novel was inspired at a time when youth culture and adolescent anger were beginning to dominate the media, and in which some can refer to in this present day.

The Catcher in the Rye - J.D.Salinger

The novel is one to capture you from the very beginning. The novel is written in the first person and narrated by the main character, Holden Caulfield. He demonstrates a confused and vulnerable young teenage boy who finds life difficult situations to be a struggle. Although the book is only based over a couple of months, the storyline is very developed and is a book which you could easily get stuck in to.

J.D.Salinger, the author of the novel, creates an alienated character that has been kicked out of his 4^th boarding school for skipping lessons and heads home to Manhattan. He figures he will stay in a cheap lodge and build his life from there, meeting old friends and socialising. However, this is where Salinger reflects a lot of his own disturbed and jolted past within the story line which he uses as a technique to delve deeper into reflecting Holden’s emotions and circumstances. We come across many different names from Holden’s past where he demonstrates how relationships haven’t always worked out for him whether it was between friends or with an adult. Salinger, from the start of the novel explains how Holden lost his brother to leukaemia and justifies that as to being the reason for Holden being so troubled but when moving to an uncaring city, Holden’s delicate psyche reflects the already made damage and his life begins to fall.

J.D.Salinger himself was troubled with his own experience of being exploring many different schools and suffering great depression after serving in the war. This history and past of the author helps to enhance his style of writing with similar links between the characters.

The novel was very easy to read and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys being driven into reading a book where you can't put it down. 

The Heart is a Lonley Hunter By Carson McCullers

Carson McCullers, 'The Heart is a Lonley Hunter'  captures the very aspects of the human heart, the human need for understanding and compassion. Based in the 1930's Mill town in the US state of Georgia. The tale revolves around a lonely deaf-mute, John Singer, isolated from the rest of the world in his own sileint sphere draws an unusal and desparate group of people to him.
 An owner of a cafa', Biff Brannon, who struggles with an unsuccesseful marrage to Alice Brannon now known to him as Misses Brannon who fomallity isolates him from her creating a barrier between them, an angry black doctor, Doctor Copeland who has made many personal sacrifices to devote his entire life's work to furthering the education and uplift of the black community. As a young man he went to the north to get a college education, before returning back to the south to improve the condions of the black community. Dr. Copeland feels a constant frustration with what he perceives as the ignorance of black people and their blind acceptance of an inferior societal position—a clear parallel to Jake Blount's (a drunked who also turns to Singer ) frustration with the ignorance of lower-class workers. Jake is a wanderer who harbours confused and passionate plans for a socialist revolt, spending almost all his time at Biff Brannon's New York Café. When Jake meets Singer and decides that Singer, like him, "knows" he stays in town and comanders a job at a local carnival. Of all the characters, Jake is the most prone to violent outbursts and genuine mental instability—his speech is never constant in tone, changing from intellectual to crass to boisterous to rage at a moment's notice. He is constantly consumed with his desire to see workers rise up in revolt; the only time he ceases to think about how to achieve his misguided socialist reforms is when he drinks himself into a stupor.
A young girl Mick Kelly is almost a persona of McCullers herself who had serious ambitions of becoming a concet peonist, music symbolizes Mick's energy and her pursuit of beauty; she stores it in the "inner room" of her mind, to which only she and Singer have access. The fact that Mick is a child at the beginning of the novel provides McCullers the opportunity to portray the funny and poignant moments that accompany Mick's coming of age. She is the symbol of the working class poverty showing that you have to grow up quick to survive.
Carson McCullers wrote 'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter' between 1937–1940 in New York and Charlotte, written in the annonymous omniscient third person narrative, making the reader experience the idea of floating above each charater giving them a unique view. This book was brilliantly written, I would definitely read it again and give it seven stars!!!

Another Country –James Baldwin

 

James Baldwin was born in 1924 in Harlem, New York. He became on the 20^th centuries greatest writers, for writing and exploring racial issues throughout his career. He was renowned as being a key voice in the civil rights movement. Much of Baldwin’s personal life is reflected through his novel ‘Another Country’ as it tells the story of a young African American like himself, struggling through life, living in Harlem, New York.

 

The novels tells the story of a group of friends from a variety of different backgrounds, age, wealth, education and race and how they all live in Harlem, however first part of the book is focused on the life of Rufus Scott, a young jazz musician that seems to struggle with knowing himself and fitting into everyday life. Baldwin uses imagery to depict the vast streets of Harlem where all races associate with each other, yet inequality and racial discrimination is still very prevalent. Rufus is described as being sexual confused as throughout the novel he is shown to have both male and female partners. This also reflects Baldwin’s personal life as he was open about his homosexuality. Baldwin brilliantly attaches the reader immediately to the character of Rufus regardless of whether the reader can relate to him or not. He does this displaying the raw emotions of the character by using powerful metaphors and descriptions. At times Rufus is seen to be powerful and yet vulnerable in the situations making his character seem to have a mixed personality. As a reader you are able to sympathise with Rufus when he is described as vulnerable yet you are able to dislike him at the same time because of some of his actions especially when his violent side is shown.

Rufus engages into a relationship a white girl Leona, who at the time of the novels setting (1960’s) was very unusual; this is an example of Baldwin challenging the subject of race and equality. The character of Rufus often explains that people assume she is with his best friend Vivaldo because he is also white. However this relationship is very troubled and abusive, resulting in the depression of both Leona and Rufus. This leads to him committing suicide. The group is shocked by this event but is brought closer together by this tragic situation. This leads to the formation of new relationships such as Vivaldo and Ida (Rufus’s sister), another example of a couple that goes against conventions. The use of the characters emotion and passion that they portray is key. It enables the themes of friendship and racial inequality to create underlying messages within the novel.

- 3 stars

Trainspotting

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh -

The book does focus on a set of wrong-side-of-the-track friends involved with drugs, alcohol, petty crime, and anything else they can find to take their minds off their completely unfulfilling lives. A large challenge of the book is that the majority is written in Edinburgh dialect. All the characters in the book are somehow linked together. They each tell at least one story through their own eyes. You are taken through a journey, shown the ins and outs of these people's addiction, attempts to kick the addiction, and their ultimate failures, either through illness, after two characters contract HIV, or just through keeping on in their drug use. The characters are vivid and their situations are made to seem very realistic, and relatable to something that would happen in real life.
The author, Irvine Welsh, is renowned for having quite a criminal life himself. Whether the rumours of his rough life were true or not, I believe that the authors previous actions have influenced his writing at quite a few points in the novel.
I have yet to finish the book, as it is taking me a long time to read, because of the dialect, but so far I would highly recommend this book.

Good morning year 13. Below I would like you to compile your thoughts on your summer reading in short review form. In particular, pay attention to the notable themes and contextual features of your reading as I hope this will enable a dialogue to emerge on common features between our texts.

Please use the label Year13 to mark your reviews.

Mr Brown