Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

I continued to follow my course on The English Novel - while continuing to earn my man-card - with this 19th century classic.

It's notable for a few things:

It doesn't follow the exact formula of previous English novels, most obviously by not emphasizing any moral lesson(s).  Although it does include a comedic ending that brings happiness to the few characters still living at the end of the book, their happiness is earned by simply outliving the demonic character of Heathcliff, not because of their superior behavior.

Although not categorized as a Gothic novel, it clearly borrows from that genre with its characterization of Heathcliff.  He might just be a monster, a vampire, a ghost or a demon, and Bronte encourages the reader to think he might be, without ever making it a certainty.  His unknown background, his inhuman cruelty, his manner of dying all seem supernatural.  His wish to be buried inside of Catherine's casket only reinforces that appearance.

Lastly, the relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff is itself demonic.  They love each other as intensely as two characters have ever loved one another.  But after Catherine marries Linton (due to Heathcliff's early social depravity), Heathcliff spends the rest of the story inflicting as much pain on his rival (Edgar Linton), his family and his heirs as possible.

But the dark nature of the novel did make interesting reading.  The departures from convention meant that you really didn't know what was going to happen next, and that unpredictability wove an original, if complicated, story that was enjoyed by this reader.