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Wuthering Heights

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Wuthering Heights

By: Emily Brontë
Narrated by: Michael Kitchen
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About this listen

Michael Kitchen gives us a masterclass in narration with this intelligent and believable performance of Emily Brontë's classic work. Listeners will be swept up in Heathcliff and Cathy's turbulent love affair, not to be released until long after the final word.

The only novel written by Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights was originally published under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, and at first was thought to be the work of Emily's sister, Charlotte, the author of the classic Jane Eyre.

Wuthering Heights tells the tale of Heathcliff, a young orphaned gypsy boy, who is brought to the windswept moors of Yorkshire by Mr Earnshaw, the master of Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff's childhood there is riddled with bullying and humiliation, but the master's daughter, the precocious and untameable Cathy, becomes his ally, and a childhood fondness for one another grows to a great passion.

Following a misunderstanding, Heathcliff believes that Cathy has rejected him, and he leaves Wuthering Heights, only to return after three years have passed. When he returns, now mysteriously rich, he learns of Cathy's marriage to another and vows to focus his passionate nature on merciless revenge. Heathcliff's retribution proves so destructive that left in its wake are not only his enemies, but the very object of his obsession and, ultimately, himself.

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Romance Revenge

Critic Reviews

"Search no further. A masterful vocal talent has found a masterpiece of world literature to perform....Kitchen's intoxicatingly rich voice is the perfect medium for Bronte's romantic lyricism." (AudioFile)

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A beautifully written tale with emotional complexity and uniquely dark characterisation.

The narration was well delivered however, if you’re a car listener, some phrases can be hard to hear/discern due to his sudden modulation of volume and pace.

A hauntingly, emotional classic

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An excellent reading of a powerful novel. It is not a personal favourite of mine, but you cannot deny the emotional force of the novel.

A wonderful narration of a troubling Novel

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Kate Bush finally convinced me to give this a go and it is so much fun! It's like a Real Wives Of xxx show with the drama and the crappy people and the secrets, and I really enjoyed people getting their just deserts, and the well earned happy ending. Also surprisingly funny at parts. I'm used to reading vintage mid 1800s stories and this is written with much more modern language and style than I was expecting, so good if you're not used to older style writing. The narrator does a wonderful job and his Heathcliff is delightfully menacing. His narration is so easy to listen to I clocked 4 hours on the first day of listening without even realising it. Absolutely give this a go if you're unsure, and the story will get you hooked so you'll want to know the ending. And now I can join in the Wuthering Heights dance club in full awareness of the story!!!!

Super entertaining and well read

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Bronte's extraordinary love and ghost story full of poetry in the prose and power and passion and human suffering caused by class hatred and revenge is inimitable.. Very well read

wuthering Heights

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The book itself was required reading for uni, reading was made tolerable by the narration.

Narration excellent!

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I wonder where the author got her ideas from for this long story and I’m so glad to have listened to it rather than having to read it for myself and at least that’s another classic put to rest for me. These days I much prefer stories that are lighter in content so I don’t think I will listen to it again.

What a mournful tale

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The depth of Characters and good morals are getting more and more rare in modern writing. A fascinating drama that was never dull.

Exploring humanity the downfalls and redemption.

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Never have so many words about a story of so little consequence been written in a 'classic' novel.
I'm sure there are many historical reasons to commend this book but I personally can think of nothing to commend it. The main character is a thoroughly despicable person who deserves no sympathy at all. Why some readers get all gooey-eyed and love forlorn over Heathcliff is beyond me. He ruins the lives of everyone he comes in to contact with without exception. Well perhaps the gossip of a house keeper escapes relatively unscathed. The characters are immature, insufferable, narcissistic assholes . This isn't a story of great love and passion. It's the story of how child abuse perpetuates itself through the generations. The characters are either emotionally abused as children or, as in the case of Cathy I, they're spoiled and overindulged with no discipline and can't muster the restraint or self-respect to ditch abusive relationships. I kept waiting for any of the characters to be remotely worth my time, but I found no respite from the brutish abuse of the horribly twisted Heathcliff or from the simpering idiocy of Cathy I and II. Ugh. Not only are there no transformations or growth, but the characters aren't even that likable to begin with. How this book got to be a classic is beyond me.

Leave it on the shelf

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