I’ve never actually read Wuthering Heights. I think I tried to back in high school but found the characters a bit too melodramatic. Also Catherine seemed like a real bitch, at least in the movies, which I never saw the point of. From what I gather, the story has these two kids who grow up and fall in love and then for some reason they’re suddenly hating each other and at the very end they’re loving each other again when it’s too late and one of them’s nearly dead. I probably missed out some stuff, but if I don’t see the point in a movie I don’t tend to pay full attention to it.
So I don’t really think about that book much but somehow it ended up in my head today because when I got to work I had a sudden desire to listen to Kate Bush.
I don’t tend to get this urge much as her voice lives in that ethereal realm of being both beautiful and really fucking annoying sometimes, so I prefer to avoid listening to her in case I can only hear the annoying bits that day. Although I will admit that this doesn’t apply to Running Up That Hill, which I can listen to on repeat (but not the inferior Placebo version they seem to like playing in vampire movie trailers), and often do.
Later in the day I brought up semaphore flags in conversation for some reason I’ve since forgotten, and the other person thought I was talking about those found in operating systems and I had to correct him that I actually meant real flags. Monty Python fans might realize where I then went with this: to demonstrate the concept, I sent him this educational Youtube video (please ignore the subtitles):
So I’ve now spent more time today thinking about that book than I really ever wanted to in my life, but there you go. Mind you, it was really wuthering today in Kelowna, enough to riggwelt a sheep. Or something.
Kate Bush’s “Hounds of Love” was the first CD I ever bought, back in 1987. Really liked it, but when it was stolen a few years later I never replaced it for some reason. You certainly nailed it about her voice, however. I find the same thing with Tori Amos.
I loved Wuthering Heights, although my take on it was different. It was about two people who were soulmates. Catherine knew the relationship wasn’t right for her so she moved on. Catherine quote: “I don’t love Healthcliff, I am Healthcliff” ergo soulmates with a deep connection but not love. Heathcliff just didn’t get it, and she told him to get over it and move on too. I actually like that in this story the woman is the strongest one, knew her own mind, and what was right (or not) for her and stand up for herself. She gets married to someone else and dies later, and he still can’t get over it or let go. Tragic, tragic, tragic… poor sap.