Saturday, March 10, 2007

February: Wuthering Heights

So, the one concrete New Year's resolution I made for myself, to read a book a month, I've managed to keep and exceed. I'm really devouring books right now. I am reading two to three a month. It is such a great feeling, to really devote myself to reading again. I often find that the only time I have to read is right before bed but I almost always manage to get a good hour or two of reading in at night. And I love it!

For February, I decided I had to read Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. What struck me as I read this classic was the difference between Heathcliff's love for Catherine and Edgar's love for Catherine. The former was passionate and seemingly destructive. The later was by no means ideal but had a lasting quality to it. And this sent me wondering about various forms of love. I think we so often yearn for that passionate and reckless love because it seems all consuming and grand. But for me, that kind of love too often leaves me feeling empty and insecure. It is the enduring love that I long for. Passions are fleeting but that steadfast quality has an amazing beauty to it that the former cannot match.

5 comments:

Louis la Vache said...

Louis la Vache loves to read to. Louis thanks his mother for ingraining a love for books into him. Louis is a World War II history buff. For the last several months, he has been touring the Mediterranean theater of the war, reading about Rommell, the North African campaign, Sicily, the Italian campaign, etc. Currently Louis is reading "Brutal Friendship - Hitler and Mussolini." Louis is beginning to realize we should be thankful that Mussolini managed to entangle Hitler in North Africa. No one realized it at the time, but by getting Hitler commited to North Africa, Mussolini weakened Hitler, making it easier for the Allies once they invaded Fortress Europa via the beaches of Normandie. Another important impact of the Mediterranean campaign is that it allowed the Allies to learn to work together, gave the very green U.S. Army the opportunity to become battle-hardened and, most importantly, prevented the U.S. from forcing a premature invasion of France. Had the U.S. chiefs of staff won that argument, they surely would have lost the battle in France with an invasion in 1942. Even today, few realize the importantance of the Mediterranean campaign. Louis la Vache is just finishing up a post for his blog: "French War Heroes Are Not An Oxymoron."

Louis la Vache said...

Louis just realized he made a monumental typo in the first sentence above.... "to" should be "too!"

No, you don't want to see Louis in a tu-tu.......

Richard said...

I have this bok, but have yet to read it.

B said...

Louis...you certainly have a thorough understanding of battles and wars. i look forward to reading more on your blog about French war heroes.

i know you said that your mother instilled that passion for books but i am also curious about how you became particularly interested in war/history books. i think it is interesting in general to discover what attracts a person to a particular genre of books!

B said...

richard...i think you will enjoy the book and hope i didn't scare you off with my consideration of the love element! :)