Is Heathcliff a Murderer?: Great Puzzles in Nineteenth-Century Fiction

by John Sutherland

Book Overview

In this quirky and intriguing book, John Sutherland has conveniently gathered together thirty-four nagging little questions, puzzles, errors, and enigmas from some of the best-loved examples of Victorian fiction. Readers often have stumbled upon seeming mysteries in their favorite novels. Why, for example, is the plot of The Woman in White irrevocably flawed? (The timing of the crime is off.) Is the hero of George Eliot's Middlemarch illegitimate?...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 019282516X
• ISBN13: 9780192825162
• Release Date: June 1996
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.6" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

More fun with literary mysteries

Sutherland's books are great fun for fans of 19th century novels and literary nitpickers. He examines mysteries, plot holes, and unresolved questions in many classic novels. Sometimes Sutherland discovers an answer in the text or in history, other times the puzzles simply cannot be solved. Yet even in these cases, Sutherland can use the mystery to shed light on the writing and editing process. "Is Heathcliff a Murderer?", like the other books in this series, is a thoroughly enjoyable companion to the classic works of English literature.

A riveting (and educational!) read

Blame it on New Jersey public schools, if you like. I find they're always a handy scapegoat. Because - though I blush to confess it - I first came across Emily Bronte's classic tale of undying love and people with confusingly similar names, Wuthering Heights, when I saw the glamorous, romantic 1939 film of that story, and not when I read the actual grim and gritty 1847 novel. This may explain why, for a long time, when I thought of that novel's hero, Heathcliff, I thought of a heroic-looking, sad-eyed Laurence Oliver, and consequently held this famous brooder in rather high esteem. I do so no longer, and the reason why can be summed up in two words - John Sutherland. This professor and scholar has, in Is Heathcliff a Murderer?, put some of the greatest novels of Western literature under a microscope, and found out all of their inconsistencies and flaws. He looks at classic literature from a new perspective, asking intriguing questions about its novels, and offering solutions to the problems they raise - putting new spins onto books which most people probably feel that they already know inside out. I, for example, thought I knew something about the character of Heathcliff, until I read Sutherland's essay about him, and his various deeds and doings. After reading this book (which discusses works by Bronte, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and George Eliot, amongst many others) I can guarantee that you will look at some of your favorite books in an entirely new way - see depths, puzzles, and inconsistencies in them that you never saw before. I, for one, now greet Laurence Olivier's entrance on the screen in Wuthering Heights with a boo and a rather rude hand gesture, rather than a pinkening of cheek and a fluttering of lash. Such is the power of Is Heathcliff a Murderer?

Well, is he?

Of course not, but don't let the fact that I find that one essay of Sutherland's unconvincing deter you from buying this book. There are *so many* marvelous puzzles in this book besides that one inside. Is Helen Graham illegitimate? Was he Popenjoy? What is Jo sweeping? Read to find out.