Thursday, February 17, 2011

Booking Through Thursday: Romantic

This week Booking Through Thursday asks questions all about romance - a good topic for the week right after Valentine's Day:
What’s the most romantic book you’ve ever read?....(Mind you, I don’t mean the hard-core stuff you hide in plain wrappers under your mattress. I mean True Love, Romance, deeply emotional, heart-tugging, and all that stuff.)

And, secondly, did you like it? Is it your usual kind of reading, or did it take you by surprise?
I had to give this one a lot of thought. These days, I don't read many novels that could really be called "romantic." In the past I used to read quite a bit of "gothic" romance, by the likes of Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart. But I'm not sure I'd call many of those extremely romantic, even though they certainly have all the qualities of a romance novel - they were more suspenseful than romantic.

So after much mulling over, I'd have to say Wuthering Heights is probably the most romantic book I've ever read. Emily Bronte's tale of obsessive passion that transcends death is the very definition of romantic fiction. Catherine is beautiful, proud and impossible to tame; Heathcliff is rebellious, passionate and mysterious - the perfect romantic heroine/hero pair.

Did I like it? Reader, I adored it! I first read the book when I was about fourteen, and it absolutely astounded me. I've read it several times since then, at various times in my life, and it remains one of my all-time favorites.


And here, just for the heck of it, are some of my other nominees for "most romantic book I've ever read":
  • Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
  • Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
  • Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
  • A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
  • The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  • Love Story by Erich Segal
I would include Jane Eyre on the list, except for the fact that I've only read bits of it. Never have been able to stick with it long enough to finish the whole thing. So I suppose I could make up another list of the most romantic novels I've almost read!
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10 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 17, 2011 at 10:44 AM

    Nice selection ... I forgot all about Wuthering Heights and that is a great book. I don't read romantic books either so it was hard for me to come up with an answer.

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  2. Gigi AnnFebruary 17, 2011 at 11:06 AM

    Funny about our tastes in books, I loved Jane Eyre, but I hated Wuthering Heights. I just read Jane Eyre again in January, as one of my books in The Romantic Book Challenge, I entered this year.

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  3. SallyFebruary 17, 2011 at 11:33 AM

    I'm not sure about Wuthering Heights it really doesn't sound like a book I would enjoy but maybe one day I will read it. Pride and Prejudice however I loved.
    Sally.
    Here's my answer:
    http://theelifylop.blogspot.com/2011/02/booking-through-thursday-6.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bev HankinsFebruary 17, 2011 at 11:46 AM

    I'm with Gigi Ann--more a Jane Eyre girl myself, although even that wasn't my first choice.

    First choice (and runners-up) here: http://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2011/02/booking-through-thursday-romance.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousFebruary 17, 2011 at 12:49 PM

    It's sad, but it's been so long since I read Wuthering Heights, I don't actually remember any of it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. LoriFebruary 17, 2011 at 1:13 PM

    This was actually a difficult question for me. I just couldn't choose one. Check out my answer for this week's Booking Through Thursday.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousFebruary 17, 2011 at 1:25 PM

    here's mine http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/02/booking-through-thursday_17.html

    ReplyDelete
  8. zetorFebruary 17, 2011 at 2:57 PM

    Good list of great books, my choice is Jane Eyre.

    ReplyDelete
  9. bermudaonionFebruary 17, 2011 at 3:14 PM

    I don't read many romances either. I did read Wuthering Heights and it wasn't for me.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I read books.February 18, 2011 at 8:37 AM

    Oh, WHAT a good list!!! I find that when I'm reading romances, I like the older stuff better, too.

    ReplyDelete

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