I have good news and bad news. First to the good news, I have a copy of The Great Gatsby in my possession! While at yet another son event (with Heather I might add), we noticed the hostess had a plethora of classic books in her library. Of course, we noted that Ulysses by James Joyce was not among them. The next day when my dear friend was not with me, I asked the hostess if she might have Gatsby – lo and behold she did! I quickly noticed it was not the tome Ulysses was and flipped to the last page – only 103 pages! Glorious!!
Now to the bad news, I am not starting until I finish Wuthering Heights. A few thoughts on Wuthering (an extra treat since it isn’t in our list being that it was written in the 19th century). I know Heather doesn’t care for it and she can address why. I won’t spoil her fun! I, however, am finding it intriguing in maybe a not so good way. I akin it to reading a train wreck, what horrible thing will happen next? I have empathy for Heathcliff and detest spoiled Catherine although they both came from the same circumstances. The one thing I did reflect on was my parenting. I am sure that is not where Bronte was going with this twisted tale of woe. All of the horrible things started with the behavior of their father then festered and grew and grew. Makes you pause and think of the impacts you have on your own children. My big thought for the day – time to blow dry my hair or maybe sneak a few pages of reading.
Andi
emmebooks
Grammy Lives
Heather Paquette
EMME Books 
Well I thought I should address my issues with Wuthering Heights now that we’ve moved along to Gatsby.
Prior to reading the book I had always heard it mentioned in the same vein as Jane Austen. It was just one of those books that I knew of in general – the Bronte sisters, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, etc.
I had always cast Heathcliff as a romantic leading man in my mind, standing on the windswept bluffs of Wuthering Heights with the wind blowing through his hair like a young Fabio on the cover of a Harlequin romance. I put him in the same category as Darcy from Pride and Prejudice.
Well, he is no Darcy! However, had I known that we would journey through Heathcliff’s descent into moral depravity as the story unfolded I would have been prepared for the more tragic theme. But (spoiler alert) going from the picnics in the meadow I had conjured for him and his love to the reality of him snuggling with his love’s corpse was just too big a leap, at least in the first reading! I may have to give it another chance sometime in the future. No promises though!