Wuthering Heights

By: Emily Brontë

Narrated by: Janet McTeer, David Timson

Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

When Mr. Earnshaw brings a black-haired foundling child into his home on the Yorkshire moors, he little imagines the dramatic events which will follow. The passionate relationship between Cathy Earnshaw and the foundling, Heathcliff, is a story of love, hate, pity, and retribution, the effects of which reverberate throughout the succeeding generations.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

(P)2005 Naxos Audiobooks Ltd.

Phenomenal audio performance!

Would you consider the audio edition of Wuthering Heights to be better than the print version?

This question is unfair, I think. Audiobooks are a fantastic medium of storytelling and I count reading/listening as the same thing. But I couldn't get into the physical version of Wuthering Heights, it was too hard for me. So I grabbed the audio, and it made it much much easier to get into. But since I loved it so much, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go back and read the book eventually because there's such something about reading those powerful lines for yourself. All in all, I love both mediums and I don't think I can answer this question.

What did you like best about this story?

The parallels and the pairs we see all throughout the story. Everything has an echo and it's fascinating to see things mirror each other.

What about Janet McTeer and David Timson ’s performance did you like?

Absolutely fantastic, especially Janet! Since she was the major narrator, I'm mostly talking about her. She got the voices down phenomenally and you could easily tell who was who. I also liked that she wasn't an old woman because Nelly wasn't an old woman in the book either, and it helped to add a bit of authenticity to the storytelling.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. I had to take about a two week break because the story itself was so dark and so much at once, I needed a bit of a breather. But all in all, it took me two weeks to get through it. I listened to the first half of the story in a week and the second in another week. I think it worked out great.

Any additional comments?

I HIGHLY recommend picking up the audio if you find yourself unable to get into the book- specifically this one! The two-partner narrative is done wonderfully and again, I think it adds an authenticity to the story telling. This one is an all time favorite!

Classic!

A great reading of a beloved classic. There are so many reviews and literature studies on Wuthering Heights, so who am I to post a review on the story. But I do give 5 stars for the narrators.

Brilliant reading of a polarising story

This is one of the best audio versions of this story out there. Each of the two first person narrators are voiced by a different performer... both David Timson & Janet McTeer (who played the same role in the 1992 movie version, but makes a stronger impression here thanks to the unabridged nature of the recording) prove adept at the various regional accents, give each character a distinctive set of vocal mannerisms and relate the larger than life events of the narrative in a suitably impassioned style.

The novel itself is a controversial work that tends to divide people along “Love it or hate it” lines... and it’s not hard to see why. Haunting imagery abounds and much of the dialogue attains an almost poetic beauty and grandeur. However, it is a grim narrative, full of abuse, incest and death - in which the main characters are often sadistically cruel or stupidly ineffectual. The pile up of misery can get wearying after a while, despite the technical brilliance of the writing. So approach with caution.

Narrator is exceptional and the story gripping.

I loved
This book. The characters were unique and yet believable. So much passion and energy to lift anyone from the mundane.

Wonderful narrator

I had never read Wuthering Heights and therefore did not know what I was in for and for the first hour almost quit listening because the characters struck me as so odd. But slowly the characters grew on me and I felt I had to continue it just so I could find out what happened to the miserable lot of people and also in the hope that some good would prevail in the end. I guess the ending was as good as it could be based on the sad portrayal of human character displayed by Heathcliff and Earnshaw. At times it was almost painful to go on listening.
The narrator (the housekeeper and other female characters) had a wonderful soothing voice that told the story so well and I felt like Mr. Lockwood wanting her to keep talking so I could hear the full story as well.

Great

I love Wuthering Heights, I read it back in school and it was great to revisit it. The Narration being done by two people i thought at first would be a little jaring but was actually very good, both readers are very talented and create perfectly the mood of this amazing ghost story/love story/horror

Extraordinary telling of the Bronte novel

Janet McTeer brings to violent, passionate life the legendary tale by Bronte.
I was mostly familiar with the story from the film and TV versions, which do not do justice to the novel's unearthly intensity and powerful feelings. Despite the familiarity, the story managed to surprise you at every turn, and the neglected second half of the novel is every bit as good as the first half.
Heatchcliff is as much a Shakespearean monster as Macbeth or Richard III, but he more than meets his match in Cathy, the daughter of his beloved.
There is some joint narration by David Timson, which is annoying, but soldier on to the point where McTeer takes over as Nelly Dean and recounts this astonishing story.

Withered Heights...

I believe a previous reviewer said it best when he said the book should be called "What a bunch of a**holes." After listening to the Audiobook I ended up watching the recent PBS film adaption of the book. Mostly to get a different perspective on this classic story. I honestly felt that the book was a bit of a downer. Janet McTeer has a nice voice but her vocal impersonations of some of the characters made them sound so miserable, wretched and incredibly annoying, and as a result I felt no connection or sympathy with ANY of the characters.

It Never Grows Old

Wuthering Heights is one of those books that you don't forget. If you love the classics, then you will be familiar with this story. Brutal and sad, it is a strange love story - if you are looking for something different to the hundreds of 'predicatable' romances available to read, then this will satisfy. This story will make you think and analyse and ponder, long after you have finished reading it.
What I liked about this particular reading is the dual narration. David Timson as Mr. Lockwood is good, but Janet McTeer who has the bulk of the reading as Nellie Deans is brilliant in her narration. You forget that it is one woman reading the many voices and interpreting the many and diverse personalities in this story. I have read Wuthering Heights many times - I know it inside out, but this is my favourite 'reading' of it.

Great story about awful people

How I'd like to ring the necks of most of these characters for their vindictive pettiness, selfishness, weakness, or idiocy. Solid book