08-01-2011, 10:01 AM
The film only adapted the first half of the book, ending just as Catherine and Heathcliff reunite, then ignoring her death and his revenge. Even then they missed out a lot, like Hindley Earnshaw's devestation at the death of his wife and descent into blasphemous hedonism, which almost ends in him murdering his infant son.
I must say you've raised an interesting point with the separation of passion in terms of the love for words, which all writers are supposed to have, and emotional passion. Jane Austen no doubt had tremendous passion for language and storytelling, if not violent storms of the heart. Perhaps the only requirement of a novel is to interest us for its 300 or so pages, regardless how much "passion" it has.
I must say you've raised an interesting point with the separation of passion in terms of the love for words, which all writers are supposed to have, and emotional passion. Jane Austen no doubt had tremendous passion for language and storytelling, if not violent storms of the heart. Perhaps the only requirement of a novel is to interest us for its 300 or so pages, regardless how much "passion" it has.
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." - Gene Wolfe