Bertha, the baddie

The Guardian discusses 'baddies' in books:

It was an odd delight to have to choose a favourite villain in literature. Reading the choices made by fellow contributors has, to an extent, brilliantly confused rather than dully clarified my thoughts. Are we talking about the scope of their megalomania – a Sauron or an Ahab? Or is it the nastiness of their behaviour – a Patrick Bateman or a Humbert Humbert? Or is it the slyness of their villainy – Bertha from Jane Eyre or Mrs Danvers from Rebecca? Henry de Montherlant observed that “happiness writes in white ink on white paper”, and it’s certainly true that villainy thrills on the page in a manner decency struggles to realise. (Stuart Kelly)

On the other side of the coin, Repubblica (Italy) looks at heroines.

Quando si è imparato che bisogna tener duro per le prime tre pagine, perché entrare in una storia è come saltare dentro un buco nero, la letteratura fa tana nei nostri cuori. Ed è in quel momento che nella vita di una lettrice entrano le regine: Jane Austen, Emily e Charlotte Brontë. Orgoglio e pregiudizio, Jane Eyre e Cime Tempestose. Si parte da lì, ovunque si decida di andare. Io sono andata sempre verso le storie, ho sempre avuto questa passione imperdonabile e inestinguibile per la narrativa. Lo dico perché altre sapranno indicare meglio di me saggi e riflessioni, la non-fiction che deve stare sul comodino di ogni donna. Io  sono devota profondamente e senza possibilità di guarigione al valore dell'invenzione, alla verità dell'immaginazione, a  quella catena di meravigliosi inganni che costituisce un romanzo. Ogni romanzo, persino quello che sembra più vicino alla realtà. I diari per esempio, o le lettere. (Elena Stancanelli) (Translation)

Weighing in on the gender imbalance debate, this reader of The Sydney Morning Herald is not quite so sure about Wuthering Heights for a reason:

Bronte makes us ask the eternal question. The gender imbalance notwithstanding, I'm all for the dumping of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, if only to save any future teacher the inevitable embarrassment of not being able to respond to some student's query as to the meaning of "wuthering" ("Gender imbalance in HSC English book lists criticised", November 24).
David Grant (Ballina)

This Portland Tribune columnist is 'reading' the novel nonetheless:

In the CD player of my car is the audiobook for “Wuthering Heights,” the classic novel by Emily Brontë. [...]
"Wuthering” is a novel powerful enough to have withstood the test of time and remain as one of the greatest love stories in the history of literature. [...]
Don’t skip Brontë. Books like “Wuthering” are the meat and potatoes for a well-rounded reader. (Stephen Alexander)

Entertainment Weekly's Shelf Life asks 'writer-editor-actress' Tavi Gevinson the following:

What’s a book you’ve pretended to have read? In high school I pretended to read The Odyssey, Jane Eyre, and Pride & Prejudice. (Stephan Lee)

El Mundo (Spain) reminds us that, like the Brontës, the Goytisolo brothers are a family of writers now that Juan Goytisolo has been awarded with the Cervantes Letters Prize. Girl with her Head in a Book invites you to an upcoming Wuthering Heights readalong. Another ongoing readalong (a Jane Eyre one) is the one that A Night's Dream of Books or The Frugal Chariot are posting about.