A popera singer's take on Wuthering Heights

Via After Ellen we have come this comment of Hayley Westenra's version of Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights, originally released in the album Pure (2005):

Googling her led me to her version of the Kate Bush classic "Wuthering Heights" — and while I don’t think there’s an artist in the world who is capable of bringing the same sort of deranged conviction as Kate Bush to the visual interpretation of the song, I do think that Westenra’s high, supple, spooky voice works very well with it musically. (browne)

Agreed. The video can be played by scrolling down here or by clicking here directly.

In other news, the Evening Courier reports that Calderdale is trying to find the favourite novel of the region.

Do you go ga-ga over Great Expectations or does Wuthering Heights leave you weak at the knees? [...]
The Big Read will be officially launched at the Halifax Central Library on Thursday, April 3, by bestselling author Andrew Martin. [...]
Voting forms are available from libraries in Calderdale. Or you can vote at www.calderdale.gov.uk/libraries (Virginia Mason)

Here's hoping Brontë novels will be high up on the list, as Calderdale is at a stone's throw from Brontë Country and it has many associations with the Brontës.

Quite a few interesting things to be found on the blogosphere today as well. Musings of a Bookworm reviews Jane Eyre and Kylie's Book Nook writes about Wide Sargasso Sea. Laura's Logic, who considers Emily Brontë 'one of the Western world’s greatest writers', posts about Wuthering Heights:

People of all ages praise her and the book as being one of the greatest love stories of all time. Yet, despite all of the teachers preaching that very few other writers can exceed the brilliance of Bronte, is it possible that this book is one of the most misinterpreted books of all time?
I believe so.
It is, in fact, a tremendous hate story. Although the classic cliché states that there is a fine line between love and hate, Bronte bypasses all conventions and completely forgoes love. Any emotions that may possibly be mistaken for true affection are nothing more than clever and manipulative exploits utilized by various characters to get what they want out of life. (Laura Ashley)

Oh, don't we agree!

And here's a couple of unusual topics: Aimée's Weblog has a detailed post on Gothic Architecture in Wuthering Heights. And Movie Waffle traces the parallels between Cold Mountain and Wuthering Heights.

Finally, Perspectives in Modernism discusses several fragments from Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own.

Categories: Music, Wuthering Heights