In hopes of taking advantage of the never-ending Twilight frenzy, HarperCollins decided to design a new cover for its paperback editions of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights that’s inspired by the teen vamp franchise (as noted by Ron Hogan at the books blog Galleycat). Why, you ask? As all Twilight fans know, Brontë’s classic novel is Bella and Edward’s favorite book (duh!). Don’t believe me? Well, just look at the new cover, branded with the sure-to-pull-in-young-readers slogan, “Bella & Edward’s Favorite Book” (as well as the Team Edward appropriate tagline, “Love never dies”).
Though most people taking a first glance at the new cover might be overwhelmed with images of Brontë rolling in her grave, I can’t completely dismiss it. I’m always in support of corporate decisions that encourage young readers to pick up the classics, even if said decisions are likely inspired by moolah. And at least the U.S. cover is better than the U.K.’s (the middle one above), which features a font that I probably used while designing posters in seventh grade.
Are you shuddering, Shelf Lifers? Or do you see merits to the re-branding?
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That’s a shame that they have to make classic literature look like crappy teen vampire novels.
omfg. waz up with that like i can’t wait for the books but wow. this has gone a little far dontcha think
learn to type and grow a brainstem.
Hahaha couldn’t have put it better myself. Good one.
That was directed at maddie, by the way. Good joke.
you bet cha
I agree 100%. Does everything literature-related have to revolve around Twilight? Classic literature should be able to sell just fine w/o the influence of overrated teen vampire romance. When will this Twilight frenzy stop?!!!
I agree. I am a 15-year-old bookworm going into 10th grade and I got into Twilight when I was in 7th grade. I really wish I hadn’t. It’s become such a mainstream mindless fad that it sickens me to think of reading the books anymore. I also don’t like the idea of changing a classic’s cover to match a trendy book that wont be popular forever (unlike classics).
But here’s the real question. Can you really object if it is getting my useless generation to read? I don’t think I can.
Agreed! That’s DISGUSTING!!
If it gets kids reading classic literature then they should revamp more books. As a teacher, I’d do anything to get kids to pick up a classic of their own free will and if Twilight helps do that then it has accomplished a lot.
yeah, if it revives the pastime of reading, why not!? i’m all for it! i think they should do harry potter covers too! lol
“i think they should do harry potter covers too! lol”
WHAT?! Why would you say that?!
WTF?! No just no… please don’t bring Harry Potter into this.
Harry Potter has nothing to do with Twilight, and that wasn’t even funny.
yeah they should
I’m all for getting anyone to read a classic, as long as they don’t change anything that’s BETWEEN the covers. That’s the most important part of the book. Besides, what’s that saying – “Don’t judge a book by its covers”?
Frankly that’s an insult to Emily Bronte.
She’s seriously rolling in her grave right now. What’s wrong with the WORLD?!!!
idk
*shudder* Twilight is taking over the world. “Bella and Edward’s favorite book”? Please, kill me now. They’re making Wuthering Heights look like a cheap Twilight knockoff. And putting what a fictional character’s favorite book is is ridiculous…even if Twilight was a halfway decent book it would be a horrible idea; Twilight is an entirely different book…no need to have blatant Twilight placement on any cover but its own.
Actually the book cover has it wrong, Wuthering Heights wasn’t Edward’s favorite book, in fact he couldn’t understand why Bella liked it so much.
Neither can I for that matter, too much depression for my taste I’d rather read Austen any day over Bronte.
That being said, come on people it is JUST a book cover. If they started to change the actually book than I would join in on the riot but a cover is nothing to get excited about.
It’s JUST a book cover, I say so what and move on.
My thoughts exactly! On a side note, my mom bought me a copy of Wuthering Heights. I am curious about the book.( I do like classic lit.) In October, publishers will be releasing The Twilight Journals, in which Stephenie Meyer writes about which books inspired the Twilight Saga. It might give readers of the saga more ideas for reading material like the classics. Of course, I could be wrong about the release date. I hope not. They have been putting of release of the Official Guide to the Twilight Saga. It was supposed to come out this month, but I read on the Barnes and Noble website that the date is being pushed back to Dec. 31, 2010. Oh well! Anyway, Bella also read Animal Farm by George Orwell in one of her classes. I recommend that book (as does my younger brother). It is meant to be a satire about Communism and how ridiculous (and harmful) it is.
I like the twilight books. that being said i agree with you 100%. i think this is a little over the top, to put it mildly. And after a little chuckle, im moving on.
Actually, if you’ve read Twilight-you would know they are not making it look like a cheap “Twilight knockoff” they are giving credit to the love story that inspired Stephenie Meyer’s writing of the story and she uses reference to Wuthering Heights as being a classic-which her character reads in the story. I think it’s brilliant-I would love for the younger generation to get into the classics-what better introduction than through literature they are already reading!
Kudos to Harper Collins!
Since I did read twilight, I can safely tell you they bastradized the Wuthering Heights novel. It has absolutly nothing to do with twilight. This is just another sad attempt at Smeyer the whale trying to sound smart by using classic literature (that she needed Sparknotes to help her with) in her fanfiction.
I know Wuthering Heights has nothing to do with Twilight. I’ve read most of Twilight and Wuthering Heights. I said they’re making it LOOK like a cheap Twilight knock-off. I didn’t say it had anything to do with Twilight. And the younger generation isn’t going to bother with the book when they notice that it’s nothing like Twilight. They’ll just go Ohmigosh Twilight, read the fist chapter, put the book down, and never finish reading it.
Dearest Nick, I have already commented on this page, so you can find my opinions elsewhere, but I would like you to know that Twilight made me curious about Wuthing Heights, SO I READ IT. That’s right, the whole book. And you know what? I loved it. So I would really appreciate if you didn’t make fun of “the younger generation” and make incorrect assumptions. Thank you.
Are you actually using Stephanie Meyer’s weight as an insult? How pathetic and immature. You’re the one who sounds like a teenager.
I personally have also read Twilight, and even though I never became an obsessed fan, I think that the one theme they have in common is that they are both stories about unconditional love. Other than that, they couldn’t be more different.
I’ve read Wuthering Heights and sorry but I don’t see that story about unconditional love. I see it as a bond between two people that is unbreakable through life or death. if you remember, heathcliff hated catherine because she gilted him and she married another man to help him with his position. She liked nice things and she wasn’t willing to wait for it for heathcliff so heathcliff became twisted and did everything he could to get vengance on Catherine and everyone related to her. I don’t see the stories as being remotely the same.
Twilight is not a love story. Edward and Bella are not in love. they’re in lust.
Twilight IS a love story. Who would give up their mortality for lust?
And i agree with Jennifer, Wuthering Heights isn’t a love story, it’s just pointless.
ur rite wat they done
money thats all they want money
I’m all for encouraging reading, but to promote a dense, complex classic as if it’s a moronic teen romance is just cynical and wrong.
I only have two thoughts after seeing this, and I can’t decide which one best describes my loathing. “Uuuuuggggggggggghhhhhhhh” or the always effective ‘Sideshow-Bob-rake-voice’.
Wilson, I love you. The Sideshow-Bob-rake-voice is a favorite of mine. Anyway, this is absolutely horrific. “Bella and Edward’s favorite book”??? WTF. Yeah, its possible that a handful of Twilight fans will read this book now, but as many of them are of the “LYKE OMGZ EDWARD IZ SO HAWT!!11!!” mindset, nothing will get them to read Wuthering Heights. I predict decent sales for the new covers but most of them going unread.
Oh, and to Kamilla, Bella and Edward ARE in lust, not love.
I think it’s great. It’s obvious coattail marketing, but hey- if a vamped out book cover gets tweens and young adults to start reading classic literature by Brontë and Austen, then I’d say it’s a smart idea.
I’m in agreement with those who support this if it helps get the kids to dive into a classic. What they get in return will remain long past the day that their “Twilight” books get packed up with the rest of the relics of their youth.
My only hesitation is that the covers will stop young men from reading this book– and they are the ones we need to be encouraging to read. “Wuthering Heights” may be ostensibly a romance, but it’s got a lot to offer to “boys” as well as “girls.”
Really great point about boys reading. Excellent point.
Following the same idea, shouldn’t they be giving the Twilight makeover to Romeo & Juliet then since that is a Bella favorite mentioned in New Moon? And wasn’t Bella reading Austen in Twilight?
meg you are sooooooo right. this idea is kinda stupid, people can get the wrong idea and think its just another addition to twilight. it not people….its not. the cover just seems like a twilight knockoff to me. Even if the book did have similar covers to twilight i still wouldn’t read it…though i should lol
I think it is a good idea.
This makes me hate everything.
Ughhhh…it makes me throw up a little in the back of my mouth, but I understand why they’re doing it and it does seem like a very clever move. It’s a shame that’s it’s necessary, though. And I kind of wish they hadn’t gone as far as stamping it with “Bella and Edward’s favorite book”. That’s getting a little ridiculous.
i do not feel that the following reaction is in any way over-reacting: wtf? what?? sacrilege! blasphemy! you are belittling wuthering heights by associating it with the poor, horrendous writing of twilight. emily bronte is.rolling.in.her.grave
Most kids will drop the 10 bucks or so, get about 2 pages in and then realize that the words are a little too confusing for them to handle.
100% agree. This is giving more benefits to booksellers than the teenyboppers themselves.
I completely agree. They may buy it, they’ll never finish it. Heck, if they pick it up at the store and bother looking through a few pages, they won’t even buy it. I love Wuthering Heights. It’s one of my most favourite books. I named my daughter Emily after Emily Bronte.
Not true. I read the whole thing. And guess why I started reading it? TWILIGHT. (of course, now I hate the twilight books and everything they stand for, but that is besides the point).
This is repulsive. Does everything have to be dumbed down to the lowest degree?
Ok, I’m a twilight fan, but seriously this is too much. Wuthering Heights is a classic and doesn’t need to be redone. If it inspires people to read, then great. But this is a little ridiculous.
wow i love twilight but i think that it’s a little too much.
Honestly, I don’t want my favorite book associated with Twilight. But whatever works..
Changing the cover/font to reflect the Twilight aesthetic more closely? Fine. Encouraged, even, if it gets tweens reading the classics.
The “Edward and Bella” seal of approval? May God help us all. This is from someone who didn’t even like the novel and Sparknotes-ed through the test in high school and college.
The publisher of the Sookie Stackhouse books should re-release them with a Twilight cover and a label that says “Ripped Off By Stephenie Meyers.”
EXACTLY!!
I was horrified, even though I am a huge Twilight fan. But your point about getting young readers to pick up the classics is totally valid. Although, just Stephenie Meyer mentioning the book in her books would probably be reason enough…
This is nothing short of a literary travesty. It’s disgusting that they’re trying to draw Twilighters to read Wuthering Heights; the rabid fans that this would appeal to are used to Meyer’s 12-year old writing style – they wouldn’t get past the first ten pages of Wuthering Heights.
Welcome to the wonderful world of product manipulation. You seem to be under the impression that only 12-year-olds read Twilight novels. NOT SO! As an English teacher who has read Wuthering Heights AND Twilight, I just have to say that not everyone reads the same genre all the time. Sometimes reading requires thought and a good classic, and other times call for a fast read that makes you feel good. Just because you read one rather than the other does not mean you cannot appreciate BOTH!
On a lighter note, I have 5 students who recently went out and bought Wuthering Heights and are reading it together (inspired by Twilight, of course!). And they have ALL made it past page 10.
Thank you for stating this Meghan.
If it gets people into the classics, then that’s great. What happened to not judging a book by it’s cover?
I have to be completely honest. I do read the classics, but I never read Wuthering Heights. After having read Twilight, I want to read it out of sheer curiosity. Because it’s not Edward and Bella’s favorite. It’s Bella’s. Edward hated the book. They have a lively debate on the merrits of the book and it’s made me curious. So I’m reading it. I’m retarded, I know.
Let’s see what Kate Bush thinks:
Got to love Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights!
I think it’s great. Anything that encourages someone to read a classic is a good thing.
even though i like Twilight(or i like eclipse n new moon, the other two r terrible), they should not make Wuthering Heights with a twilight cover, because Wuthering Heights is 100 times better than Twilight, n it was my favorite book we read in school! The fans of Twilight would not even understand Wuthering Heights, just like probably none of them would ever pick up a Jane Austen novel(4 of which i count in my favorite books of all time) because they r written in the 1800s!
Aren’t you contradicting yourself? You admit you’re a fan of the Twilight series, yet you claim to also love Wuthering Heights and Jane Austen novels. What makes you believe that there are not other Twilight fans who think like you do, or have the potential to do so once they are introduced to these classic novels?
Oh, and back in the 1800s I believe England and the US still pretty much wrote standard English..if not some sayings here and there having been changed.
I take it you are implying that the fans of “Twilight” will not understand any books written in the 1800s because Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters actually wrote complete sentences and entire words?
I wouln’t really base a good book on that either, surprisingly. “All the Pretty Horses,” for example, is a critically acclaimed book, despite it’s stream-of-consciousness style of writing. I believe there’s a whole stylistic movement based on that. Oh yeah, “Beloved” is also a great example. But of course to be a good author they’d have to be pretty obvious that that is their intent.
That just made my day John, thanks.
online i was reading “100 reasons Twilight is better than Harry Potter” and all the reasons were “Harry Potter uses to many big words and I don’t know what they mean! So I am confused” so how are people who can’t understand Harry Potter going to be able to understand Emily Bronte or Jane Austen?? I’m sorry if I contradicted myself, but what I meant was Eclipse is the only decent Twilight book, and New Moon is ok, but the other two I barely managed to finish, but everyone I know was reading them so i read the entire series.
Harry Potter uses too many big words? You mean JK Rowling has a decent vocabulary? Wow, go figure. That’s really sad. I agree with you that Eclipse and New Moon are the best Twilight books…I never finished the fourth.
I’m a fan of the Twilight series. I admit that much of it is pure fluff. But what I just wanted to point out is that you can be a fan of junk like this and be well read in other genres. It would be great if anything, even garbage, can influence a new generation to pick up something they normally would not, and discover that, “hey, this Emily Bronte person isn’t so bad.”
I read that, too. Actually, most of the reasons were, “we hav hott guyz in r story cuz harry potter isnt even sexi but edward totally iz”.
I say you are terribly judgemental an wrong. i love the twilight series. but before i even heard of it i had already read and loved some of austens classic novels. i was reading wuthering heights after reading twilight, but couldnt finish it due to the fact that it was borrowed from the library and i moved at the time. i think both twilight fans and the twi
ight “haters” are all going to extremes on their points of view. That being said im a 20 year old girl who likes twilight and believe this is too much. twilight readers would read wuthering heights if they felt inclined to, just because its menrtioned in the books. this is all just a way to sell more of Bronte’s book. and cash in on the twilight popularity. Besides, Edward hated that book. lol.
Goodness! So much ado about nothing. Hey, its only the covers that has been revamped not the novel. Too much extreme reaction people.
There is no one cover for Wuthering Heights that is being abolished and changed to have a Twilight branded cover the book is sold w/ various cover art. This is just another choice. Its a sign of the times. Everything we look at or touch is marketing something. At least this is getting kids reading.
I think its funny when people overreact to anything Twilight-related. I doubt that there is a bigger fan of Wuthering Heights than me (it’s my favorite book of all time), but I also love Twilight. Wuthering Heights helped inspire Twilight (both novels are about two lovers who can’t live without each other), so it’s not like this came out of nowhere. Do I think it’s a little corny, and an obvious ploy to make money? Yes.
But, I still have no problem with it, as I love both Wuthering Heights and Twilight.
To add to that, the Twilight fanbase is IN NO WAY only teens. Twilight has a huge adult fanbase, and some of these older fans, like myself, are happy to see that others may now read a classic like Wuthering Heights.
I totally agree, Karina!
Also, as someone with a degree in English lit, I think it’s interesting to note that Wuthering Heights was HATED by critics during its’ time. It’s interesting to observe the ways in which the guidelines of “classic” literature change over time.
This is incorrect. The reviews of the day were mixed, with many critics not understanding the book and being turned off by the dark themes. “Wuthering Heights” was an original, unlike “Twilight”, and is much more than a ‘romance’.
Wuthering heights received almost unanimous negative reviews. You are right in that many critics were turned off by the dark themes. But still, it received almost overwhelmingly negative reviews.
Wuthering Heights, at its core, is absolutely a romance. The most enduring aspect of the novel is the love story between Catherine and Heathcliff, and the way that love anchored Heathcliff to life…and to vengeance.
To be honest, no story is completely original. Wuthering Heights borrowed themes from earlier works as well. The only thing Twilight “took” from Wuthering Heights is the concept of a love that knows no boundaries.
Romance is a genre designation, and not every novel with a love story is a romance, especially one with such dark themes. If you think that it’s only about a ‘love that knows no boundaries’ then you’ve missed the point of the book.
“Wuthering Heights” was extremely original for its time, which is why many (but not all) critics didn’t understand it. “Jane Eyre”, which had much more conventional structure and themes was more highly regarded at the time, though now “Wuthering Heights” generally ranks highest of the Bronte sisters’ novels.
Wuthering Heights is not a romance. That is a misnomer by those who did not get the novel. At its heart, it is a book about the destructive side of human emotion. If you think it is about “a love that transcends time”, you weren’t paying attention. Cathy and Heathcliff destroy each other emotionally, socially, and physically, simply because of stubbornness and ignorance.
In relation to the book cover, as a teacher of advanced students who are capable of reading a book such as Wuthering Heights, but look at it and dismiss it as “boring”, I applaud ANY effort to reach reluctant readers. To say readers of Twilight are incapable of reading a classic is demeaning, agist, and offensive. No one’s taste, no matter how unrefined, should be questioned with reading. Reading is done for enjoyment, and whatever someone enjoys is they’re personal preference. I don’t like Twilight, but I don’t assume my students who love Twilight are insipid morons- I have test scores and data that says they are not.