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Heart Of Darkness, With The Congo Diary (1901)

by Joseph Conrad(Favorite Author)

3.25 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0786104422 (ISBN13: 9780786104420)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Blackstone Audio, Inc.

review 1: For starters, it's only 85 pages long. How 'bout that?Like most assigned reading in high school and college, this was much better ten years later, knowing that I wasn't going to be quizzed on motifs or metaphors. The framing narrative works wonderfully, and for some reason I heard Marlow's voice as Jeremy Kemp's, old and gravelly. I usually read very quickly, but reading in Marlow's voice really slowed me down and let me really appreciate the language.That said, this is one of those stories where the real meaning is only hinted at, and I'm always terrible at figuring them out. The Horror!
review 2: There are two things dangerous for a literary person to admit. One is that they like Conrad, with the possible exception of HEART OF DARKNESS, and the other is t... morehat they recommend others avoid Conrad, with the possible exception of HEART OF DARKESS. This is my second sojourn into the heart of this book, and it is the second time I have regretted the time wasted.It is hard to judge today just how much to blame Conrad for the contempt shown the African characters. From the frequent use of the N word (accepted when the book was written) to the constant contempt that the first person protagonist Marlow has for these characters, it is likely to make anyone today queasy. Modern literary theory tells us that Conrad should not be blamed for the attitude of his characters. That seems fair, so we’ll move on only noting that Marlow’s attitude makes this book hard to take.So does Marlow. Until the very end, I find him a most obnoxious traveling companion, and if I loathe the voice and the man, it is very difficult to like the book.There are some bits of really lovely writing here and there, especially the three times that Conrad uses the title or a variation of it in Marlowe’s narration, and it is always good to expose yourself a book with the literary reputation that this book has. I have, however, read four of Conrad’s books, two of them twice. I think that is enough for the rest of my life. less

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