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Title: The Heart of Darkness (Everyman's Library (Paper)) by Joseph Conrad, Cedric Watts ISBN: 0-460-87477-2 Publisher: Everymans Library Pub. Date: 01 April, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (314 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: The evil of man
Comment: I'm not sure how to feel about this book. While reading it, I really could not become absorbed by Conrad's dense prose, though, while occasionaly eloquent, is very thick, and, well, British. But now that I am finished with it, I can not get the images the novella invokes out of my head. The conquest of Africa by the Imperialist on the surface, and the corruption of man's very morality underneath. The story is deceptively simple, merely a man working for an Ivory trading company, ominously called "The Company", going up the Congo river to meet up with Kurtz, the archetype of Western Imperialism. During this trip, we are shown the inner workings of man and his heart of darkness. The novella is not perfect though. Conrad's condemnation of Imperialism is uneven. Yes, the only discernable cause of Kurtz's descent into evil and madness is the imperialist ethic of master-slave, and it is fairly clear that Marlowe (conrad) is condemning that ethic, but at the same time, he doesn't work very hard to elevate the view of the African natives any higher in the esteem of his western readers. Anyway, as the novella is only about 100 pages, it is something that can be read in a day. Invest an afternoon in it, and decide for yourself.
Rating: 4
Summary: Good, but...
Comment: I'm not sure how to feel about this book. While reading it, I really could not become absorbed by Conrad's dense prose, though, while occasionaly eloquent, is very thick, and, well, British. But now that I am finished with it, I can not get the images the novella invokes out of my head. The conquest of Africa by the Imperialist on the surface, and the corruption of man's very morality underneath. The story is deceptively simple, merely a man working for an Ivory trading company, ominously called "The Company", going up the Congo river to meet up with Kurtz, the archetype of Western Imperialism. During this trip, we are shown the inner workings of man and his heart of darkness. The novella is not perfect though. Conrad's condemnation of Imperialism is uneven. Yes, the only discernable cause of Kurtz's descent into evil and madness is the imperialist ethic of master-slave, and it is fairly clear that Marlowe (conrad) is condemning that ethic, but at the same time, he doesn't work very hard to elevate the view of the African natives any higher in the esteem of his western readers. Anyway, as the novella is only about 100 pages, it is something that can be read in a day. Invest an afternoon in it, and decide for yourself.
Rating: 4
Summary: Conrad in exquisite agony
Comment: Back in the day, "Heart" used to get paired with The Secret Sharer, which is a far more suspenseful tale (questionable ship's captain almost runs his craft aground to dump the sharer dude), but "Heart" is Conrad @his agonizing best, almost defying the reader to comprehend that which the narrator never does.
Although the main tale is Marlowe's, reader may recall that tale begins in third-person omniscient, as crew anticipates another Marlovian intrusion while waiting for the tide to rise on the Thames. Conrad's obsession with detail: Marlowe's physical by company doctor includes having his 19th-century head measured with calipers & doctor extracting promise from Marlowe to have head measured on return, since doc's convinced heads shrink in Africa. He should be so lucky.
Of course, Marlowe's hypermorality (according to him, everyone's an opportunist or slackard) deserts him when he's confronted with Kurtz's intended's insistence on hearing the last words (& we ALL know what they are), & we know then that Marlowe is mortal & sullied by the heart of darkness. Conrad was a miserable guy, full of debts & doubt, but if he weren't, there'd be no Heart of Darkness, maybe the premier allegory in modern lit.
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Title: CliffsNotes on Conrad's Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer by Daniel Moran ISBN: 0764585843 Publisher: Cliffs Notes Pub. Date: 05 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Things Fall Apart : A Novel by CHINUA ACHEBE ISBN: 0385474547 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 01 September, 1994 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Constance Garnett ISBN: 0553211757 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 June, 1984 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man by James Joyce, Seamus Deane ISBN: 0142437344 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 25 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $9.00 |
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Title: Lord Jim (Penguin Classics) by Joseph Conrad, Robert Hampson, Cedric P. Watts ISBN: 0140180923 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: October, 1989 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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