Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780312138431
ISBN: 0312138431
Label: St Martins Pr
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
Publication Date: 2000-09
Publisher: St Martins Pr
Studio: St Martins Pr

First published in 1902, Conrad's story describes intensely and in stark detail how greed can so easily drive civilised and enlightened men to revert to primitive savagery. Set against the background of the European ivory trade in Africa, Heart Of Darkness is narrator Marlow's account of his journey in search of the legendary and mystical Kurtz, the most successful trader of them all, who is now reported to be ill. Marlow's quest becomes both a harrowing journey of self-discovery and haunting description of the brutality of colonial exploitation; while Kurtz himself is one of the most memorable creations in modern fiction.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Colonialism/Antin-colonialism
Comment: Joseph Conrad is an amazing writer; he uses the English language of the late 19th and early 20th centuries beautifully, he describes the colonial world at its apogee, he tells engrossing stories but even his seemingly potboiler plots (such as The Secret Sharer) raise disturbingly serious moral issues. All of these qualities are epitomized in The Heart of Darkness. Can anyone read the Heart of Darkness without thinking of Apocalypse Now? I believe the movie is one of the best adaptations of literature to film but the impact of Conrad's story is as vivid as the movie.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: powerful book
Comment: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

One of the first masterpieces of the 20th century and one of the key modernist text. This is a story that everyone should read, and Kindle edition provides the best format for the reading experience.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: humidity drips off the end of each line like a light mist in a heavy fog
Comment: Probably the dampest book I've ever read--humidity drips off the end of each line like a light mist in a heavy fog. More is left unsaid than is written on the page, and this is truly a classic even though there is too much left unsaid for me to rate it at the very top.

Favorite line: As Marlow cautiously pilots the steamboat up the river toward the inland station and its mysterious keeper Kurtz, his manager says "I authorize you to take all the risks." Marlow curtly snaps back "I refuse to take any."

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: An excellent piece of epistemology!
Comment: On page 3, the narrator (not Marlow) tells us that "Marlow was not typical (if his propensity to spin yarns be excepted), and to him the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze, in the likeness of one of these misty halos that sometimes are made visible by the spectral illumination of moonshine."
This story is not typical. Its meaning isn't inside the text; rather, the text requires its meaning to be explicated outside in the world of symbols and signs. I recently used this text in a expository writing class focused mainly on teaching what, and not how to write (what to write when confronted with your own lack of desire to write). Conrad's text needs to be fitted into 19th century philosophy and especially epistemology. For a great essay see: Decentering "Heart of Darkness" by Perry Meisel. If you're not reading this text for a class (with a teacher versed in 19th century philosophy) or with the intent to look into the historical "narrative" that brings out the meaning of the text like a "glow brings out a haze", then don't bother.
I read this book quicky in about six hours, then spent the next 7 days going through 10 pages a day. That method seemed to work but those 10 pages took nearly 2 hours to read carefully. The result is a story so filled with symbolism that even reading it as a denounciation of colonialism or mperialism seems shallow! Highly recommended for disciplined reading!

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Very, Very Short and Unremarkable
Comment: Like most people, I was familiar with Heart of Darkness, both as an acclaimed work of literature and as the inspiration for the remarkable movie Apocolypse Now. For some reason, I recently decided to make an attempt at reading it, despite my concern that it was written at a level beyond my capacity to understand.

Upon receipt of the volume from Amazon, I was initially under the impression that I had mistakenly ordered the Cliff's Notes version of the work. I had no idea that the book was essentially a short story, easily readable in 2-3 hours.

Even more surprising, was the ease with which I was able to follow and understand the story, though admittedly written in a slightly dense prose. Perhaps this was due to having seen Apocolypse Now and being familiar with the broad outline of the story and having read other works of history on the Belgian Congo.

In any event, it was a decent story, filled with some beautifully descriptive language and imagery. I must say, however, that I was not bowled over. Steamship Captain pilots a ragged boat up the Congo, accompanied by colonial agents and support staff (cannibals and other natives) in an attempt to relieve a long stranded station agent (Kurtz) who has "gone native" and become the insane source of worship for the local natives. If you've seen Apocolypse Now, you know the story, just replace the Mekong with the Congo.

I go back to my first paragraph in which I related a concern over my ability to understand what is considered a classic work of literature. I fully understood it, but was perhaps not qualified to fully appreciate it.

---