Heart of Darkness

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is quite possibly the best book that I have ever read. I have read many books based on cultural differences and the effects on the people involved. Heart of Darkness explores the mind of an educated European as he travels to Africa. It is the story of a man named Marlow. Conrad has created a complex narrator in Marlow, a man who is not all good or all bad. He travels to Africa with a vague belief of the goodness behind the imperialist venture, but what he finds is totally opposite. He despises the destruction, greed, chaos, and inhumanity that he sees in Africa and begins to identify, through sympathy, with the "savage" natives, but he refuses to do anything to help them. He cannot rise above his European thinking that somehow the white man is superior. He returns from the Congo to Belgium and does nothing except to perpetrate the myth of the goodness behind European imperialism when he lies to Kurtz's Intended. At least the lies have a pure motive, in that, save the distraught fiancé.
The novel has two separate settings. One, the frame narrative, is the setting for the telling of the tale on a cruising yawl (sailing vessel) or yacht on the Thames River near London, England. The second setting is that of the actual tale. In it, the protagonist travels to Brussels, the capital city of Belgium and home to the ivory company. Then to the Belgium Congo in Africa, with its dark, snaking, and mysterious river (in contrast to the tranquil Thames), and then back to Brussels.
As a person, Marlow is a thirty-two year old seaman who has traveled extensively. His experience on the Congo River is a departure for him, for his travels are usually in salt waters. As a narrator, Marlow is unreliable in the sense that he is not an objective teller of the story, but is instead emotionally conflicted about the events and people within his tale. He is also a figure who is alienated from the mainstream. Unlike most Europeans who bought into the justifications for imperialism and saw it as a righteous cause, Marlow saw that it was nothing but greed. However, Marlow's ability to distance himself from the dominant thinking of the time does not fully free him from that kind of thinking. In the end, he accepts the injustice of imperialism by supporting the lies, which justify it.
Heart of Darkness is structured as a journey of discovery, both externally in the jungle, and internally in Marlow's own mind. The deeper he penetrates into the heart of the jungle, the deeper he delves within himself; by the climax, when Kurtz has been revealed for the disgrace he is, Marlow has also learned something about himself. And he returns to civilization with this new knowledge.
Marlow doesn't tell his tale straight through from beginning to end; he'll skip from an early event to a late event and back again. Thus, we get several pages about Kurtz- Marlow's impressions and evaluation of his behavior- close to the end of Chapter II, but Kurtz himself doesn't appear on the scene until some way into Chapter III.
Conrad has created the character of Kurtz out of all the contradictions and madness of imperialism. Like Marlow, he is of European descent and is described as half-French and half- English. He is also described as a universal genius that is a great writer, painter, poet, orator, musician, and politician. Also like Marlow, Kurtz comes to Africa with noble intentions of doing good things for the Dark Continent. He believes that each station of the ivory company, for which he is an agent, should help the natives to a better way of life, but good (the light truth) and evil (the dark truth) split Kurtz's soul. Unfortunately, in the end he crosses over to live totally by the dark truth.
On the level of words, Kurtz expounds on the ideals of altruism, progress, enlightenment, and kindliness in the European presence in Africa. On the level of actions, he ruthlessly kills Africans, steals their natural resources in order to forward his own goals for rising in the company and in the world, and presents himself as a deity to be worshipped by the natives. Marlow says Kurtz is insane mainly for the reason that he embodies this contradiction, but Kurtz has also been horribly neglected by the Manager and deprived of food and supplies for months, a situation that would drive any normal man to insanity. Whether Kurtz is actually insane at the time of his death is left open to speculation. Perhaps Marlow names him as insane simply because he has great difficulty dealing with the reality of the man.
Some of the other minor, but important characters are: the Russian fool, the Intended, Director of Companies, Lawyer, Accountant, and the unnamed narrator. The Russian fool is a man known by his clothes with many colorful patches making him look much like a harlequin. He works with Kurtz who proves to be poor company for him. The Russian fool is an important foil to Kurtz, to help us understand his standards and goals. This in turn helps us understand Marlow more fully. The Intended is Kurtz's bride to be who at the end of the book still thinks that Kurtz was the great man that she remembered him to be and Marlow doesn't have the heart to tell her otherwise. The Director of Companies is a nameless captain on board the Nellie, one of Marlow's listeners. The Lawyer, Accountant, and unnamed narrator are nameless men on board Nellie. They are the listeners of Marlow's story. These men merely help to make the story possible and create dialogue outside of the story.

Rating:
Summary: Skilled
Review: English majors are justly fond of Conrad, who packs his stories with subtlety, symbolism, parallels, and rich imagery. "Heart of Darkness" is a brief and strangely absorbing read. Its plot is simple enough on the surface, about a sailor who guides a steamer up the Congo in search of a vaunted ivory trader. But beneath the surface, in a palpable atmosphere of unease, lie the book's complicated themes. This isn't just a condemnation of European activity in Africa, but a glimpse at the evil within every man. In some ways this book is a precursor to "Lord of the Flies" and other twentieth century books of despair, and yet Conrad does not leave the reader without hope. In skilful, mystical passages about light and dark, black and white, tall and short, jungle and sepulchre, Conrad gives us much food for thought about the nature of humankind and the possibilities for both good and evil. I see this book more as a warning than a simple cry of despair - though it pays ample attention to "the horror" of it all.

Rating:
Summary: A True Classic
Review: I was exposed to Conrad when I took a course in Modern Fiction as an undergraduate, 20 years ago. I took the course as an elective to fill a lit requirement. It was one of the best courses I've ever taken, and of all the tremendous books that were assigned, this was my favorite. I have read this at least 1/2 dozen times in my life. I WAS glad, however, that I had a literary scholar walk through this one. I doubt I would have appreciated it as much had I not. I would therefore recommend the critical edition if you're reading this on your own. Modern Fiction - the literary period from circa 1900 to the mid-fifty's, is not everyone's cup of tea and can understand the negative reviews. The best of these works are dense, relative to today's standards but worthwhile - at least to me. Simply, they don't make'em like this anymore.

After reading Heart of Darkness, take another look at Apocalypse Now, the best film adaptation of a novel - ever.

Dark, hypnotic, surreal - Heart of Darkness stands alone as a unique classic of american literature.

Rating:
Summary: Nevermind the meaning, the story line is unparalleled.
Review: There can be long debate about the hidden meanings, etc. in Heart of Darkness. And, of course, if one pays even a scintilla of attention. one's mind will no doubt be provoked by this deep, mysterious and moving tale. For example, there could be (I'm sure there has already been) a century long debate on the exact meaning of the title. However, besides the import of its moral/human/instinctive/spritual teachings, Heart of Darkness is often overlooked for the sheer excitement and anticipation the words cause. This is, to put it bluntly, a terriffic story. I was so anticipating the meeting between Marlow and Kurtz that I could barely stand it. And the visual imagery is astonishing. I will never forget the stakes with heads of savages. One must wonder how familiar Conrad was with the story of Vlad the Impaler (Dracula)!! Of course, it is the importance of the work that has made its immutable mark on literature. Any reader will surely be able to recognize his or her ! own instinctive/unconscious capabilities (desires, perhaps?) when they read this book. Who among us can wholly deny that we would not have behaved like Kurtz when left unrestrained by our society and placed in a position where it was not difficult to make a relatively unchallenged rise to power? Perhaps imperialism, left unchecked, is human nature, and our nature, our instinct is to civilize those different from us by way of any means feasible, which, with "savages" or the "uncivilized", is violence, fear or terror. Do a quick check of history, and you will find this to be true. The Heart of Darkness may in fact be the heart of man, a metaphor for the instinctive nature of man.

Rating:
Summary: Conrad in exquisite agony
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Too Abstract for My Taste in Pleasure Reading
Review: I never got through this in college though it was assigned. Then I tried again to read it several months ago and just could not get past the prose; however, when I went back to find specific examples of sentence fragments and awkward prose, I did not find them. When I really studied each line, it made sense and did not seem so awkward. I ended up setting the book aside and read something else that did not require as much effort ... like David Copperfield. Personally, I think that that alone speaks volumes about this work.

I have now read this story out of sheer determination. Slowing my reading pace to be able to absorb each sentence, I find many of the descriptions quite vivid and beautiful though I still resent the awkwardness of the prose and the fragmented and spliced sentences (which I did find this time around). For example of a common type of splice, "Once a white man in an unbuttoned uniform, camping on the path with an armed escort of lank Zanzibaris, very hospitable and festive - not to say drunk. Was looking after the upkeep of the road he declared." Fragments and long lists of items are common in descriptions: "A rocky cliff appeared, mounds of turned up earth by the shore, houses on a hill, others with iron roofs, amongst a waste of excavations, or hanging to the declivity." In one of the beginning scenes he describes two women, one fat and one thin, but when he comes back to them they are the old one and the young one. Then towards the end one of them is described as the one with the cat. An example of what I would call awkward prose is: [In reference to the statement that women live in a world all of their own making unfettered by reality]. "Some confounded fact we men have been living contentedly with ever since the day of creation would start up and knock the whole thing over."

I was really disappointed with what I got for the effort with this story. There is not terribly much story. Marlowe recounts the story of his trip up the near virgin Congo to retrieve Mr. Kurtz, an agent in the trading company who is surrounded by mystery for both those that merely hear of his exploits and those who live around him. Meeting Kurtz and determining the status of his mental condition is the crux and climax of the story. That really is about it. The whole drama to the book is to be drawn by the contrast of "civilized" and "primeval" and a study of the characters. This may be okay in a classroom where many people can collectively infer traits from the characters after several hours of discussion but is too abstract for my tastes in pleasure reading.

Rating:
Summary: A book that should have been read by all educated persons
Review: I read this is high school and again 30 years later. If you read in your younger days and have been through a couple of decades of life since, I'd recommend you read it again. It is one of those books with narrative powerful enough for the young and insight enough for the middle-aged. I'll read it again in 20 years or so and let you know if it still stands up, but I suspect it will.

Rating:
Summary: Dull but descriptive over-rated novella
Review: Heart of Darkness by Conrad is a very short novella that is masterfully descriptive of its characters and locations but also happens to be incredibly uneventful and surprisingly lifeless for a book that attempts to bring us a unique vision of an Africa-come-trade fair.

In short, this journey into the heart of darkness should have been a little more engaging but just happens to pass from one page to next without any drama, suspense, intrigue or mystery. Sure Conrad can describe his locations, characters and their thoughts beautifully when he renders them onto the page but this novella just misses anything that might interest us, leaving each descriptive paragraph marred by dislocated reasons for being there at all. There are areas of this jungle that scream to be penetrated but are alas forgotten about or just left behind. As a story it also fails to stay coherent at the best of the times and even after repeat readings makes little or no sense.

Conrad is leaving much up to our imagination but also frankly leaves gaps too big to be considered a structured plot. It is more like the ramblings of a drunken old sea worthy fool who between swigs of the ale forgets why he was talking in the first place, but at least continues along in a descriptive babbling that helps you make it to the last page.

In short this story would have been better told by someone else who was there. It seems like the writer is struggling at the best of times to want to write it which probably explains its length as a novella. I am sure Conrad just got this one over and done with so that he could move onto a better piece of literature. It seems like a completed piece of work just for the sake of completing it.

It is no wonder that many students will nod off during this one. You can not blame their youth for this snooze-fest. It is plain and simply boring and there is much better period novels out there that deal with similar themes. I am sure swapping this one for something from Patrick O'Brian "Master and Commander" would make the class room more attentive.

Rating:
Summary: Dark, Disturbing, Descent into Decadence
Review: "Heart of Darkness" documents the journey an agent of a merchant company, in search of another agent who has vanished in the jungles of Asia. He finds the missing agent -- sort of. He finds the man, but the man has "gone native" or transformed into a primitive, uncivilized, dangerous man who is more beast than human. This is a dark, haunting, very well-written exploration of madness spawned by deculturation and disconnection from civilization.

"Heart of Darkness" was the inspiration for the film "Apocalypse Now", which took Conrad's story and transposed it in era and locale.

Rating:
Summary: Can you even read?!
Review: This is for Nanx Hedwerp, who was looking for the "harp"--
Uh, the last time I checked, it was the "Heart of Darkness," not harp. Change the bong water and try reading it again.