Heart of Darkness

Rating:
Summary: I love this book!
Review: I like to read this book, because it is mysterious. I would like to learn more about this book, because I like Joseph Conrad's expriences. The description is very clear and uderstandable. The characterization reveals personalized experiences. Overall, the book is wonderful.

Rating:
Summary: A bedtime story of a different color
Review: Under a darkening sky, a group of sailors in the Thames delta listens to a story about Africa, a steamboat journey, and the strange, broken director of an ivory-post in the Belgian Congo. It is a captivating premise, executed with tremndous force by Joseph Conrad in 'Heart of Darkness', a novella which holds its own against the giants of modern literature. In Conrad's hands, colonial Africa is a surreal backdrop, its population, conquerers and landscape reduced to icons and elements - the chemistry here is hardly tangible. While 'Heart of Darkness' could easily have descended into social commentary, striking out at the ills of colonialism, Conrad is in pursuit of something less tangible than human evil - this novella chases the nature of evil itself.

Mr. Kurtz, the narrative focal point of 'Heart of Darkness', remains only a rumor until the last quarter of the text; Marlow, hypnotized by tales of his exploits, ventures deeper into the Congo to find him. Marlow is no explorer, however. Riding a steamboat piloted by others, its course dictated by the turn of the river, Marlow is forced into a sort of numbed complacency. The final meeting between Marlow and Kurtz is mesmerizing. A sickley, damaged phantom, Mr. Kurtz ruthlessly presides over a clan of native slave laborers. Kurtz is a casualty of the jungle - so removed from the all things familiar, he has succumbed to evil, unwittingly, unhappily.

To Conrad, evil is what fills voids; it replaces lonliness, confusion, and fear. The inner Congo is an alien wasteland to westerners Marlow and Kurtz. By the time Kurtz utters his famous swan song, 'the horror... the horror,' it is clear that he is only a shadow of Marlow. Marlow, once so familiar to the reader, has become empty as well.

This is a magnificent piece of fiction. Conrad's prose, admitedly, pay far less attention to narrative than to impressionistic poetry. But what incredible poetry it is. The rusted machines, the tall grass, Marlow's haunting vision of Kurrtz devouring the world, the woman weaving in the chair, and the darkness... the immeasuarble, infintely empty heart of darkness, gathering in the clouds, engulfing the horizon...

Rating:
Summary: The horror! the horror!
Review: Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" is without a doubt, in my mind, the most remarkable English language novel ever written. Its masterful prose, its measure of depth, its effective and horrifying look into the depths of the human soul--Joseph Conrad's masterpiece stands head and shoulders above the competition. Conrad, born Polish, wrote this book in Engish (most definitely not his first language), yet every word, sentence and mark of punctuation is used exquisitely. Don't let its short length fool you--every word of "Heart of Darkness" goes toward making it a substantial read, and one that will stay with you for years to come. Conrad has the guts to question the true way of life--should we recognize the selfish, sickening darkness that envelops the whole of mankind, or should we ignore that fact, climb out of depression, and live a blissfull lie in denial of the horrible alternative? "Heart of Darkness" has changed my life--let it change yours as well.

Rating:
Summary: Great Possibilities, but too short of a narrative...
Review: The idea of probing man's Heart of Darkness is a fine one, but after reading much contemporary fiction, this novel leaves much to the reader. The novel was initially published in magazine anthology form and was probably very effective in this manner. In reading the novel, however, I found the descriptions of Kurtz (who happens to be the most integral character in the novel) to be much too terse and inneffective. The character of Marlow is sufficient and following his progress up the river into the heart of Africa is intriguing and keeps the pages turning. However, all the buildup leading to the final meeting with the ambitious Kurtz leaves one frustrated with the lack of description that is eventually found. If the reader is waiting for a great man with almost superhuman knowledge of what we all face in our existence, they will be left wanting with the pale, sickly man they come across. Sure, "The Horror, The Horror..." is a great plot device to make all of us question the nature of death and our lives, but I feel another 100 pages could have been written to establish what could have been one of the most fascinating characters in modern fiction. As it is, we are left with a breif sketch. Disappointing with great possibility..........

Rating:
Summary: A Book Worth Reading!
Review: The Author Originally from Poland, and known as Josef Konrad Korzeniowski, Joseph Conrad knew very little English until he began learning it at age 20. At age 38 he published the first of his many novels, and he displayed in each a rare mastery of his adopted language. A member of the British Merchants Navy, he worked his way from mere deckhand, to captain. While serving, he traveled widely, and entered the African Congo in 1890. It is thought that much of Heart of Darkness is based upon his experiences while there. His Message His overall message might be summed up in the cliché, Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It might also be summed up in the assertion that man's social environment is perhaps kingpin in either deterring or allowing release of the innate evil capable of flowing from his nature. The book addresses the themes of oppression and freedom, power and powerlessness, corruption and virtue, nature and nurture, in ways that are creative and profound. Overall, this book is deep. It's message only fully hit me after considerable private musing. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad explores human nature in a most ironic fashion. He does this by narrating an oral story as told by a seafaring man about an explorer-merchant who enters into the African Congo with the best of intentions of bringing light and commerce. But there in the Heart of Darkness, without any external restraint, would emerge the explorer-merchant's own heart of darkness...and the horrors that would ultimately flow from it. Is Conrad's book, at least in part, an autobiographical warning disguised as fiction? There is a strong universality and timelessness to the themes addressed in Heart of Darkness, and an extreme richness of meaning in the text. This coupled with the life of Joseph Conrad himself, in so profoundly addressing his issues of English literacy, makes this truly outstanding reading.

Rating:
Summary: This book is deadly.
Review: DEADLY boring. I would have given it zero stars, but I guess one star is as low as you can go.

Rating:
Summary: DYNAMITE!
Review: A fascinating account of colonial barbarism. Probes the underbelly of so-called modern European "progress" and the misapprehension of the nineteenth century's "civilising" mission in Africa. Written with verve and surprising insight and well ahead of its time.

Rating:
Summary: good book
Review: Spine-chillingly freaky describes the moment as the captain meets his double! The new captain has command of his own ship for the first time, and then, on his break in the middle of the night, he ends up pulling his double from the Gulf of Siam. This book, The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad was a difficult book. The Secret Sharer was a hard book to follow because the book is very intricate, but if a person likes intricate books, then that can be very suspenseful to the reader. Most suspenseful books are hard to follow because if they weren't, and the reader could figure out what was going to happen next, then the suspense would be lost. For example, when the captain and Mr. Leggat were speaking to each other, the captain mentioned reporting a missing man as a suicide to the authorities unless Mr. Leggat could find the man that was missing alive. If the reader can figure out what is going to happen next, then the suspense of the situation is lost. Who wants to read a suspenseful book if every enigma can be figured out as they read the book? I most certainly wouldn't read a book like that. The captain was an odd character because of the understanding he had of Mr. Leggat. For example, the captain had a complete understanding of Mr. Leggat five minutes after pulling him from the water and speaking with him. That is not normal for any person to be able to do. Another reason the captain was an odd character was that he still accepted Mr. Leggat on the ship even though he was accused of murdering another person on his last voyage. Most people in today's world will not accept others that are accused of a crime into society. The captain can also be considered odd because of his other actions. For example, he said he wouldn't dare take anyone else into his confidence other than Mr. Leggat. That was odd because when someone first meets another person both aren't completely trusting to each other. That takes time and friendship, which neither of them had to understand each other. Mr. Leggat was a bad person because he is not very trustworthy. He killed a man on his last ship, got stripped of his rank and kicked off. Mr. Leggat had a man by the throat and a huge wave hit the boat. I think Mr. Leggat planned the murder that way so he could get away with it. When a wave hit the ship he would snap the man's neck. Another reason Mr. Leggat was a bad person is that he never offered a clear explanation of why he was in the water. He said he was just swimming but then mentioned the other boat that he killed the man on. Mr. Leggat kept the captain guessing what he was thinking. For example, when Mr. Leggat was peering out the port window, the captain had to make guesses as to what Mr. Leggat was thinking. Another example was when Mr. Leggat was first accepted onto the captain's ship. The captain had no clue what the Mr. Leggat was thinking, but thought he could imagine Mr. Leggat's thoughts. Clearly, The Secret Sharer was a good book to read for someone that likes to read interesting and suspenseful books. Who wants to read an uninteresting or unsuspenseful book? Not me! How did the captain understand Mr. Leggat's thoughts? I will be reading another book written by Joseph Conrad, the name of the book is Heart of Darkness.

Rating:
Summary: Even with High Moral Ideals One Can....
Review: Joseph Conrad's book shows the corruption that can grow into and flow out of man's heart when placed within an environment devoid of external restaint and/or accountability, even if such a man initially goes to such an environment with high moral ideas of bringing good. As a missionary with ideas of going to Africa, this was a lesson I needed to see illustrated before me so as not to fall into the errors that man can make when placed in such an environment. Conrad brillinatly displays for his readers the need for not only internal restraint, but external restraint as well.

Rating:
Summary: The enlightenment
Review: I just finished to read this book. It's amazing how Conrad shows the way to 'total comprehension' through such a symbolic text. Not everyone will be able to understand the content, buty the one who will, will always remember this book for the important lessons that taught in order to live a perfect and straight life, based on high ideals. Thank you, Conrad.