Status
Available
Call number
Call number
F Con
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Collection
Publication
Barnes & Noble Classics (2003), 320 pages
Description
In "Heart of Darkness, Captain Marlowe must wend his way up the African Congo to recover the missing Colonel Kurtz in one of the greatest steamship adventures ever told. As Marlowe's ship Nellie scrapes along the Congo, the voyage into the human soul, like the morass of steaming foliage along the banks, becomes increasingly dark and perilous. In addition to the Marlowe tales "Heart of Darkness and "Youth, this new volume includes Conrad's classic doppelganger tale "The Secret Sharer and the lesser known "Amy Foster." Michael Matin is a professor in the English Department of Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina. Includes an Original Map of the Congo.
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User reviews
LibraryThing member FicusFan
This is a short story/novella that is about 140 pages. It took me 6 days to read it. I would be reading and my eyes would glaze over, or I couldn't get past some part of the page, or I would fall asleep. It really wasn't a good experience for me, but it is mostly due to the writing style. I am not
I had the book because it is a classic, and I wanted to see what it was about. The previous book I just read, Season of Migration to the North has been called a reverse Heart of Darkness, so I thought while it was fresh, I would tackle HOD.
So as can be guessed, I thought it was horribly overwritten. It also had a preposterous conceit, that seamen of the time would speak in such a manner (narrator). I am sure the sailors on the deck would have been speaking less formally and perhaps with dialect and not with such length or polish.
This book is a story about the clash of civilization and nature, and the horror it produces. It was written in the Victorian era and I think their idea of what was horrible, is very different than our idea of the horrible today.
I suspect that the horror of the Victorians was not anything that happened in the jungle, they didn't expect anything better of the natives, but that a white, christian, educated man was involved in it. That he allowed it to happen and let the natives keep their own culture and didn't force them to adopt the 'civilized' Western way.
In our day, after the holocaust there is very little horror to be had for Kurtz's behavior as a shock to how we expect white, christian men to act. Instead, we see the treatment of the natives as horrible. How they are beaten, killed, treated like animals and discarded to die when they are sick or used up. Even the narrator does next to nothing for the men who have crawled off to die. In the past that treatment of the natives was OK because it was for their own good, to civilize them.
The natives meanwhile have their own violence which they use in service to their own culture. The Westerners considered that evil and barbaric, but never reflected on their own behavior or sense of entitlement.
There is a half-naked native woman, full of passion, and fire, and hinting at wanton sex. She is contrasted against the grieving fiancée who is covered in cloth from head to foot, who has turned herself into a living monument to the dead man. Of course the Western woman has no idea of what really happened or what her intended turned into. She is dedicating her life to a lie, but is seen as proper, dutiful and civilized
For most of the readers of the time the treatment of the natives was acceptable violence, but the violence of the natives for their own reasons was evil. I guess not much has changed. Our violence is OK, but that of our enemies/inferiors is evil.
At this point I can't really comment on the comparison between the 2 books, because I am still trying to cut through the wordyness of HOD and see the book as a whole story and then think about the similarities and differences.
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fond of older books that take the scenic route for everything. Those who like it, or don't mind will have a much better and quicker experience.I had the book because it is a classic, and I wanted to see what it was about. The previous book I just read, Season of Migration to the North has been called a reverse Heart of Darkness, so I thought while it was fresh, I would tackle HOD.
So as can be guessed, I thought it was horribly overwritten. It also had a preposterous conceit, that seamen of the time would speak in such a manner (narrator). I am sure the sailors on the deck would have been speaking less formally and perhaps with dialect and not with such length or polish.
This book is a story about the clash of civilization and nature, and the horror it produces. It was written in the Victorian era and I think their idea of what was horrible, is very different than our idea of the horrible today.
I suspect that the horror of the Victorians was not anything that happened in the jungle, they didn't expect anything better of the natives, but that a white, christian, educated man was involved in it. That he allowed it to happen and let the natives keep their own culture and didn't force them to adopt the 'civilized' Western way.
In our day, after the holocaust there is very little horror to be had for Kurtz's behavior as a shock to how we expect white, christian men to act. Instead, we see the treatment of the natives as horrible. How they are beaten, killed, treated like animals and discarded to die when they are sick or used up. Even the narrator does next to nothing for the men who have crawled off to die. In the past that treatment of the natives was OK because it was for their own good, to civilize them.
The natives meanwhile have their own violence which they use in service to their own culture. The Westerners considered that evil and barbaric, but never reflected on their own behavior or sense of entitlement.
There is a half-naked native woman, full of passion, and fire, and hinting at wanton sex. She is contrasted against the grieving fiancée who is covered in cloth from head to foot, who has turned herself into a living monument to the dead man. Of course the Western woman has no idea of what really happened or what her intended turned into. She is dedicating her life to a lie, but is seen as proper, dutiful and civilized
For most of the readers of the time the treatment of the natives was acceptable violence, but the violence of the natives for their own reasons was evil. I guess not much has changed. Our violence is OK, but that of our enemies/inferiors is evil.
At this point I can't really comment on the comparison between the 2 books, because I am still trying to cut through the wordyness of HOD and see the book as a whole story and then think about the similarities and differences.
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LibraryThing member KendraRenee
Having read King Leopold's Ghost prior to Heart of Darkness, I appreciated the latter more for its historical than its literary value. It's just mind-staggering to think that Conrad witnessed such a brutal system of colonization in action, and captured his observations in this fictional account of
I also enjoyed "Youth" and "Amy Foster," also included in the same collection. Marlow's narration of Judea, the ship's, exploits, is seamless and makes for quite the page-turner. Conrad was clearly a very experienced sailor, because he describes sea-faring in careful and convincing detail. His characterization of "Youth" throughout the story is also right on the mark. I've never read a more fitting description of it. (And I would know, because I'm 24!)
"Amy Foster" is the sad story of a shipwrecked eastern European who thinks he finds love in a simple country girl, the first person to offer him any kind of compassion since he landed on that strange shore (England). However, she ultimately turns against him, too, because of his foreign tongue and strange ways that come out more when he attempts to connect with their newborn child. It's due to her neglect and abandonment of her husband when he's very sick that he dies one cold winter afternoon. Very sad.
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his journey into the Congo's heartland.I also enjoyed "Youth" and "Amy Foster," also included in the same collection. Marlow's narration of Judea, the ship's, exploits, is seamless and makes for quite the page-turner. Conrad was clearly a very experienced sailor, because he describes sea-faring in careful and convincing detail. His characterization of "Youth" throughout the story is also right on the mark. I've never read a more fitting description of it. (And I would know, because I'm 24!)
"Amy Foster" is the sad story of a shipwrecked eastern European who thinks he finds love in a simple country girl, the first person to offer him any kind of compassion since he landed on that strange shore (England). However, she ultimately turns against him, too, because of his foreign tongue and strange ways that come out more when he attempts to connect with their newborn child. It's due to her neglect and abandonment of her husband when he's very sick that he dies one cold winter afternoon. Very sad.
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LibraryThing member Mrs.Ski
Not my type of stories at all, depressing and weird. Though the last story "The Secret Sharer" shocked me by how good it was. It was intriguing and fascinating - Love It!
LibraryThing member justagirlwithabook
I had to read this book for an AP Lit class in high school and really just didn't enjoy it very much. I feel like most of the time was spent on a boat (if I remember correctly) and it was really dark and depressing. I'm not even sure that it's worth a two star review except that I can't really
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remember much of it at this point in time so I'm giving in the benefit of the doubt. Show Less
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
A novella, rather than a novel. But one of the most devastating looks into the folly of colonialism ever penned. I would say this book was often aped, but never bettered. We embark on a voyage away from the clean seas, into the darkest, and most diseased parts of the continent, and the soul, intent
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on what happened to a man we once revered, and find out what has become of him, and of ourselves. Show Less
LibraryThing member kevn57
Finally read it and now I finally get Apocalypse Now, really I should have read this years ago but it just seems like the world is steaming up this river now.
Pages
320