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3.02 AVERAGE
3.02 AVERAGE
Ik ga de inhoud van dit boek zo me hersenen weer uit laten lopen
2.5. This book is highly quoted, referenced, revered and all that, it was a book I was supposed to read during my degree (oopsies), and I get why but also I don’t. This was confusing and boring and felt like it dragged on even though it was so short. I’m sure there are more philosophies and observations within this book than I noticed which have given it the reputation it has, but I’m sorry to say that as someone who has studied literature, this flopped for me.
Ok so, strange book. This is about a sailor, Marlow, who goes into the Congo River to retrieve Mr. Kurtz, a fabled, mysterious and brilliant man.
I did like the vision Conrad had with this. Witnessing the untamed African wilderness and what it does to people, and seeing the utter disparity and difference that existed between humans. The word ivory was a phantom that floated everywhere and controlled everything. Mr. Kurtz was a greater phantom that kept people afraid, yet yearning to see him.
I even liked the writing. The story begins with “This has also been one of the dark places.” Some of Marlow’s ramblings were interesting. But in the end this was just bad.
The story structure was all over the place. The narrative was inconsistent. The story felt loose, like pieces put together without care for the right thing to focus on, or to let the story breath a bit. It was a short book, but still I struggled to get through it. The journey through the river was basically non-existent. I have no knowledge of the functioning of a European export company in Africa in the 1800’s, nor of working a steamboat, so I was lost on a lot of things. There was a single significant physical incident, other than that it was all a distant dreamlike series of events with no attempt to make it readable or interesting. I genuinely want to stress how absent the story was, it’s like there was no story at all. There were just thoughts, and concepts of people instead of real people. We saw how impressive Mr. Kurtz was, but never really got to know it. The dreamlike approach is just an excuse if the story ends up being bad.
It felt lazy, like the author had a vision and wrote it without trying to make it a compelling story. It annoys so much. And of course there are the racist and sexist problems. This was just bad, and the fact that it tries to seem like more than it is so that you feel like you are missing out on something makes it even worse.
I did like the vision Conrad had with this. Witnessing the untamed African wilderness and what it does to people, and seeing the utter disparity and difference that existed between humans. The word ivory was a phantom that floated everywhere and controlled everything. Mr. Kurtz was a greater phantom that kept people afraid, yet yearning to see him.
I even liked the writing. The story begins with “This has also been one of the dark places.” Some of Marlow’s ramblings were interesting. But in the end this was just bad.
The story structure was all over the place. The narrative was inconsistent. The story felt loose, like pieces put together without care for the right thing to focus on, or to let the story breath a bit. It was a short book, but still I struggled to get through it. The journey through the river was basically non-existent. I have no knowledge of the functioning of a European export company in Africa in the 1800’s, nor of working a steamboat, so I was lost on a lot of things. There was a single significant physical incident, other than that it was all a distant dreamlike series of events with no attempt to make it readable or interesting. I genuinely want to stress how absent the story was, it’s like there was no story at all. There were just thoughts, and concepts of people instead of real people. We saw how impressive Mr. Kurtz was, but never really got to know it. The dreamlike approach is just an excuse if the story ends up being bad.
It felt lazy, like the author had a vision and wrote it without trying to make it a compelling story. It annoys so much. And of course there are the racist and sexist problems. This was just bad, and the fact that it tries to seem like more than it is so that you feel like you are missing out on something makes it even worse.
I think I'm giving this 2 stars (rather than 1) because I just read King Leopold's Ghost and the topics are very similar (Conrad having been in the Congo during that time and possibly inspired by certain people he met there). Conrad is overly descriptive yet still paints a compelling and frightening picture of the landscape. The book is horribly racist which I expected but was still shocked by. The book spends very little time with the actual character of Kurtz, rather spending the majority leading up to the meeting and then after. Do not recommend for casual reading and did not really get this as a "classic".
dark
tense
fast-paced
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
*grits teeth* If I gave Candide 2 stars, I can't give an objectively better-written book 1 star...
I read this in high school and hated it, and I reread it this year, thinking, "high school me surely was just too stupid to get it, right? If everyone else is shitting themselves about how good it is?" Nope it just sucks! Oh, I'm sorry, the racism is actually a metaphor for how we all have darkness within us? Cool story, still racism! Oh I get it, it's criticizing imperialism, it's saying that Western civilization in all its majesty shouldn't go to the dark savage lands with no civilization in them because it'll turn the imperialists as savage as the natives but the thing is they were that savage in the first place because imperialism is savage. OK. Right. But we're still resting on the axiom that people from Africa are dark twisted animalistic children transported from the murky dawns of time? This is still what we're doing here? And you have to dissect this book with a laser to even claw that vague conclusion out of it? This is what we're holding up as the greatest critique of Western imperialism in literature? Not, like, literally any of the gabillion other books in the postcolonial tradition?
Let's not pretend that if people dislike this book (cough, Chinua Achebe, and how people have responded to his response to this book), it's because they were too stupid to understand modernist writing. Just because a book is confusing doesn't mean that it can't suck. I don't love modernism, but I can appreciate modernist writing if it's good. This isn't. It has its moments, but "having its moments" does not a good book make.
I am begging the College Board to stop making AP Lit teachers include this in their curricula.
I read this in high school and hated it, and I reread it this year, thinking, "high school me surely was just too stupid to get it, right? If everyone else is shitting themselves about how good it is?" Nope it just sucks! Oh, I'm sorry, the racism is actually a metaphor for how we all have darkness within us? Cool story, still racism! Oh I get it, it's criticizing imperialism, it's saying that Western civilization in all its majesty shouldn't go to the dark savage lands with no civilization in them because it'll turn the imperialists as savage as the natives but the thing is they were that savage in the first place because imperialism is savage. OK. Right. But we're still resting on the axiom that people from Africa are dark twisted animalistic children transported from the murky dawns of time? This is still what we're doing here? And you have to dissect this book with a laser to even claw that vague conclusion out of it? This is what we're holding up as the greatest critique of Western imperialism in literature? Not, like, literally any of the gabillion other books in the postcolonial tradition?
Let's not pretend that if people dislike this book (cough, Chinua Achebe, and how people have responded to his response to this book), it's because they were too stupid to understand modernist writing. Just because a book is confusing doesn't mean that it can't suck. I don't love modernism, but I can appreciate modernist writing if it's good. This isn't. It has its moments, but "having its moments" does not a good book make.
I am begging the College Board to stop making AP Lit teachers include this in their curricula.
Difficult to read, but incredibly profound.
As a side note—If you struggle to get much out of this at first read, I high recommend the “Heart of Darkness: Guide to Reading and Reflecting” by Karen Swallow-Prior.
As a side note—If you struggle to get much out of this at first read, I high recommend the “Heart of Darkness: Guide to Reading and Reflecting” by Karen Swallow-Prior.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really liked this book. It's an amazingly short read that packs a huge punch. The language is beautiful and Conrad's examinations of human character are (if somewhat outdated) spot-on. I highly recommend reading this book. Even if you don't like it, it's only seventy pages, so it's not much time wasted.