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akenes_valdemar's review against another edition
challenging
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Rakt av en plåga att läsa, och värre att skriva en uppsats på
erinwilham's review against another edition
3.0
In writing Heart of Darkness, author Joseph Conrad's purpose is to show that everyone is capable through circumstance of evil. As captain of a steamship in a Belgian ivory trading company, the protagonist, Marlow, travels up the Congo River into the interior of Africa. During his journey, he witnesses the brutal treatment of the native Africans there by the men of the Company that he is working for. The descent of Kurtz into madness and death is a result of his greed and obsession with the ivory trade. He makes himself into a god of the native people so that they will help him acquire more ivory, but he ends up becoming more "savage" than the natives themselves by keeping shrunken heads on poles and brutalizing the people for ivory (28).
The overall theme of Heart of Darkness is the relativity of evil. Marlow, who is described as heroic and compassionate toward the native Africans, is forced to choose between two evils in the novel. He can either work for the imperial Company, which is hypocritical and power-hungry, or he can align himself with Kurtz, who poses as a god to the natives and impales shrunken heads with poles. In either case, he would be associating himself with evil, but it would be more acceptable for him to go with the Company in the society he comes from. The Company represents the civilized Western world, while Kurtz comes to represent the savage African world. Conrad shows that there is really no difference between the two, because in the end we are all just as capable of moral wrongdoing.
Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness as a frame narrative. As the story starts out, the anonymous narrator is sitting with three other men on a British ship called the Nelly, when the protagonist, Marlow, begins to tell the story of his journey to Africa. After this point, Marlow only rarely interrupts his story in order to make an important point, such as when he interrupts to comment on the power of Kurtz's voice in one point of the story before he had even heard him talk (18). Conrad's style of writing was effective because it allows him to give an accurate description of the protagonist, who is characterized by the narrator as possessing many traditional heroic qualities, such as strength and honesty.
Heart of Darkness was not one of my favorite books, but overall I was glad that I read it. At some points when I was reading I felt that he was relying too much on metaphors and it seemed that he was overusing them, but these also added to the meaning of the book at the same time. For example, the biggest metaphor of the book is the "heart of darkness," which comes to represent the evil that is inside of everyone, and is capable of pronouncing itself if one loses self-control. One thing that Conrad did that I thought was interesting was deliberately using prejudices against both colored people and women. I think he depicted the Africans as savages and women as idealistic and naive in order to show that in spite of our supposed differences, we are really all the same as part of human nature.
The overall theme of Heart of Darkness is the relativity of evil. Marlow, who is described as heroic and compassionate toward the native Africans, is forced to choose between two evils in the novel. He can either work for the imperial Company, which is hypocritical and power-hungry, or he can align himself with Kurtz, who poses as a god to the natives and impales shrunken heads with poles. In either case, he would be associating himself with evil, but it would be more acceptable for him to go with the Company in the society he comes from. The Company represents the civilized Western world, while Kurtz comes to represent the savage African world. Conrad shows that there is really no difference between the two, because in the end we are all just as capable of moral wrongdoing.
Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness as a frame narrative. As the story starts out, the anonymous narrator is sitting with three other men on a British ship called the Nelly, when the protagonist, Marlow, begins to tell the story of his journey to Africa. After this point, Marlow only rarely interrupts his story in order to make an important point, such as when he interrupts to comment on the power of Kurtz's voice in one point of the story before he had even heard him talk (18). Conrad's style of writing was effective because it allows him to give an accurate description of the protagonist, who is characterized by the narrator as possessing many traditional heroic qualities, such as strength and honesty.
Heart of Darkness was not one of my favorite books, but overall I was glad that I read it. At some points when I was reading I felt that he was relying too much on metaphors and it seemed that he was overusing them, but these also added to the meaning of the book at the same time. For example, the biggest metaphor of the book is the "heart of darkness," which comes to represent the evil that is inside of everyone, and is capable of pronouncing itself if one loses self-control. One thing that Conrad did that I thought was interesting was deliberately using prejudices against both colored people and women. I think he depicted the Africans as savages and women as idealistic and naive in order to show that in spite of our supposed differences, we are really all the same as part of human nature.
athousandgreatbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Yep! Just epic. Don't know what else to say. Extremely well written. Haunting, harrowing, horrific! The thing with classics (though not all) is that they have the backing of time (and, by extension, of people's tastes through the years) as evidence and proof of their value. And by God! It's a damn high water mark. Why do people even bother writing books if they're not up to such standards? You won't be Conrad, surely. But at least try? Maybe you could be.
Anyway, fuck all that. This book is a gem. No, it's an education. And I've been a philistine all this while for not reading it.
Anyway, fuck all that. This book is a gem. No, it's an education. And I've been a philistine all this while for not reading it.
sprintervip's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
1.25
vortimer's review against another edition
5.0
An old favourite of mine - Conrad's masterpiece, one of the most haunting stories ever written.
This time, I listened to it on audiobook, superbly read by Kenneth Branagh.
This time, I listened to it on audiobook, superbly read by Kenneth Branagh.
dnietoperafan's review against another edition
2.0
I almost skimmed through this whole book. I couldn’t hook me. And to be honest, the author is a bit sus…
logolepsy_e's review against another edition
4.0
Restavano solo la sua memoria e la sua promessa sposa, e io volevo consegnare anche loro al passato [...], volevo consegnare personalmente quanto ancora di lui mi restava a quell'oblio che è l'ultima parola del nostro comune destino.
Chi l'avrebbe mai detto che un romanzo d'avventura mi sarebbe piaciuto così tanto? Preciso solo che il giudizio in realtà sarebbe di 3 stelline e mezza, ma come sempre finisco per arrotondare in eccesso...
In ogni caso, questo romanzo mi è piaciuto molto. Visto il tema non me l'aspettavo, ma un'analisi approfondita riesce sicuramente a far apprezzare di più la storia.
Ci troviamo davanti ad un romanzo coloniale e di avventura, che dovrebbe essere simile a molti altri nel suo genere, e invece si presenta proprio come punto di rottura. La critica del suo tempo (quella dei "Post colonial studies") lo etichetta come un romanzo impregnato di razzismo, mentre invece è il primo romanzo d'avventura del tempo in cui è presente, seppur in modo per forza di cose ancora velato, una sottile critica all'Europa dell'epoca coloniale. Troviamo, inoltre, tutti i topoi del romanzo d'avventura tradizionale rivisitati, ampliati e, spesso, stravolti.
I personaggi principali, Marlow e Kurtz, sono in fondo due facce della stessa medaglia, e non lo capiamo dalle descrizioni, bensì dalle loro azioni e dalle loro parole. Qui l'alterità africana del protagonista quasi scompare, per lasciare il posto ad un'alterità che in realtà giace proprio in un altro uomo bianco, bianco come l'avorio, ed è quindi interessante vedere come, a discapito della tradizione, questa volta il nemico dell'uomo bianco sia l'uomo bianco stesso.
La figura di Kurtz, inizialmente, mi ha lasciata un po' perplessa, ma devo dire che verso la fine del romanzo questo personaggio si è evoluto in un modo incredibile, lasciando spazio a pezzi davvero molto belli e toccanti.
Tirando le somme, è un romanzo che mi è piaciuto molto, ricco di una simbologia e di allegorie davvero significative e profonde. Una storia che di sicuro ci aiuta un po' a capire cos'è stato il periodo coloniale europeo.
emlocke's review against another edition
I saw 'Apocalypse Now' on TV over the weekend and had a new appreciation for the AP Lit & Composition teacher who insisted we read this during the first week of our junior year. Reading this book was like slogging through a jungle swamp, for me, until Marlow(e?) returns home and sees it as though through alien eyes. The light of redemption outshines the light of civilization.
tlj2781's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
0.5
Snore...
jtdavie94's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0