Heart of Darkness (Reader's Library Classics)
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- Create Date：2021-10-06 09:54:08
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Joseph Conrad
- ISBN：1954839138
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Summary
Heart of Darkness， a novel by Joseph Conrad， was originally a three-part series in Blackwood's Magazine in 1899。 It is a story within a story， following a character named Charlie Marlow， who recounts his adventure to a group of men onboard an anchored ship。 The story told is of his early life as a ferry boat captain。 Although his job was to transport ivory downriver， Charlie develops an interest in investing an ivory procurement agent， Kurtz， who is employed by the government。 Preceded by his reputation as a brilliant emissary of progress， Kurtz has now established himself as a god among the natives in “one of the darkest places on earth。” Marlow suspects something else of Kurtz: he has gone mad。
A reflection on corruptive European colonialism and a journey into the nightmare psyche of one of the corrupted， Heart of Darkness is considered one of the most influential works ever written。
A reflection on corruptive European colonialism and a journey into the nightmare psyche of one of the corrupted， Heart of Darkness is considered one of the most influential works ever written。
Reviews
Ines
，
A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Neeraja Sankaran
，
I think I'll need to return to this book again before I truly grasp why it's been such an anormous presence and influence in twentieth century literature。 And I suppose I'll also need to watch Apocalypse Now （I know I know。。 this will make many gasp in horror but what can I say？ Never really got the opportunity。。。）。 Must say also that Kenneth Brannagh's reading of it was magnificent。 I think I'll need to return to this book again before I truly grasp why it's been such an anormous presence and influence in twentieth century literature。 And I suppose I'll also need to watch Apocalypse Now （I know I know。。 this will make many gasp in horror but what can I say？ Never really got the opportunity。。。）。 Must say also that Kenneth Brannagh's reading of it was magnificent。 。。。more
rat girl
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Do you like imperialist sympathizers？ racists？ unnecessary description and dialogue？ Do you feel the need to have one metaphor reworded and thrown back at you over and over again so you understand how deep and metaphorical it is？Then this nightmare of a book is for you！I hated every miserable page of this book。 Nothing happens besides idling imperialists feeling sorry for themselves for idling。 I do not care。 Conrad should've chucked this into the Thames river and kept his ass out of Africa。 Do you like imperialist sympathizers？ racists？ unnecessary description and dialogue？ Do you feel the need to have one metaphor reworded and thrown back at you over and over again so you understand how deep and metaphorical it is？Then this nightmare of a book is for you！I hated every miserable page of this book。 Nothing happens besides idling imperialists feeling sorry for themselves for idling。 I do not care。 Conrad should've chucked this into the Thames river and kept his ass out of Africa。 。。。more
September
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Make it stop。
Jason Warrick
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This is by far the densest language I've read so far and I loved it。 I certainly didn't pick up on everything on the first time through but it all felt so rich that I couldn't help but get immersed in it。 It felt a little weird that it's primary critique of colonialism felt like "Isn't it so sad what colonialism has done to the colonists that perform the actions" but it's old so oh well！ This is by far the densest language I've read so far and I loved it。 I certainly didn't pick up on everything on the first time through but it all felt so rich that I couldn't help but get immersed in it。 It felt a little weird that it's primary critique of colonialism felt like "Isn't it so sad what colonialism has done to the colonists that perform the actions" but it's old so oh well！ 。。。more
Joy Gerbode
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I would say I didn't really like the book 。。。 but since I love words and how they tell stories， I do enjoy how this book is put together。 The lovely descriptions of exotic places and the captivating word pictures kept my interest。 The equally vivid word pictures of the heart of man， and what it can become， were much harder for me to read， but still shine from the pages。 The metaphoric language and the poetic imagery are lovely word feasts。 And the story of the heart of darkness to which they tra I would say I didn't really like the book 。。。 but since I love words and how they tell stories， I do enjoy how this book is put together。 The lovely descriptions of exotic places and the captivating word pictures kept my interest。 The equally vivid word pictures of the heart of man， and what it can become， were much harder for me to read， but still shine from the pages。 The metaphoric language and the poetic imagery are lovely word feasts。 And the story of the heart of darkness to which they traveled （the deep jungle） and the heart of darkness of man are equally compelling。 。。。more
Rebecca
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What a powerful indictment of Imperialism and colonialism。 While reading it I kept remembering watching Apocalypse Now， Vietnam War movie made based on this novel。
Sam
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A paranoid descent into hell。 A nightmare with no clear causes。 Corruption and degeneration abound。
Robert
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A short work， worth readingApparently， the book has a lot of symbolism and allegory but it can be read， as I did， just for what it is。 Marlow is shown meditating like a Budda， which probably intends to convey he has had some transformative wisdom experience。 Despite this， he doesn't seem to be able to convey this wisdom。The book does illustrate some of the corrupt attitudes of colonization and， at times， people as if Conrad were racist。 It seems to me， reading with a more modern understanding， t A short work， worth readingApparently， the book has a lot of symbolism and allegory but it can be read， as I did， just for what it is。 Marlow is shown meditating like a Budda， which probably intends to convey he has had some transformative wisdom experience。 Despite this， he doesn't seem to be able to convey this wisdom。The book does illustrate some of the corrupt attitudes of colonization and， at times， people as if Conrad were racist。 It seems to me， reading with a more modern understanding， that the exploitation of the native population of African is wrong and portrayed for you to understand it is wrong。 Yet， perhaps， in his day Joseph Conrad's society wouldn't have seen it that way。I don't think Kurtz had any great eloquence or wisdom。 He seems like a corrupt man who might have had noble intentions at some point but when wild。 I suspect， similar to the institutionalization of some prisoners， Kurtz couldn't return to the society of his birth。 。。。more
Samyuktha Ell
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This book's a wonderful examination of human character， energy， and the soul。 The emblematic and strong storytelling is a milestone for contemporary literature。 It's no wonder that Heart of Darkness is one of Conrad’s most popular and studied works， though it's just a novella。 This book's a wonderful examination of human character， energy， and the soul。 The emblematic and strong storytelling is a milestone for contemporary literature。 It's no wonder that Heart of Darkness is one of Conrad’s most popular and studied works， though it's just a novella。 。。。more
Annm
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Still wondering what it was about。
Jai Israni
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“ I had a vision of him on the stretcher， opening his mouth voraciously， as if to devote the earth with all its mankind; a shadow insatiable of splendid appearances， of frightful realities; a shadow darker than the shadow of the night， draped nobly in the folds of gorgeous eloquence " “ I had a vision of him on the stretcher， opening his mouth voraciously， as if to devote the earth with all its mankind; a shadow insatiable of splendid appearances， of frightful realities; a shadow darker than the shadow of the night， draped nobly in the folds of gorgeous eloquence " 。。。more
Sidney Yao
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The last few pages struck me as particularly sublime。
Strawberry Bell Bouvier
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Heart of boring
D
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This book was dry and I lost interest but finished it anyway。 It was a very slow read for me。 Marlow heads a boat through the Congo to retrieve Kurtz， who the locals revere as a God。 Along the way it is clearly noted how poorly the locals are treated。 When Kurtz is found he is very ill。
Susan D
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read in high school
Wika
，
it was。。。 something ig
Tanis Buckton
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Interesting tale - hard to put down。
Schneil Schnops
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breathtaking fever dream that unfolds like a brief nightmare， written by a man possessed。 a ghost story that haunts the reader with the atrocities of colonial Congo。 I don't think that this book serves imperialism and colonialism as some have in order to reject it。 Conrad is criticizing colonialism in the only way he knows， which is to haunt the contemporary reader。 I also could not help but think of the atrocities of the 20th century， which Coppola saw， in this novel with Kurtz's insane proclam breathtaking fever dream that unfolds like a brief nightmare， written by a man possessed。 a ghost story that haunts the reader with the atrocities of colonial Congo。 I don't think that this book serves imperialism and colonialism as some have in order to reject it。 Conrad is criticizing colonialism in the only way he knows， which is to haunt the contemporary reader。 I also could not help but think of the atrocities of the 20th century， which Coppola saw， in this novel with Kurtz's insane proclamation of extermination。 Kurtz is Hitler- just as delirious with fever as that shell shock victim， brought up on a new racial hierarchy that developed from the generation of imperialism， faced with that same crushed and annihilated spirit that needed to exercise itself on an ostensibly inferior being。 People asked how Germany， how Europe could devolve into Nazism from the height of civilization。 Conrad had the answer 40 years before 。。。more
Aubrie Smith
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This book was so hard to read。 The way it was written was really wordy， making it incredibly hard to understand。 I thought the plot would have been really good， if it had been written in a more reader friendly way。
John Sturges
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Hey I got an A- in Highschool on my first AP paper reading this book。 Gritty， real， interesting。
Ace
，
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad describes a story in the late 1800s where the main character， Marlow， is shipped to meet a special man and make business deliveries。 They will make these deliveries on the Congo River for the Belgian trading company。 Mr。 Kurtz is the man Marlow meets and he is a bit suspicious/mysterious as Mr。 Kurtz demonstrates some odd power over the locals。 Heart of Darkness is a good short story to read in your spare time but the English of this story is conventionally dir Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad describes a story in the late 1800s where the main character， Marlow， is shipped to meet a special man and make business deliveries。 They will make these deliveries on the Congo River for the Belgian trading company。 Mr。 Kurtz is the man Marlow meets and he is a bit suspicious/mysterious as Mr。 Kurtz demonstrates some odd power over the locals。 Heart of Darkness is a good short story to read in your spare time but the English of this story is conventionally directed towards an ‘old English’ and should be read with care just like most older novels of this kind。 Some of the writing uses language that was used back then casually and might be found insulting today which was something I didn’t really like about this book because it was constant。 Putting it outside of the mind and looking at the actual story is interesting: For example， Mr。 Kurtz represents a very suspicious man at first who is obviously hiding several secrets about himself and the locals。 When it comes to revealing his powers， it is very satisfying。 The story can sometimes be very cruel and brutally realistic which makes it powerful to read and that was something that spoke to me。 Other than that， it is a very good short read to those who just want a quick adventure story and interesting plot directive to get done in a swift amount of time。 。。。more
Gabrielle
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Such a creepy， violent， mysterious， sad story。 Imperialism was such a horrific part of history。 The descriptions in this story are haunting。 I'll think about this book for awhile。 Also it seems this is a true story of the author taking a boat into Africa。I read the No Fear Translation version on Sparknotes， way easier to ready and actually enjoy。 Such a creepy， violent， mysterious， sad story。 Imperialism was such a horrific part of history。 The descriptions in this story are haunting。 I'll think about this book for awhile。 Also it seems this is a true story of the author taking a boat into Africa。I read the No Fear Translation version on Sparknotes， way easier to ready and actually enjoy。 。。。more
Melih Paksoy
，
vicky2 oynarken sardım lolz
st
，
Never has there been a book so undeserving of its acclaim and attention。 Painful to read through long， dull descriptions of the uncivilized and savage， not to mention monolithic， image Conrad paints of Africa。
Alexis Patterson
，
“Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️“Heart of Darkness” is a novella that follows Charles Marlow on an expedition through the Belgian Congo in the 1890s in search for a missing colleague named Kuntz; a man who seems to have “gone native。” This novella is a critical look at not only the Belgian king Leopold II’s control over the Congo Free State but European colonialism as a whole—particularly the colonization of the African continent known as the “scramble for Africa。” The hook of this “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️“Heart of Darkness” is a novella that follows Charles Marlow on an expedition through the Belgian Congo in the 1890s in search for a missing colleague named Kuntz; a man who seems to have “gone native。” This novella is a critical look at not only the Belgian king Leopold II’s control over the Congo Free State but European colonialism as a whole—particularly the colonization of the African continent known as the “scramble for Africa。” The hook of this novella is between corporate capitalism vs morality。 Characters are shown to only be in the Congo to make profit and using the resources available to achieve such profit。 On the reverse， Conrad questions whether European influence was really right for the continent and whether imperialism does more harm than good。 This novella is an ethical look at colonization and is short， to the point and worth a read。 。。。more
Nacrover
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Siendo sincero， no he conectado con este libro en ningún momento。 He tenido momentos donde me ha generado intriga con lo desconocido y con los indígenas， pero no he conectado con los personajes ni la historia。 no se me ha hecho pesado tampoco， pero sin más。 Puede ser que haya estado más distraido este mes y que haya tenido bastantes parones entre capítulo y capítulo y por eso no haya podido conectar bien con el libro。 No tengáis muy en cuenta mi opinión sobre él。
daria tu
，
3。8
Michelle Brown
，
"They were conquerors and for that you only want brute force - nothing to boast of， when you have it， since your strength is just an accident arising from the weaknesses of others。" "They were conquerors and for that you only want brute force - nothing to boast of， when you have it， since your strength is just an accident arising from the weaknesses of others。" 。。。more
Georgia Seitanidis
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