Heart of Darkness (Dover Thrift Editions) | Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness (Dover Thrift Editions) | Joseph Conrad | "A snail, crawling on the edge of a razor-blade and living. That is my dream."

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Heart of Darkness ...

	Heart of Darkness (Dover Thrift Editions) Joseph Conrad Dover Publications, 1990 - 72 pages average customer review:based on 383 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Dark allegory describes the narrator's journey up the Congo River and his meeting with, and fascination by, Mr. Kurtz, a mysterious personage who dominates the unruly inhabitants of the region. Masterly blend of adventure, character development, psychological penetration. Considered by many Conrad's finest, most enigmatic story.

An excellent piece of epistemology!

On page 3, the narrator (not Marlow) tells us that "Marlow was not typical (if his propensity to spin yarns be excepted), and to him the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze, in the likeness of one of these misty halos that sometimes are made visible by the spectral illumination of moonshine."
This story is not typical. Its meaning isn't inside the text; rather, the text requires its meaning to be explicated outside in the world of symbols and signs. I recently used this text in a expository writing class focused mainly on teaching what, and not how to write (what to write when confronted with your own lack of desire to write). Conrad's text needs to be fitted into 19th century philosophy and especially epistemology. For a great essay see: Decentering "Heart of Darkness" by Perry Meisel. If you're not reading this text for a class (with a teacher versed in 19th century philosophy) or with the intent to look into the historical "narrative" that brings out the meaning of the text like a "glow brings out a haze", then don't bother.
I read this book quicky in about six hours, then spent the next 7 days going through 10 pages a day. That method seemed to work but those 10 pages took nearly 2 hours to read carefully. The result is a story so filled with symbolism that even reading it as a denounciation of colonialism or mperialism seems shallow! Highly recommended for disciplined reading!

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"A snail, crawling on the edge of a razor-blade and living. That is my dream."

Most of the lower rated reviews reflect the views of students, compelled to read the novel to pass a class who are proportionately resentful of it. I was one of those students once, but I found this to be a respite from the typical "politically correct"-anemic-emasculated Literat bilge one's forced fed ad nauseum in public schooling. Get the edition with The Secret Sharer and minus all the tartuffe commentaries, ect. Great story, but no one ought to be compelled to read it.

humidity drips off the end of each line like a light mist in a heavy fog

Probably the dampest book I've ever read--humidity drips off the end of each line like a light mist in a heavy fog. More is left unsaid than is written on the page, and this is truly a classic even though there is too much left unsaid for me to rate it at the very top.

Favorite line: As Marlow cautiously pilots the steamboat up the river toward the inland station and its mysterious keeper Kurtz, his manager says "I authorize you to take all the risks." Marlow curtly snaps back "I refuse to take any."

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Ideal and Realistic

Joseph Conrad's book, "Heart of Darkness" is the ideal choice for any high school student choosing a novel from their class reading list. Being under 200 pages in length this book works with a student's busy loaded schedule, attention span and most of all grabs their attention. Overlooking the blatant racism implemented by most colonial nations during the rush for imperialism this book is accurate to the effects and general events which transpired during this period. The outlook and comments towards the African people by their colonial oppressors is mild compared with other novels written in the early 1900's. With all the description of the surroundings and events in this book, it drags you into its pages and putting it down becomes a struggle.

The amount of symbolism in this book is amazing and refers to all aspects of human life, greed, moral standings, duty and much more. Constant description and detail is the perfect tool to awaken the imagination and the creativity of the reader. Symbolism is dripping from every paragraph along with imagery concerning anything from the unknown, the overwhelming and clamping effect of the river, the dark abyss which represents the jungle, and the natives and their fierce and alien but intriguing actions. This novel, now over 100 years old, can safely be called a classic and an extremely interesting read for any age old enough to understand the effects of early imperialism.

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Very, Very Short and Unremarkable

Like most people, I was familiar with Heart of Darkness, both as an acclaimed work of literature and as the inspiration for the remarkable movie Apocolypse Now. For some reason, I recently decided to make an attempt at reading it, despite my concern that it was written at a level beyond my capacity to understand.

Upon receipt of the volume from Amazon, I was initially under the impression that I had mistakenly ordered the Cliff's Notes version of the work. I had no idea that the book was essentially a short story, easily readable in 2-3 hours.

Even more surprising, was the ease with which I was able to follow and understand the story, though admittedly written in a slightly dense prose. Perhaps this was due to having seen Apocolypse Now and being familiar with the broad outline of the story and having read other works of history on the Belgian Congo.

In any event, it was a decent story, filled with some beautifully descriptive language and imagery. I must say, however, that I was not bowled over. Steamship Captain pilots a ragged boat up the Congo, accompanied by colonial agents and support staff (cannibals and other natives) in an attempt to relieve a long stranded station agent (Kurtz) who has "gone native" and become the insane source of worship for the local natives. If you've seen Apocolypse Now, you know the story, just replace the Mekong with the Congo.

I go back to my first paragraph in which I related a concern over my ability to understand what is considered a classic work of literature. I fully understood it, but was perhaps not qualified to fully appreciate it.

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