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3.03 AVERAGE
3.03 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
An interesting perspective on white colonism and Belgium's role
Thought this was going to be an interesting critique of colonialism. Was actually just racist.
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It's surprising to me how much hate this book is getting--I thought it was self-aware, ironic, and layered, thoughtful of the subjects it addressed. Great audiobook, too.
It is time to review Heart of Darkness, the most controversial classic I've read thus far! Well, what is there to say that hasn't. I thought that reading this book was difficult, but not in the same way that Ulysses or Infinite Jest is "difficult." The book starts off with our narrator giving a 2 or 3 page long description of the setting on the Nessie, then spends the rest of the book (a whopping 115 pages in my edition) narrating a narration of another person! At this point, Conrad should have scrapped the novel and started from scratch with Marlow as first person narrator, but I digress. The story of Heart of Darkness is a bit annoying, there's a fantastic use of figurative language just about every 2-3 sentences, with some of the comparisons being rather tiring (take for instance how Conrad compares a lake, a person, and another person to a 'snake' within 40 pages). I may just be petty since reading this felt like a chore, but it did feel draining for the day and night I took on the English classes' least favorite classic.
The racism and imperialistic themes here I find myself conflicted on. Let me clarify: I am obviously not racist and do not support imperialism, but I do not know Conrad's views on these things besides from he did show disdain for imperialism as shown here. However, even if Conrad's racism status isn't concrete, he definitely could've at least tried to humanize the people of color depicted here, and not described them as Savage Beasts and Black Shapes. Conrad does display how the Africans suffered, such as when he notes a pile of dead and dying Africans while traversing the Congo, but he still shows a type of indifference towards their oppression.
All and all, the book is okay. It's written very well for a Polish man, and even if he learned about figurative language a bit too early on it's still worth the read simply for the sake of admiring the great writing that presents itself for the most part. The racism in this book is obvious, Marlow is an especially racist character and so is pretty much everybody in the book who isn't a dying African. What Conrad intended with this book is still pretty opaque, and I still don't know which side to lean towards: Was Conrad trying to show how the Europeans during the Scramble for Africa were the real monsters? or was he trying to get us to sympathize with the soldiers?
The racism and imperialistic themes here I find myself conflicted on. Let me clarify: I am obviously not racist and do not support imperialism, but I do not know Conrad's views on these things besides from he did show disdain for imperialism as shown here. However, even if Conrad's racism status isn't concrete, he definitely could've at least tried to humanize the people of color depicted here, and not described them as Savage Beasts and Black Shapes. Conrad does display how the Africans suffered, such as when he notes a pile of dead and dying Africans while traversing the Congo, but he still shows a type of indifference towards their oppression.
All and all, the book is okay. It's written very well for a Polish man, and even if he learned about figurative language a bit too early on it's still worth the read simply for the sake of admiring the great writing that presents itself for the most part. The racism in this book is obvious, Marlow is an especially racist character and so is pretty much everybody in the book who isn't a dying African. What Conrad intended with this book is still pretty opaque, and I still don't know which side to lean towards: Was Conrad trying to show how the Europeans during the Scramble for Africa were the real monsters? or was he trying to get us to sympathize with the soldiers?
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Honestly… I would not recommend this book. So hard to read ( at least for me), at times I had to read a sentence multiple times and still I would understand or remember it. I had a hard time reading the book. I normally never continue a book I don’t like but since it’s such a short story I continued in the hope I would get/like it at some point. Really what the hell was this…
An interesting look into colonialism and our relationship to nature. Nature is presented as this brute force that can alienate humans and for these characters, this eventually turns into slight madness. The story is written by a man telling his friends about his life experiences which makes the story feel quite personal. The many comments referring to the title were a also bit too one the nose for me.
adventurous
emotional
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No