Reviews tagging 'Death'

Heart of Darkness: And Selections from the Congo Diary by Joseph Conrad

44 reviews

jesterbrooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This is my own opinion of the book. If you're reading this you may very well enjoy it more or less. For me, it was so dense and at the same time scattered in its narrative that when I finished it, I was hard-pressed to even recount the actual events. There is some good commentary in here on the nature of humanity, especially in the context of colonialism and exploitation, but it was too buried in the story (and perhaps unintentional, as there are racial slurs throughout).
If you intend to read this, be ready for a challenge, both narratively, morally, and in lexicon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs

Moderate: Colonisation, Death, and Cannibalism

startjpw23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book was difficult to read at points because of the racist attitudes and actions of many of the characters. I recognize it was a product of its time. But I am not of that time. The language was very evocative. The book is wonderfully written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Classism, Death, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail

jemappellecat's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Misogyny, Gun violence, Death, and Colonisation

Moderate: Cannibalism

jasminawithab's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

read for a uni class and it was okay

i hated pretty much every character but i got a 100 on my essay for it so thats something i guess

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Colonisation, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Sexism, Slavery, Death, Classism, and Misogyny

Minor: Cannibalism and Violence

arborapollonis's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

An incredibly interesting take on 19th/20th century imperialism, certainly a dense work (every sentence is important), but very much worth the trouble

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Racism, and Death

Minor: Cannibalism

beautifulminutiae's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Brilliant writing. So lush and beautiful. It’s a tough and nuanced topic, one that I’m sure was a controversial opinion in Conrad’s day, but the racism was still so difficult to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Colonisation, Death, Racism, and Blood

roya's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Racial slurs, and Slavery

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Cannibalism

mjscooke's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

I struggled with this book having had such high hopes for my first reading of Campbell’s fiction given his infamy as a storyteller and notoriety regarding the hero’s journey. The first thing I did was Google “Joseph Campbell Racist” & will definitely fall down the rabbit hole of various essays and articles on the topic of just how problematic this novel is. I understand the modern backlash and wrestled with my resistance throughout. All that being said… there is some beautiful writing in this novela and I think it’s important to read things that challenge you on occasion. In addition this was written in a very different time and I am grateful to live now instead. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

Minor: Colonisation, Slavery, Xenophobia, and Death

maricasement's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

I picked this audiobook up because it was one of the shortest one in my Mother's library. Kenneth Branagh is amazing, as is to be expected, but the contents weren't as enjoyable as his performance. Conrad's descriptions are captivating and definitely set the scene for the story, which was something I really enjoyed. But this book is still a product of it's time and uses a lot of racist language and is very colonialist in its messages. It might be an interesting study, but I wouldn't read it again or particularly recommend it to people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Blood, Racism, Slavery, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cannibalism and Animal cruelty

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I don't know if I want to rate this. I'm reading it for a class. There's some interesting parts to it, and a lot to write about, but it would be a stretch to say that this is an enjoyable book. I'm glad I'm reading it in grad school, rather than in highschool like a lot of my peers were required to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Classism, Racial slurs, Torture, Trafficking, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Genocide, Violence, Medical content, Sexism, Racism, Terminal illness, Colonisation, Death, Gore, and Grief