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5.7k reviews for:
Heart of Darkness: 'As Powerful a Condemnation of Imperialism as Has Ever Been Written'
Gene M. Moore, Joseph Conrad
3.03 AVERAGE
5.7k reviews for:
Heart of Darkness: 'As Powerful a Condemnation of Imperialism as Has Ever Been Written'
Gene M. Moore, Joseph Conrad
3.03 AVERAGE
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
UPDATE 19.12.21
i didn't read it and passed with a 5.5. probs not as deep as my professor 'i-have-to-say-the-n-word-for-educational-purposes' tries to make it out to be.
UPDATE 21.09.21
can't believe i'll have to read this a second time for uni after promising to myself to never read a book about colonialism by a white man again. but here we are. silly me to think the curriculum would have changed.
*3.5
i suppose i've read worse in terms of racist literature, like le tour de monde en 80 jours, but it is still blatant and disgusting. there is some kind of sympathy towards the indigenous present most of the time, but still the protagonist looks down on black people, he rates them, judges them, belittles them, accepts them being cruelly mistreated and isn't very nice to them himself. still i think i could just let this be the product of its time that it is and let it rest, maybe read it and learn about the viscious and hidden nouances racism can have, but what i really, really don't understand is why we read this in class. i have read so many books like this, so many books about racist victorian englishmen who think they are great and brave and have to tame the savages, so many books by rich white men. apparently my classmates have never read a single book by a female author in sf english (at least that is different for me), and the last, unnessessary book we read is one about a racist white english dude written by a racist white english dude. furthermore, the edition we have is very outdated and does not adress the racism at all (the notes simply accept that some of the tribes are 'cannibals' without asking any questions about the author's intentions, opinions and point of view or giving any historical, cultural or sociological context, they use outdated words to describe black people (farbige) etc etc). i'm really quite angry. i hope we will at least talk about it in class.
i have to say however, that i did not expect for kurtz to be so dark a figure and i can see now that the author may well have tried to actively critique certain things about europe's behaviour in the colonies, but he is by no means anticolonialist or has any ideas or views of real equality between the races, proven by the protagonist's strange fascination and respect for the murderer and asshole that is mr kurtz. i can appreciate author's intention, but i still don't see why we would read a book about racism and colonialism by a white author who may have been more or less liberal for considering his social position a hundred and twenty years ago, when there are an infinite number of both historical and contempotary travel diaries, fiction and educational texts by poc. i think i am witnessing the very last racist strikes of that kind by an outdated educational system. it would be solemn if it wasn't so sad and infuriating.
at the very least i quite enjoyed the prose (in contrast to many other reviewers i've seen)
i didn't read it and passed with a 5.5. probs not as deep as my professor 'i-have-to-say-the-n-word-for-educational-purposes' tries to make it out to be.
UPDATE 21.09.21
can't believe i'll have to read this a second time for uni after promising to myself to never read a book about colonialism by a white man again. but here we are. silly me to think the curriculum would have changed.
*3.5
i suppose i've read worse in terms of racist literature, like le tour de monde en 80 jours, but it is still blatant and disgusting. there is some kind of sympathy towards the indigenous present most of the time, but still the protagonist looks down on black people, he rates them, judges them, belittles them, accepts them being cruelly mistreated and isn't very nice to them himself. still i think i could just let this be the product of its time that it is and let it rest, maybe read it and learn about the viscious and hidden nouances racism can have, but what i really, really don't understand is why we read this in class. i have read so many books like this, so many books about racist victorian englishmen who think they are great and brave and have to tame the savages, so many books by rich white men. apparently my classmates have never read a single book by a female author in sf english (at least that is different for me), and the last, unnessessary book we read is one about a racist white english dude written by a racist white english dude. furthermore, the edition we have is very outdated and does not adress the racism at all (the notes simply accept that some of the tribes are 'cannibals' without asking any questions about the author's intentions, opinions and point of view or giving any historical, cultural or sociological context, they use outdated words to describe black people (farbige) etc etc). i'm really quite angry. i hope we will at least talk about it in class.
i have to say however, that i did not expect for kurtz to be so dark a figure and i can see now that the author may well have tried to actively critique certain things about europe's behaviour in the colonies, but he is by no means anticolonialist or has any ideas or views of real equality between the races, proven by the protagonist's strange fascination and respect for the murderer and asshole that is mr kurtz. i can appreciate author's intention, but i still don't see why we would read a book about racism and colonialism by a white author who may have been more or less liberal for considering his social position a hundred and twenty years ago, when there are an infinite number of both historical and contempotary travel diaries, fiction and educational texts by poc. i think i am witnessing the very last racist strikes of that kind by an outdated educational system. it would be solemn if it wasn't so sad and infuriating.
at the very least i quite enjoyed the prose (in contrast to many other reviewers i've seen)
Pongo 3 estrellas, pero en realidad le doy 2 y media...Me explico, es demasiado, demasiado raro y demasiado denso y demasiado adjetivado. La historia no me llamó nada de nada, la ambientación era buena, pero la historia me parecía aburridísima. Por otra lado hay partes muy crudas y desquiciadas. No ha sido mi tipo de libro está claro, aunque en realidad no le quito el mérito que tiene como clásico contemporáneo.
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
medium-paced