A review by wizardcurse
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

1.5

Short little book that's incredibly dense and unpleasant. Revoltingly racist but at its core anti imperialist, and for the period manages to be a cutting study of colonialism. I'm inclined to lean more towards agreeing with Achebe. It's a hard book to stomach no matter how much I try to remind myself of the late 19th century context. By modern standards Conrad, Marlow and the book are undoubtedly racist, and I found it hard to view the book objectively. Marlow may not be the narrator, Marlow may not be Conrad, but the book is based on Conrad's experiences in the Congo. There are no black voices, Africa is portrayed as a primeval wilderness. The book is more an expression of the guilt, shock and (horror!) of the white man in discovering he is complicit in sickening atrocities, that surely he always knew he was complicit in but never conceptualised the true extent until entering the Congo. It's about the realisation that the heart of darkness is perhaps not in Africa but in Europe and humanity itself. There's no denying this is an important book.

Saw this incredible review by another user  "Every bit as compelling and sympathetic as a first-hand account of self-aware cancer."