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A review by ingebvh
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
4.0
A fascinating book, but difficult to review. It is so thick with symbolism and metaphor and coated in meanings which I'm sure I only scratched the surface of. Perfect for puzzling and confusing the reader.
A few years ago I saw the fantastic play The Ridiculous Darkness by Wolfram Lotz, a play that is said to draw inspiration from this book. This means that my reading (or more precisely listening) of Heart of Darkness was very coloured by that. It was the reason I wanted to read the book in the first place, and so also the context I have for it. I found myself constantly drawing parallells both to scenes, characters and themes from the play.
I believe that this made me enjoy this book more than I would have if I had simply read it without any previous knowledge. And that it helped me both enjoy and understand and appreciate it more.
I also want to point out and praise the fantastic narration by Kenneth Branagh. It heightened the experience having such a thespian as my guide.
A few years ago I saw the fantastic play The Ridiculous Darkness by Wolfram Lotz, a play that is said to draw inspiration from this book. This means that my reading (or more precisely listening) of Heart of Darkness was very coloured by that. It was the reason I wanted to read the book in the first place, and so also the context I have for it. I found myself constantly drawing parallells both to scenes, characters and themes from the play.
I believe that this made me enjoy this book more than I would have if I had simply read it without any previous knowledge. And that it helped me both enjoy and understand and appreciate it more.
I also want to point out and praise the fantastic narration by Kenneth Branagh. It heightened the experience having such a thespian as my guide.