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charles__ 's review for:
Heart of Darkness
by Joseph Conrad
“The horror! The horror!”
I have not read this book since Uni. However, I have somewhat recently developed a fetish for 19th Century British novels, particularly adventure novels. This book barely qualifies with an 1899 copyright for its initial serial publication.
The story was a short 200-pages that went slowly, because of the antique and complicated prose. (I’ll be lapsing into [a:Joseph Conrad|3345|Joseph Conrad|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1403814208p2/3345.jpg]-style inspired prose for this review.)
Frankly, the novel is scarcely more comprehensible now, than when I first read it as a callow youth. Fortunately, I now have a better understanding of African colonial history, and an appreciation of the English language. Putting aside the convoluted tale of Man’s inhumanity to Man, and anti-colonialism sentiment; I reveled in the highfalutin, adjectival, beautifully alliterated prose and the sketchy, historical detail.
For example, I found this sentence particularly interesting:
I also thought the description of the women in Kruz’s life was evocative:
The Black Woman.
Traditionally dressed, she would also have been bare breasted.
The White Woman.
You could drown in the story's allusions.
Unfortunately, any contemporary English teacher, writing coach, or editor would have you whittle those descriptions down to three (3) monosyllabic sentences. I'm proud to say, I was not once driven to the dictionary with this book. However, with the lush language, Scrabble and Crossword geeks would find a lot of fodder in this story.
From a historical standpoint, the story was not completely accurate. Conrad gave it an Anglo rinse. The Belgian Congo would have been francophone and très Beligan. I would have been happier with it being more literal and less literary. For example, "the sepulchral city" being called-out as Brussels, but I understand the need for allusions to European Civilization. I doubt Marlowe would have found a Martini–Henry on his tin-pot, paddlewheeler. A Belgian company would likely have a French weapon like a Lebel Model 1886. I also thought there was some hand-waving over the steam engine mechanics and the backwoods shipwright work described.
The story was a short and interesting read (to me) because of its somewhat obfuscated, historical references and the intricate language. It was hard to read, but also stimulating. Recommended for Colonial African history and word geeks.
Folks interested in non-fiction on this period might try [b:King Leopold's Ghost|40961621|King Leopold's Ghost|Adam Hochschild|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532716127i/40961621._SY75_.jpg|937922] or [b:The Scramble for Africa: The White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912|416108|The Scramble for Africa The White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912|Thomas Pakenham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1407105756i/416108._SX50_.jpg|405276]. A similar adventure and easier to read work of fiction is [b:The African Queen|423125|The African Queen|C.S. Forester|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344268611i/423125._SY75_.jpg|712587]. (This was written in 1935, which disqualifies it as 19th Century fiction.)
I have not read this book since Uni. However, I have somewhat recently developed a fetish for 19th Century British novels, particularly adventure novels. This book barely qualifies with an 1899 copyright for its initial serial publication.
The story was a short 200-pages that went slowly, because of the antique and complicated prose. (I’ll be lapsing into [a:Joseph Conrad|3345|Joseph Conrad|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1403814208p2/3345.jpg]-style inspired prose for this review.)
Frankly, the novel is scarcely more comprehensible now, than when I first read it as a callow youth. Fortunately, I now have a better understanding of African colonial history, and an appreciation of the English language. Putting aside the convoluted tale of Man’s inhumanity to Man, and anti-colonialism sentiment; I reveled in the highfalutin, adjectival, beautifully alliterated prose and the sketchy, historical detail.
For example, I found this sentence particularly interesting:
That is why I have remained loyal to Kurtz to the last, and even beyond, when a long time after I heard once more, not his own voice, but the echo of his magnificent eloquence thrown to me from a soul as translucently pure as a cliff of crystal.
I also thought the description of the women in Kruz’s life was evocative:
The Black Woman.
“She walked with measured steps, draped in striped and fringed cloths, treading the earth proudly, with a slight jingle and flash of barbarous ornaments. She carried her head high; her hair was done in the shape of a helmet; she had brass leggings to the knee, brass wire gauntlets to the elbow, a crimson spot on her tawny cheek, innumerable necklaces of glass beads on her neck; bizarre things, charms, gifts of witch-men, that hung about her, glittered and trembled at every step. She must have had the value of several elephant tusks upon her. She was savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent; there was something ominous and stately in her deliberate progress.
Traditionally dressed, she would also have been bare breasted.
The White Woman.
“She came forward, all in black, with a pale head, floating towards me in the dusk. She was in mourning. It was more than a year since his death, more than a year since the news came; she seemed as though she would remember and mourn forever. She took both my hands in hers and murmured, 'I had heard you were coming.' I noticed she was not very young—I mean not girlish. She had a mature capacity for fidelity, for belief, for suffering. The room seemed to have grown darker, as if all the sad light of the cloudy evening had taken refuge on her forehead. This fair hair, this pale visage, this pure brow, seemed surrounded by an ashy halo from which the dark eyes looked out at me. Their glance was guileless, profound, confident, and trustful. She carried her sorrowful head as though she were proud of that sorrow, as though she would say, 'I—I alone know how to mourn for him as he deserves.'
You could drown in the story's allusions.
Unfortunately, any contemporary English teacher, writing coach, or editor would have you whittle those descriptions down to three (3) monosyllabic sentences. I'm proud to say, I was not once driven to the dictionary with this book. However, with the lush language, Scrabble and Crossword geeks would find a lot of fodder in this story.
From a historical standpoint, the story was not completely accurate. Conrad gave it an Anglo rinse. The Belgian Congo would have been francophone and très Beligan. I would have been happier with it being more literal and less literary. For example, "the sepulchral city" being called-out as Brussels, but I understand the need for allusions to European Civilization. I doubt Marlowe would have found a Martini–Henry on his tin-pot, paddlewheeler. A Belgian company would likely have a French weapon like a Lebel Model 1886. I also thought there was some hand-waving over the steam engine mechanics and the backwoods shipwright work described.
The story was a short and interesting read (to me) because of its somewhat obfuscated, historical references and the intricate language. It was hard to read, but also stimulating. Recommended for Colonial African history and word geeks.
Folks interested in non-fiction on this period might try [b:King Leopold's Ghost|40961621|King Leopold's Ghost|Adam Hochschild|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532716127i/40961621._SY75_.jpg|937922] or [b:The Scramble for Africa: The White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912|416108|The Scramble for Africa The White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912|Thomas Pakenham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1407105756i/416108._SX50_.jpg|405276]. A similar adventure and easier to read work of fiction is [b:The African Queen|423125|The African Queen|C.S. Forester|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344268611i/423125._SY75_.jpg|712587]. (This was written in 1935, which disqualifies it as 19th Century fiction.)