Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5501 in Books
• Published on: 1990-07-01
• Format: Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 72 pages

From AudioFile
In HEART OF DARKNESS, Marlow, the narrator, undertakes both an outer and an inner journey. The outer journey takes him into the heart of Africa, where he encounters representatives of every colonial stripe. Performing the work instead of simply reading it, Scott Brick emphasizes this aspect of Conrad's classic, clearly conveying class differences and a range of foreign accents, as well as pidgin. Conrad's prose is dense and complex, but Brick delivers it smoothly and gracefully. However, Marlow's inner journey--during which he confronts the mysterious Mr. Kurtz--remains too distant and intellectualized to fully capture the emotional charge of the moment. G.T.B. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

The Times Literary Supplement
Goonetilleke's edition does much to restore the context (in which Conrad was writing)...

David Leon Highdon, General Editor, Conradia, 1973-1995
"this edition offers a bold and intelligent introduction to the book's aesthetics and philosophical challenges ... and deftly anticipates issues..."

Customer Reviews

An excellent piece of epistemology!
On page 3, the narrator (not Marlow) tells us that "Marlow was not typical (if his propensity to spin yarns be excepted), and to him the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze, in the likeness of one of these misty halos that sometimes are made visible by the spectral illumination of moonshine."
This story is not typical. Its meaning isn't inside the text; rather, the text requires its meaning to be explicated outside in the world of symbols and signs. I recently used this text in a expository writing class focused mainly on teaching what, and not how to write (what to write when confronted with your own lack of desire to write). Conrad's text needs to be fitted into 19th century philosophy and especially epistemology. For a great essay see: Decentering "Heart of Darkness" by Perry Meisel. If you're not reading this text for a class (with a teacher versed in 19th century philosophy) or with the intent to look into the historical "narrative" that brings out the meaning of the text like a "glow brings out a haze", then don't bother.
I read this book quicky in about six hours, then spent the next 7 days going through 10 pages a day. That method seemed to work but those 10 pages took nearly 2 hours to read carefully. The result is a story so filled with symbolism that even reading it as a denounciation of colonialism or mperialism seems shallow! Highly recommended for disciplined reading!

Very, Very Short and Unremarkable
Like most people, I was familiar with Heart of Darkness, both as an acclaimed work of literature and as the inspiration for the remarkable movie Apocolypse Now. For some reason, I recently decided to make an attempt at reading it, despite my concern that it was written at a level beyond my capacity to understand.

Upon receipt of the volume from Amazon, I was initially under the impression that I had mistakenly ordered the Cliff's Notes version of the work. I had no idea that the book was essentially a short story, easily readable in 2-3 hours.

Even more surprising, was the ease with which I was able to follow and understand the story, though admittedly written in a slightly dense prose. Perhaps this was due to having seen Apocolypse Now and being familiar with the broad outline of the story and having read other works of history on the Belgian Congo.

In any event, it was a decent story, filled with some beautifully descriptive language and imagery. I must say, however, that I was not bowled over. Steamship Captain pilots a ragged boat up the Congo, accompanied by colonial agents and support staff (cannibals and other natives) in an attempt to relieve a long stranded station agent (Kurtz) who has "gone native" and become the insane source of worship for the local natives. If you've seen Apocolypse Now, you know the story, just replace the Mekong with the Congo.

I go back to my first paragraph in which I related a concern over my ability to understand what is considered a classic work of literature. I fully understood it, but was perhaps not qualified to fully appreciate it.

"A snail, crawling on the edge of a razor-blade and living. That is my dream."
Most of the lower rated reviews reflect the views of students, compelled to read the novel to pass a class who are proportionately resentful of it. I was one of those students once, but I found this to be a respite from the typical "politically correct"-anemic-emasculated Literat bilge one's forced fed ad nauseum in public schooling. Get the edition with The Secret Sharer and minus all the tartuffe commentaries, ect. Great story, but no one ought to be compelled to read it.