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Liked It2 of 2 members found this review helpful “Heart of Darkness is a must read. The novel not only takes you to the heart of Africa; it takes you to the darkest place on earth which is the human heart. Marlow, the narrator meets Kurtz, supposedly the epitome of culture and civilization and with Kurtz he sees "the horror" of humanity when...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “I hate this book.” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“Read it in English class and found it quite creepy. Not a horror reader but did find Conrad to be quite good at giving me nightmares. Maybe I should rate the book higher for that?”
H H wrote this review Wednesday, December 9 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Not as good as I had hoped ...”
Master Of Pointillism wrote this review Monday, July 27 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I hate this book.”
Crissy wrote this review Thursday, April 9 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I was so disappointed when I found out we were going to be reading this during my second semester of senior year. I had only heard horrible things about the book, especially about how unbelievably dense it was. After getting through the first ten pages though, I was pleasantly surprised. I was also amazed when I had found out that English wasn't Conrad's first language. Not only that, but he learned his English from sailors! While Conrad and Heart of Darkness are praised in the US and Europe, there are many who were appalled by Conrad's writing. One of these people is Chinua Achebe. I read an article he had written, bashing Conrad's work and calling him a racist. I really disagreed with Achebe. While I thought he had a good cause, I think he was attacking the wrong book. He completely missed the point that of course Conrad was racist; look at the time period he wrote this. Achebe even says that Conrad was "...strangely unaware of the racism..." So how can one blame him? His story reflects a significant time period and its ideologies, and is not a story of outright racism. ”
SARA S wrote this review Thursday, March 26 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“The theme behind heart of darkness was intriguing but the plot itself was not entertaining. The novella contained too many various focus points and not on one main plot. I would recommend this book to true hardcore adventure readers, but if not, i would stay away from this as this book is not your ordinary Alice in Wonderland. ”
VANNY K wrote this review Thursday, March 26 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is definitely not a book someone should pick up if they are looking for a "light read." The story contains two layers, the outer layer consists of the narrator traveling along the Thames River away from London in a ship with the crew member, Marlow. Marlow is the oldest member of the crew and had gone along many journeys and begins to tell the rest of his crew about his adventure on the Congo, which is what makes up the inner layer of the book. In telling his story, Marlow discusses the colonization of Africa and is witness to the brutal force the Europeans used upon the natives. He first enters the outer station, where he is surrounded by emptiness and starvation, he is then in the inner station which is overcome by the colonists and then he moves onto the wilderness of the central station. Here is exposed to the barabaric nature of humanity's prehistoric past. His journey's goal is to meet Kurtz, the dying ruler of the ivory industry, the symbol of colonization destruction. Throughout this book, Conrad explored the evils of colonialism and the fear of humans to accept their prehistoric past. ”
KYRA G wrote this review Thursday, March 26 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I struggled thorugh this book and absolutely hated it.”
Judy R wrote this review Wednesday, March 25 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“About the Congo and Marlow looking for what is himself in the Congo. he fnids out the truth about the land and how dangerous it really is there and the effeects of colonization. ”
BENJAMIN C wrote this review Monday, March 23 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“this book was ok . it was very confusing because there are alot of details that are hidden and the different meanings there are as you read. there are alot of images in the book. the congo really changed marlow since the beginning of the book and through his adventure in africa he witnesses alot of upsetting images. ”
BRYAN T wrote this review Monday, March 23 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
