Reviews

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

uaoia's review against another edition

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  • Loveable characters? No

2.0

Arcom, amikor egy unalmas könyv versenyen vagyok, és az ellenfelem a Heart of Darkness.

laural444's review against another edition

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1.0

This was forced on me in AP English. I hated it. I skimmed it and did really badly on the test because all I remembered was "The horror" and "Master Kurtz, he dead." I haven't touched it since.

thejenhiller's review against another edition

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3.0

I think I appreciate this more than like it. Conrad's mastery of language is awe inspiring, but I don't exactly have a good time rereading this one. I love the ending with the Intended though!

bmee_13's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

arundhati_girish's review against another edition

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5.0

The prose was really good considering that Conrad did not speak English fluently until his twenties. Kurtz really left an impression on Marlowe. The treatment of the native Africans and his view of Africa as a land is problematic.

falape's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

isseyreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.75

sid_mei's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

frost_a_b's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

aalysssa1's review against another edition

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3.0

CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN - why is Marlow in awe of Kurtz? Why does he respect him? It makes no sense - even Kurtz was aware of the “horror”, of how greed and desire and power literally brought him to death and the darkness - so why does Marlow respect him? I feel like I’m missing something here in an otherwise interesting novella! I don’t feel sorry for Kurtz at all and neither Marlow, despite his critique on the Company. They’re clearly still on the wrong side of Indigenous & African history.

I’m also reading this wondering at Conrad's racism - he's clearly critical of Imperialism, yet so many comments he makes I can’t even begin to justify! And so many comparisons to the Indigenous people being like animals. Disgusting, unacceptable in the 21st century, but to thing this was once how people thought.

The symbolism throughout really resonated with me. It’s a metaphor and image I can imagine and feels quite tangible to me.

I wish I just could understand WHY Marlow - the protagonist - respects Kurtz - clearly the antagonist. But I otherwise quite enjoyed reading this novel - racist to its core, but so important historically.