Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

55 reviews

asotun's review against another edition

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

2.0

Wanted to read it after listening to an actor talk about how Joseph Conrad describes the pathetic, sleazy, pale evil of "normal people". Read about the evil of resource exploitation and conniving White men.

But couldn't get over the fact that this book was neither anti-racist, nor materially anti-colonial. And definitely strong traces of misogyny, which some research about Joseph himself confirmed. So it put me off.

I would say there is better literature on the same themes that I'd enjoy reading more. But if you really want to, it's a super short book so you wouldn't lose much. Some passages are very vivid.
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isabelle_boknert's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? No

2.0

En komplicerad bok att recensera. Den är full av rasism, men ses av många som en kritik mot kolonialismen. 
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anastasiakd'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

1.5

Honestly, this was a disgusting read. I understand for the time it very much exposed a lot of the horrors of the ivory trade but even its protagonists are wrought with colonialism, racism, and sexism. 
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and_so_it_goes's review against another edition

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

3.0

This was an assigned reading novel. I understand it’s significance but by god is the prose boring. 
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arkeith85's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad 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? It's complicated

3.0

  • I got the version that has an intro from Karen Swallow Prior bc I knew I’d need some extra help understanding this book, and I was totally right. Her intro gave me context into the author and where it fits in history. Basically, the first part is narrated an unnamed guy in a boat with a few other guys in a boat just floating away. Then, one of the other guys, Marlowe, tells the longest story ever about his trip into Africa as colonizer going to colonize - or civilize as they said - Africa. He is racist and prejudiced, a product of his own time, but he did question his role as the colonizer as his story meandered on and on. 
  • The story gave a lot of “what men will do instead of going to therapy” vibes. Seems like Conrad (the author) had a lot of questions and feelings that he needed to process and did it by writing a book about a man who also had a lot of questions and feelings. Conrad wrote the book as three installments to be published in the newspapers so the book is just three long parts. Also, the book isnt long, it just feels long. 
  • I didn’t love this, but I didn’t intend to. It was a good discipline to read something that wasn’t an easy read for me.

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puckman30's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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ekgranstro's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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bilbili's review against another edition

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dark sad 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? It's complicated

3.0

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pbella3's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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librarymouse's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark 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

3.0

I'm rating this higher than I did last time around, but not by much. It's not my favorite book by a long shot, but after learning more about Joseph Conrad and writing about textile manufacturing practices  contemporary to Conrad's writing of the book in how they relate to its content, I got a lot more out of it this time around.
It's a slow paced book, but time moves quickly for the characters.
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