Whew, I've got to admit, when I finished this book I was happy. So very happy. That being said, I keep thinking about it, and I suppose that's a good thing, or if nothing else a mark of a good book.'Heart of Darkness' is the story of Marlow, our storyteller, who has traveled deep into the jungles of Africa and becomes fascinated with a man named Mr. Kurtz, a man who at first seems to hold the promise of European ideals in the middle of the wilderness but who, as Marlow soon discovers, has actually gone quite mad, and who represents the worst possible side of excess. It is a dark, rambling, psychological, reflective, critical and mad novel in itself.
Readability: This has to be one of the least readable book I've come across of a long time. It's less than 100 pages long but took me over a month to read because it's just so dense. My reading pattern was this...read 4-5 pages, then fall asleep in awkward/embarrassing position. Also, Conrad needed to learn how to use paragraph breaks. Three-page-long paragraphs are NOT OK.
Enjoyability (is that a word?): I did not enjoy this book in the typical, man I sure do want to read this, way. I can't quite decide if I liked it or not, actually. It is extremely well written and does make you think-exploring some pretty universal themes. Ok, I did enjoy it...not as a page turner by any means but something that gets under your skin in other ways.
Favorite quote(s): If I can give this book one thing it is that it is infinitely quotable. The prose, dense as it is, can also be rather fantastic.
"They grabbed what they could get for the sake of what was to be got. It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a grand scale ,and men going at it blind--as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness. The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complection or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much."
"Watching a coast as it slips by the ship is like thinking about an enigma. There it is before you-smiling, frowning, inviting grand, mean, insipid or savage and always mute with an air of whispering, come and find out."
"It seems to me I am trying to tell you a dream-making a vain attempt because no relation to a dream can convey the dream-sensation, that commingling of absurdity, surprise, and bewilderment in a tremor of struggling revolt, that notion of being captured by the incredible which is of the very essence of dreams..."
"We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness. It was very quiet there. At night sometimes the roll of drums behind the curtain of trees would run up the river and remain sustained faintly, ,as if hovering in the air high over our heads, till the first break of day."
"She was savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent; there was something ominous and stately in her deliberate progress. And in the hush that had fallen suddenly upon the whole sorrowful land, the immense wilderness, the colossal body of the fecund and mysterious life seemed to look at her as though it had been looking at the image of its own tenebrous and passionate soul."
"But his soul was mad. Being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself and by heavens! I tell you, it had gone mad...He struggled with himself, too. I saw it,-I heard it. I saw the inconceivable mystery of a soul that new no restraint, no faith, and no fear, yet struggling blindly with itself."
"Droll thing life is-that mysterious arrangement of merciless logic for a futile purpose. The most you can hope from it is some knowledge of yourself-that comes too late-a crop of unextinguishable regrets."
Favorite character: Uum, wow, I can't think of anyone and I just looked up character lists from the book to see if I'd forgotten someone but...nope. Marlow is probably the most interesting character. He is our storyteller, and he is a good one. I frequently didn't agree with him but he does have an interesting perspective. I don't really know what else to say about Marlow except that the entire story is told from his perspective and yet, I feel like we never really know him.
Least favorite character: Surprisingly not Kurtz. Yes, he is mad...completely, but I can almost understand his madness. The character who creeped me out the most was the Russian trader who Marlow encounters first in the village Kurtz is living. He is a loyal follower of Kurtz, basically telling Marlow how amazing he is, but someone who can blindly follow a madman sometimes seems less rational than the madman himself.
Social impact: This book seems represent a bit of a touchstone when it comes to writing about Africa. It is often seen in a negative light from an African perspective-'Things Fall Apart,' for example, being written as a response to the treatment of the people of Africa in this novel. Marlow's viewpoint on Africa, while undeniably racist and detached towards the Africans he encounters, was nevertheless a rather progressive viewpoint for the day.
Greatest impact: The movie 'Apocalypse Now' was based upon this book. Seeing as 'Apocalypse Now' is set during the Vietnam War, in Vietnam, and 'Heart of Darkness is set on the Congo River, in Africa, at the turn of the century shows that this book has some universal subject matter going for it. I'm thinking madness, yep. Now, I haven't seen 'Apocalypse Now' in a very long time so I can't vouch for how well this is done I'm going to watch it soon...and then I'll let you know...
Recommended for: People who think the jungle is a scary place and would probably make you crazy if you got stuck in it for too long (I mean, I'm afraid of this picture). If you like fairly dense, psychological, reading. If you're interested in colonialism as told from a slightly different viewpoint (and I mean, who isn't really?). Also, if you need a cure for insomnia.
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