I read this for one of my English courses, and I loved it! I highly recommend this, both as an English major and purely for pleasure reading.
What I Liked:
- The language! It's so beautiful, really. Beautiful and terrible, but so eloquent and poignant. I find it especially interesting as English was apparently Conrad's third language.
- Kurtz! I found Kurtz a fascinating character, really, something about the self and the darkness and his soul. I cannot even explain myself.
- The message! I don't know what it is, but works with happy take-aways do not do it for me. Nothing like good old-fashioned "inherent darkness of humanity" to really get me going.
- The resonance! I feel like this is one of those things to transcend time, you know? This message, of nightmares and darkness will always be relevant, and I feel like Conrad has so eloquently expressed it that his work will be read long after everyone has forgotten about places like the Congo and England and we all live on the moon or something.
Final Thoughts:
- I loved reading this. It's so literary, and I feel like so much analysis can be done, but I also really enjoyed the plot and the language on a personal, pleasurable level.
- Fair warning, I revel in the macabre, but if you are faint-hearted, be warned, this piece does contain graphic scenes.
- Apocalypse Now does not do this work justice, in my opinion. Not to say that it was a bad movie, just that I feel like it doesn't capture the many layers of Conrad's piece. Basically, don't think that you don't need to read Heart of Darkness because you've seen the movie, and don't think that if you disliked that movie that you will necessarily dislike Conrad's original.
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