Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
For those who’ve read, appreciated, and understood ‘Heart of Darkness’ in one reading, without any aids… what have you been drinking, and where can I get some?
All I really understood was that Marlow, a steamboat captain, recounts his journey into the Congo in search of Kurtz, a famous ivory trader. Along the way, he recalls some of his encounters with the natives, repeatedly describing the African people in language that today comes across as deeply racist and offensive. He talks of them as if they were animals, refers to some as cannibals, and generally portrays them as primitive beings. Which of course is most likely an accurate reflection of how many Europeans of that era viewed Africans as inferior.
And even though throughout ‘Heart of Darkness’, author Joseph Conrad keeps writing about how the forests of Congo are dark, ominous, dangerous, its people uncivilized, this is hardly ever justified through whatever Marlow encounters. All we see are glimpses of the White men doing whatever they feel like, while the natives are of course treated like dispensable slaves.
Half the time, I couldn’t even tell whether the narrator was on his boat, on land, or simply drifting through some fever dream. The prose is packed with long, winding sentences that, more often than not, made me want to fall asleep. I will admit, though, that for a book first published in 1899, the language itself is surprisingly accessible. The English feels remarkably close to what we still use today. It’s not the vocabulary that’s difficult, but it’s the way Conrad structures his sentences and strings his thoughts together that makes ‘Heart of Darkness’ so exhausting to follow.
I don’t see any reason to subject myself to further torture by thinking about this book any longer, let alone writing more about it. I didn’t enjoy it, I have no intention of ever reading it again, and I certainly won’t be recommending it to anyone. Marlow should’ve taken a storytelling course before subjecting us to this atrocity.
Rating for ‘Heart of Darkness’: 1 star on 5.
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As a kid I watched the movie The Mosquito Coast, starring Indiana Solo himself.
at some point after I heard it was loosely based on Conrad’s Heart of Darkness..
turns out loosely based was probably ‘barely inspired by’. both have madness, riverlife, and africa nothing else is connected.
i spent the whole book wondering when someone was going to make Ice. I also considered it a yawn.
Never heard of the film. Is it any good though?
absolutely. i thought it was great and it continues to get good review from what i saw.