Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad -- ★★

[John]

The Heart of Darkness was the inspiration for the movie Apocalypse Now. Although there is no Robert Duvall character proclaiming, "I love the smell of Napalm in the morning," there is a boat trip up a dark-enshrouded river in search of a mythical, God-like man.

When Joseph Conrad wrote this short novel at the turn of the 20th century, Africa had been divided among the European nations, each exploiting its resources for financial gain. Many parts of equatorial Africa were covered in dense, difficult to navigate, dark jungle. The novel is narrated by Marlow who recounts his adventures as a steamboat captain in Africa as an employee of a Dutch trading company. The Congo River is peppered with riverside trading stations, like a series of islands against the opacity of the encroaching jungle. The novel begins with Marlow spending a couple of weeks at the mouth of the Congo River at the Outer Station where he learns of the mysterious Kurtz, who exports more ivory than the rest of those tasked with this assignment. Since some see another Kurtz in Marlow, he journeys up the Congo, first on foot, later by steamboat, to meet this man who has been described as a prodigy of "higher intelligence, wide sympathies, a singleness of purpose." What he discovers is a man who, isolated from his usual social environs, reverts to his more primitive nature.

This novel is short at 72-78 pages depending on the edition. I found it difficult to read because of the number of lines compressed on a page. I don't read enlarged print text; however, in this book I should have made an exception. I found the reading tedious with only moments which drew my attention. I'm surprised that the Cancel Culture hasn't banned this book based on the terms used for the African natives.

[Theresa]

I probably read this book 30 years ago ... and remember struggling with it - slow, tedious, nothing surprising, far less disturbing than I expected. I'm thinking perhaps this is showing it's age, expecially in a world where movies like Deer Hunter are classics actually watched by generation after generation, and the evening news shows us the World Trade Center being brought down by terrorists and our own Capital building under seige. Reversion to primitive seems to be a part of our daily lives.