Heart of Darkness and Other Tales (Oxford World's Classics)

Heart of Darkness is a classic novel that was an almost direct assault on (English) trading company methods and the greater concept of Imperialism, itself. Conrad constructs his novel with many sets of 3, channeling the three parts of Dante's Inferno / The Divine Comedy, and tells it in a "chinese box" fashion, featuring a set of stories within stories. The novel begins on board the Nellie on the Thames River, with Marlow beginning to tell his own story to his mariner companions. With great attention to the sea, personification of the jungle, and the greater idea of human restraint corresponding to its environment, Marlow recounts his memories of traveling down the Congo River under a Belgian Trading Company and the examples of humanity he encounters there. His prime example is a figure named Kurtz, who, although intelligent, musically gifted, and persuasive, loses all of his restraint along with himself in the heart of the Africa, leaving a lasting image of him being, "hollow to the core." Kurtz only realizes the evils and extreme wrongs that took place in Africa at the moment before his death, exclaiming, "The horror, the horror!" Was he (and/or Conrad) referring to Kurtz's own deeds, the Company's futility and exploitation, or the very subject of Imperialism itself? You can be the judge after reading this intriguing novel.The Kindle book is easy to use and saves your place, as well as allowing you to highlight, bookmark, and makes notes, but the one issue I had was with quick reference to the notes featured at the end of the text. There wasn't a user-friendly way to go back and forth between the notes and the text without losing your place in the book after digging up the correct note that corresponds to the page you're on. They would have been much more useful if this hadn't been so inconvenient.

I didn’t read it and fairly certain neither did my child. Another wasteful purchase by the US of A educational system.

Conrad is prose poetry, especially in Heart of Darkness. This edition is annotated with an introduction. It is perhaps the best edition of Heart of Darkness for its simple and straightforward analysis and notes. Unlike most Penguin Classics, this Oxford Classics has no misprints as all the many Oxford editions...accurate texts free of errors.

The book contains four stories: "An Outpost of Progress", "Karain", "Youth", and "Heart of Darkness". I was interested in "Heart of Darkness" because of its relationship to the movie "Apocalypse Now". Of the stories in the book, I found "Youth" and "Karain" the most interesting. However, they were all worth reading.The Kindle edition is nice because of the ability to look up the definitions of the somewhat obscure terms used by Conrad. Overall I'd recommend this edition of the "Heart of Darkness"

I was really excited to read this because of Conrad's legendary status as an author and the fact this book was the basis for the Heart Of Darkness film. However, I found it to read for leisure not as thrilling or as dark and twisted as I had heard it would be. Conrad's writing is unbelievably detailed and interwoven with countless metaphors that make the book sound like a dream-like state. It did not convey as much wretchedness about the Congo as I had anticipated from reviews, but rather just showed the cultural difference between a European sailor and the natives of the Congo. Questionably ignorant, the way that Conrad phrases his understanding seems akin to someone who both does not understand the primitive nature of racism and also someone who does not value anyone differently. It's just a book, albeit a short one, that did not click for me and I'm unsure if it was because of too much hype or it just wasn't for me. I'm glad I read it though to check one off the list.

Interesting, historical-based narration of the Belgian Congo years where ivory and other raw materials were extracted from Central Africa. The book clearly describes the geography and the abuse of natives.

Sorry but this is the most boring Conrad book, in fact the most boring book period.The hype on this book Is redic. If you haven't read Conrad yet then don't start here. My suggestion would be the secret sharer and other stories, and then move onto the big guns.

Daughter needed for an AP English class. Arrived in same condition as listed on the sales posting.

As with any great and famous book, Heart of Darkness gets analysed a lot by readers who can see it only through 21st century eyes. Some call it racist, oblivious to the fact that in the 19th century everyone was racist, it was very much the norm. Some say he misrepresented Africa, but Conrad did have experience of the country. In reality the book is much more subtle than that. It's main message is not about British imperialism, or African savagery; it is about his shocking realisation that when we are removed, really removed, from the society we live in, it's norms, its rules, it's policing; then, in a very real sense we lose our minds. This makes sense to me. In the Africa he transports us to anything goes. If you kill someone (or even eat someone) there is no arrest, no trial, no prison - all norms are gone and instincts rule, and those instincts he suggests are pretty universal when the chips are down. It isn't just Kurt that loses his mind, the whole story has an unnerving feel to it, intentionally, and the main narrator, a sailor telling the story of his personal adventure to his fellow men while they wait for the tide to turn, has clearly been deeply and lastingly affected by it. Like that earlier book, Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte (and some others), Heart of Darkness doesn't give us the story directly from the author, or from an all-seeing narrator, as is common. It uses 'double oblique narration' or a frame within a frame. Our first narrator tells us of the story told by the old sailor Marlow, so that most of the book is within quote marks. This has the effect of setting up a mystery for us - how will the story end? More importantly, it distances the author from Marlow the narrator. Marlow's views are there to make a point for the author, but we cannot pin them on the author! He is giving us one man's experience, but using it to demonstrate that all that we think we know can disappear as soon as we find ourselves outside the culture and surroundings, and judgements and limitations of the society we are accustomed to. That we have a very hard time indeed not to become utterly savage, when all that matters is the present, and the demands of survival. The book asks us to consider what civilisation is, and what our values are based on, and to understand why the Africans of his story were so different from us. Marlow tells us how, under extreme pressure, he felt a sort of affection for the man alongside him who had just been killed, a man whom he had until that moment had not liked, but whom he had shared something with - the steering of the boat. Here Conrad is asking us to consider how our attachments can change; to question what they are really based on. I get this, and to a lesser degree we see it in, say, the normalisation of gun culture in the USA, or the acceptance of hardship by the masses in N Korea, or the desire of many former E Germans to return to Communism and be freed from the exhausting hassles of everyday life. It's a pity that so many people don't understand the profound message of this great book.Joseph Conrad wrote in English, though it was not his native language - ignore those who say this is a bad translation! Beware though that Amazon puts different versions of a book, and even different books with the same name, on a common page, which creates havoc with reviewers who don't say which version they have.

This book is of great quality, clear print, very supple and flexible pages that make reading a joy. The cover is high quality and is not easily scratched or damaged. I cannot comment on the story, as I've only just started reading it, but so far it is interesting.

Excellent

Still endlessly perplexing, drawing you on into the murky depths with every read

Amazing book. A classic. Harrowing and beautifully written. An absolute must read.