Paul Schneider Schneider itibaren 58500 Demiroluk Köyü/Yıldızeli/Sivas, ตุรกี
I read alot of her books in my 20s very thought provoking.
Still reading it...
I found the narrative and writing style very hard to follow in this story, which made it a little difficult to get into. The story made a lot more sense on a second reading, after I had read King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild. The story, however, is not the salient thing to take away from this book. Heart of Darkness is a semi-autobiographical account of Conrad’s visit to the Congo Free State in the early 1890s. The atrocities that Marlow witnesses in the story—starving, overworked, and abused natives—together with the inefficiency and corruption of the officials are probably things Conrad himself witnessed. But Conrad combines the expose of the realities of Congo life, highly controversial when the novel was originally published, with a deeper philosophical question about human nature. The Europeans who are in charge, including Kurtz, are far away from laws and public opinion, which appears to be what allows them to behave as they do. But as Marlow quips, “all Europe contributed to the creation of Kurtz.” Marlow makes several other comments about the “dirty business” of conquering a nation, pointing out that the Romans were no less brutal to Anglo-Saxons. In general Marlow seems to be the only character able to hang onto this perspective, and who remembers that the natives are actually as human as he is. Through this Conrad seems to ask if the “heart of darkness” is really something unique to the African setting, or if, in fact, this “darkness” that compels men to subjugate other men exists within all of us. Yet, as some critics have pointed out, even Marlow is a product of his age: he uses racial epithets and at times makes a snide remark about the “superstitions” of the natives who work for him. Marlow even feels a certain amount of admiration for the ruthless Kurtz, though he alone can see the true danger of the blind admiration that Kurtz inspires both in his Russian assistant and (apparently) some of the natives he has oppressed. Though I didn't enjoy reading this novel the first time through and merely skimmed it a second time for better understanding, I can appreciate why it is considered a classic.
one of my favorite books from my adolescence. i must have read and reread this a dozen times. great descriptions, interesting plot. enough tear-jerking to make you want to call your mom.