A Question and Answer

[Kat]

I utterly agree with you! I am reading this "novel" for an Analysis of the Fine Arts course and the only thing I have been analyzing thus far is my dictionary-trying to figure out what the hell Conrad is talking about. I am a lover of lit, but this reading was poor disappointment. I found myself cringing at the thought of reading it everyday! I have heard that "Lord of the Flies" has been comparable to Conrad's tale,, I find it a shame to catergorize the two even in the same sentence! Golding told his tale without confusion and did a helluva job doing it!!

[PoppyC]

I cant believe you people think this. only those who dont truly understand liturature and what Conrad is trying to say would make these kinds of comments. the confusion and big words were no mistake. he did it for a reason and if you cant see that the you really need to star reading other kinds of books like "The Cat in the Hat." maby you guys would be able to apriciate what the author is trying to do here.<br>

[Unregistered]

 The complicated vocabulary might be said to stem from the fact that Conrad was a foreign writer, who's first language wasn't English, and that the confusion is at the root of our poor and worthless language. But even this is truly an improper justification. His writing is not confusing, but merely complicated, such that simple minds don't see the great lucidity of his words. The story is a deep, and an interesting exploration of the human soul as well as a subtle illusion to Dantes' Inferno. This is an amazing literary work, so such that the famous author of <u>The Lord of The Flies</u>, who's name I can't quite remember, wrote his book as a sort of reverse allusion to this worthy novel. I think perhaps you should have remained quiet, and hid<br>your confusion deep within yourself, rather than revealing it to us. But, your embarrassment, or rather ignorant lack of it, has stirred anger where I should have felt instead sorry for you, so I apologize. As to your capital<br>analysis of the worth of this book, I would turn your eyes to the name of that copy's publisher, and to the fact that this book has become open domain. The reason for the price is not that the worth of this book is reflected in it, but that the value gained by sharing it is more important to man as a whole than any profit that could be gained by the selling of what is probably a greatly<br>underpriced Wordsworth edition (or some such). And let us not forget the laws of supply and demand (because it is in reality more than one law), as the majority of the world is ignorant and arrogant (and so therefore cannot see their own ignorance). A book as this therein does lose value in that those that might benefit greatly from such a novel desire not its worth.

[Chris]

Good lord, what a depressing collection of joyless dull responses. Big words?! Confusing?! Maybe to dim slacker American students. As for this quote: “When the Romans first came here, nineteen hundred years ago-the other day…." you may want to read that passage again, properly. I found 'HoD' a compelling and fascinating read (and, yes, ambiguous to an extent, but with sufficient allowance for the reader's interpretation), filled with ripe allegory and imagery and a casual storytelling style with rich and telling turns of phrase. You're not going to get much out of this book if you need to be spoonfed meanings and neat conclusions and told who to sympathise with, where and when. If, however, you have an imagination and a soul, 'HoD' will intrigue and resonate, and its bleakly ironic, proto-existential ending will pull the rug out from underneath you and have you questioning all human life and experience.<br><br>Sorry if some of these words are too long for you.

[Ash]

I thought I was the only one! Thank goodness. I hate this book. I have to read it with a dictionary by my side. There is no interest level at all. I started reading it an hour ago and just got done with the introduction and only 32 pages of the story. Call me simple minded but I find it very difficult. I suppose that comes with my young age. I just thnik Joseph Conrad sounds like an *** using these big words. Take away the unnecessary words and you'll have the whole story in about 10 pages. I will be taking an exam on this god awful book. (My stomach turns everytime I think about reading it) Anyone want to post a little summary of the book? I truly can't read this and desperate. Thanks.

[Ronald McGraw]

I think many of the readers of this book do not like it because they read it in college and feel that it has little impact or insight to lend them. Of course, I personally feel that even someone young, when self-aware of the world around them and it's happenings, can gain much from this book. However, for those of you who do not have this requirement of awareness, give it some years and try this book again after you have more life experience. Believe it or not, some people read books like this for fun even when not assigned it in college. <br><br>Just my two cents worth.<br><br>PS. If you think this book was hard, try Dostoevsky.

[jane]

Conrad uses "Heart of Darkness" as the title because the story's setting is based in Africa, which was thought to be evil -- Therefore making it the "heart" of evil (darkness). Not only does Conrad use Freud's psychoanalytic theory as one of his central themes, he also touches on cultural racism.

[Megan]

I too am a simpleton who at first struggled through my reading of the Heart of Darkness. I pushed on, dictionary in hand, and hope in my heart that I could understand this novella. After reading it through and starting over again, I have found it to be an amazing journey. If you have only read this book one time, it is virtually impossible, but if you dont give up, you will probably find that it is wonderfully written by a very talented man.

[stina]

I, as a Swedish student of English literature, have only one question to all of you who need the dictionary to read this (extraordinary) book: Is English really your mother tongue?

[Marianela]

Ethan, you make So many good points! The title seems very profound but when you actually sit down to read it, it makes you wonder why Conrad even wrote the book. The book we used in my English sold for 60 cents, another sign of the book's worth. My entire class hates the book. I wish I had known about your abridged version before I read the whole book. <br><br>A comment to PoppyC: if big words aren't confusing to you, why can't you spell the little ones correctly?

[Unregistered]

Ethan you're an American. It probably sells for a dollor because it's out of copyright.

[emily]

i would not have advertised to the internet that your mind was too simple to understand this piece of literature. perhaps you should break out that dictionary more often; then you would understand what you read instead of making an *** of yourself for the world to see. as for the "mess" of the your direct quotations, with the first, you should note how people actually speak when recalling poignant memories (dictionary, anyone?) - it's not always neatly and coherently - this is called "realism"; and for the second, conrad is implying that someone is interrupting marlow's speech with an interjection and that marlow is replying to it. i hope this elucidates some of your gross misinterpretations. stick to that dictionary.

[Nicola]

Aagh it's an awful book! One of the most annoying things about it is that it does delve into the heart of darkness.... but just a bit too much. Conrad was just trying to show off about his new language so he probably got out his little thesaurus (if they were even invented then) and tried to find as many long impossible words as he could. It's alright for the little english scholars out there, but for people like me with a very poor memory for vocabulary it's hard work to get past a page. And what was worse was that I HAD to read it which was torture, and in a few days I have to write an essay on it. I can't believe he didn't die with that suicide attempt (sorry to be rude and blunt), he just lived on to provide a death sentance for other poor helpless people. The book may be a brilliant book, full of philosophy and colonisation etc, but it does not mean people can read it! I don't want everything spoonfed in little easy pieces, i'd just like to kno what i wasted 4 hours of my life trying to decipher!<br>And don't you think it's funny how a lot of the people who love the book go under "anonymous"!!!

[Unregistered]

You should stick to children's books if "Heart of Darkness" is too confusing for you. I hope this message isn't too wordy for you.

[Ethan]

“Why is the title so good?” Simply because the rest of the book isn’t. Conrad rambles in an attempt to impress his vocabulary on the reader, without care of how it affects the narration of the story. It surprised me that the “finest story of one of the greatest writers in English” is selling for a dollar, the reason was soon clarified after page two. I am inclined to think that Conrad requested the print be made so small as to add to the drowning sensation in a swirl of disconnected words. I quote, “Oh These Months! Well, never mind.” Another direct quote, “When the Romans first came here, nineteen hundred years ago-the other day…. Light came out of this river since—you say knights? Yes; but it is like a running blaze on a plain” Despite the mess made of this book, I see great hope for the abridged version. Something along the lines of “Heart of Darkness” I took a steam-boat deep into a jungle trading post and met a man called Mr. Kurtz. I could feel his greatness despite his death upon my arrival and it disheartened me, for he made me think of humanity.”<br> Two sentences and little is lost. My time would have been better-spent living life than reading this book, for the effect was grating and irritating and overall gloomy. All-in-all, it is too bad the title was wasted on this book. <br>

[pink_panther]

Hi! I am hopping you have read Heart of Darkness. I had to read it for my ISU essay but didn't really finish it. Well i am wrtting my essay on the role of women; man domanice, if there are any quotes that would help me out, please email me at [email protected]. ASAP Please with page numbers.

[elinzme]

I cant believe you people think this. only those who dont truly understand liturature and what Conrad is trying to say would make these kinds of comments. the confusion and big words were no mistake. he did it for a reason and if you cant see that the you really need to star reading other kinds of books like "The Cat in the Hat." maby you guys would be able to apriciate what the author is trying to do here.<br>
i so totally agree withyou. Heart of Darkness was one of the best novels I read that I chose to do it for my A level text. can't believe anyone could ever criticise it.. it has such rich meaning.. you have to dead blind to miss it. and what's with the whining about the apparently difficult words.

[elinzme]

Good lord, what a depressing collection of joyless dull responses. Big words?! Confusing?! Maybe to dim slacker American students. As for this quote: “When the Romans first came here, nineteen hundred years ago-the other day…." you may want to read that passage again, properly. I found 'HoD' a compelling and fascinating read (and, yes, ambiguous to an extent, but with sufficient allowance for the reader's interpretation), filled with ripe allegory and imagery and a casual storytelling style with rich and telling turns of phrase. You're not going to get much out of this book if you need to be spoonfed meanings and neat conclusions and told who to sympathise with, where and when. If, however, you have an imagination and a soul, 'HoD' will intrigue and resonate, and its bleakly ironic, proto-existential ending will pull the rug out from underneath you and have you questioning all human life and experience.<br><br>Sorry if some of these words are too long for you.
and i agree with you too!!!

[Kluna]

I cant believe you people think this. only those who dont truly understand liturature and what Conrad is trying to say would make these kinds of comments. the confusion and big words were no mistake. he did it for a reason and if you cant see that the you really need to star reading other kinds of books like "The Cat in the Hat." maby you guys would be able to apriciate what the author is trying to do here.<br>


Cmon.. what autor is trying to say? First you should read autors biography and you would see that he isn't trying to say anything! He is just a seaman without a sence of art, but with a wish to share things what he had see on his travelings. You know, it was very exotic and profitable those days.

[Kluna]

i so totally agree withyou. Heart of Darkness was one of the best novels I read that I chose to do it for my A level text. can't believe anyone could ever criticise it.. it has such rich meaning.. you have to dead blind to miss it. and what's with the whining about the apparently difficult words.


If you find this one of the best novels you've red... ups... you should read more.

And whining about 'big words' - neither do I, but it just tells they haven't red Dickens so victorian english is unknown to them

[clandestine]

Cmon.. what autor is trying to say? First you should read autors biography and you would see that he isn't trying to say anything! He is just a seaman without a sence of art, but with a wish to share things what he had see on his travelings.

Ahhhhh! For crying out loud! What in the world are you talking about!!! Conrad knew exactly what he was doing in "Heart of Darkness." The novel conveys a sense of absurdity and unreality in many passages, and is notoriously ambiguous and vague in others, and for close-minded readers this makes it frustrating to read. However, Conrad ment to convey this sensation to his readers, and HoD is not a sailor's story of a Congo river expedition, but the a journey of discovery through the depths of the human soul. Whether it takes place on the Congo or on the Mississippi or on Mars is unimportant to the to the novel's meaning.

[starrwriter]

i so totally agree withyou. Heart of Darkness was one of the best novels I read that I chose to do it for my A level text. can't believe anyone could ever criticise it.. it has such rich meaning.. you have to dead blind to miss it. and what's with the whining about the apparently difficult words.
I'll admit that HOD had a fascinating theme, but the writing style was truly awful, as more than one better author has pointed out. Conrad's only excuse was that he wasn't writing in his native language (Polish). He copied the verbose writing style of popular English-language authors at the turn of the century, which was a mistake.

[clandestine]

I'll admit that HOD had a fascinating theme, but the writing style was truly awful, as more than one better author has pointed out.

*chuckle* There certinly is a lot of "brooding gloom" and "gloom brooding" and just "brooding" in general going on! ;)

[starrwriter]

*chuckle* There certinly is a lot of "brooding gloom" and "gloom brooding" and just "brooding" in general going on!
I noticed you live in a cave. How is the gloom factor in your cave?

I have decorated my cave to eliminate all gloom. I hauled in lots of foliage to provide good cover from snipers. Native women are chained to the walls and they are always glad to see me because I bring them food. I keep a pet mongoose to eat the centipedes and other creepy-crawlies. No gloom here.