I loved The Heart of Darkness.
I picked up a copy of Lord Jim at a used bookstore a while ago and it is on my 'to read' list. After viewing some of the comments here, I can see that I might be in for some tough going.
I loved The Heart of Darkness.
I picked up a copy of Lord Jim at a used bookstore a while ago and it is on my 'to read' list. After viewing some of the comments here, I can see that I might be in for some tough going.
The Heart of Darkness is one of the great books of English literature I always take as one of my favorites. In fact Conrad proved through his mindbogglingly written books that English literature has a number of writers who used English as a second language and yet their mastery over English is matchless. Ayn Rand, Nabokov, Salmon Rushdie, Pankaj Mishra are a few names to add to the list of those who hailed from a different language community and yet the elegant style of English in their novels have remain unparalleled.
“Those who seek to satisfy the mind of man by hampering it with ceremonies and music and affecting charity and devotion have lost their original nature””
“If water derives lucidity from stillness, how much more the faculties of the mind! The mind of the sage, being in repose, becomes the mirror of the universe, the speculum of all creation.
"Heart of Darkness" is one work that looks really, really fun to apply criticism to, especially when looking at the character of Kurtz (One of my favorite villains in fiction because of his strong sympathetic edge... He's like a symbol for the lowest form of evil that's simultaneously unhappy with his status). It's a strong meditation on the worst in people, and what made it an impacting read was in its dreamlike representation of this horror.Originally Posted by Heteronym
"We look at the world, at governments, across the spectrum, some with more freedom, some with less. And we observe that the more repressive the State is, the closer life under it resembles Death. If dying is deliverance into a condition of total non-freedom, then the State tends, in the limit, to Death. The only way to address the problem of the State is with counter-Death, also known as Chemistry." -- Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day
Conrad is king. There should be churches built for the glorification of that man.
Conrad's HoD really does have to be one of the most symbolically charged pieces of prose I've ever read, maybe only outdone by Moby Dick. Just about everything in HoD can be open to legitimate interpretation.
The characters are definitely open to interpretation, along with its three stages of darkness that Marlow describes to his crew throughout the narrative. Also interesting is how the sun setting throughout the narrative seems to symbolize descent in negative forms: Descent towards hell, descent towards hatred, etc.
As for Kurtz... I see him as a "tragic villain"... he may be the antagonist, but there's too much sympathy to feel for him at the closing passages...
"We look at the world, at governments, across the spectrum, some with more freedom, some with less. And we observe that the more repressive the State is, the closer life under it resembles Death. If dying is deliverance into a condition of total non-freedom, then the State tends, in the limit, to Death. The only way to address the problem of the State is with counter-Death, also known as Chemistry." -- Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day
And don't forget that crazy tribal woman. A wonderful "WTF?" moment. Comparing her with the calm, ordinary white wife of Kurtz would make a great paper.
Why do I keep mixing Joseph Conrad with Stephen King?
it may never try
but when it does it sigh
it is just that
good
it fly
I don't think they have anything in common. But, it happens, something in the sound of their names, maybe.
...........
“All" human beings "by nature desire to know.” ― Aristotle
“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” ― Robert A. Heinlein
I found it a bit difficult to get into, but persevered as he seemed to be saying some important things. I'm glad I did! I found it turning into a great adventure story, while retaining the "depth". Now it's one of my favourite novels. "Victory" is another slow burner that lives in the memory.
I think Lord Jim is easier going than The Heart of Darkness, as the latter hides meaning in obscurity, while the former is more "up front" about deep and meaningful matters.
I agree with your assessment on the two books except I just plain loved Heart of Darkness, whereas I could hardly make it through Lord Jim.
The Holy Trinity of classic writers, for me anyhow, is... Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Kipling being the best pure storyteller.
I agree with your assessment on the two books except I just plain loved Heart of Darkness, whereas I could hardly make it through Lord Jim.
The Holy Trinity of classic storytellers, for me anyhow, is... Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Kipling being the best pure storyteller.
Last edited by Iain Sparrow; 04-13-2014 at 03:03 PM. Reason: whoops, double post
He was Polish by birth but became an English writer, raised a family there and died there. Bertrand Russell knew and admired him. In his autobiography Russell writes that Conrad possessed a 'deep-rooted hatred for Russia' and a 'profound love for England'. Although he was critical of colonialism, his love for England was such that he kind of defended the British Empire while criticising the Belgian Empire in the Congo. Yet Russell adds that he was never entirely at home in England and remained (in Russell's words) "a Polish aristocrat to his fingertips". He was one of those writers who had a dual nationality. He wasn't a Polish writer or an English writer: he was a mixture of the two.
I read Lord Jim and Heart of Darkness, which was very primal. But the piece of Conrad's I got into was a short story called An Outpost of Progress. It was primal and dark as well, in the jungle, and even had humor.
Last edited by desiresjab; 04-14-2014 at 12:34 AM.
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