Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

As I've said in posts past, I hated Heart of Darkness on my first reading (way back in high school). Normally I wouldn't touch this book again with a ten foot pole, but the grad course I signed up for decided this was one of the novels I had to read, so....

Upon re-reading, I now remember why I hated this book so much.

Ambiguity.

So Marlowe heads into the Congo in search of the legendary Kurtz; he meets him for like two seconds, and in essence finds out the dude is quite the douche, but still Marlowe insists on admiring this man...or at least protecting his reputation, preserving his words.

This book is hailed as a scathing condemnation of colonialism and despised for being the exact opposite, a disgusting perpetuation of racism. I'm not sure if this is an argument in favor of the book sucking or being truly great. There is definitely an argument to be made that the book is one of the greats because of its ability to 1) cause intense emotion and 2) provoke controversial discourse.

The only redeeming feature of this book for me is that it is short.

Okay, maybe that was a bit harsh. I will admit that my second reading and subsequent 20 page paper on the novella did make me hate it a bit less. While I don't particularly care for the story, I do see its relevance, its impact, and its skill. After all, I don't think it's easy to write a cohesive, chronological narrative that is so indeterminate, so cryptic.

For more reviews, check out:

• Goodreads
• A Literary Odyssey
• Rebecca Reads
• Trish's Reading Nook - I'm going old school on you here. :)