About this title: In HEART OF DARKNESS, Conrad's most existential hero, Marlow, is the commander of a riverboat looking for ivory to trade in the Belgian Congo. His journey into the heart of the Congo is both a thrilling adventure and a symbolic excursion into the depths of the human psyche to confront the evil that exists there. Marlow's encounter with the mysterious and corrupted Kurtz, who dies proclaiming the "horror" of what he found in the Congo, is the novel's defining moment, when Marlow recognizes his kinship with Kurtz's corruption. This insight enables Marlow to retreat from Kurtz's world and return ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date Published: 1983
ISBN-13:9780451523211ISBN:0451523210
Description: Good. Creased spine. Cover worn. Numerous chips at edges & spine; general rubbing; sm. creases; 1/2" closed tear top front edge. Stains on fore edge. Prev. owners' names inside front cover. Some underlining. Pp. 31-2 dog-eared. Good copy for study. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Signet Book
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780451526571ISBN:0451526570
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 168 p. Signet Classics (Paperback). Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date Published: 1982
ISBN-13:9780553212143ISBN:0553212141
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 224 p. Bantam Classics. Audience: General/trade. read more
"My son needed this book for his high school English class. It's a terrific book. The shipping was timely and the book arrived in excellent condition!"
"When I entered the U. of Chicago, there were graffiti around campus: "'Mr. Kurtz, he dead!' Bird lives!" Now, how hip was that! So, when I found out that the first part of it was from Heart of Darkness, of course I had to read that. I admired Conrad for being a non-native speaker writing in English and I'm still a sucker for the Victorian gentleman thing. I know, totally sick for a Black man. So shoot me! . . . Did/do I see the white supremist viewpoint. Sure. That was out there. The book puts you inside the head of a character and into a time and place that allows you to understand the worldview, one that has thoroughly conditioned our history and still is around. Besides that, it's a great yarn."
"I read HOD for a paper where I have to compare it to 'The Bacchae'. So the idea of balance, and the struggle between civility and madness was something that I paid particular attention to. I found HOD to be excellent, there were so many chilling scenes throughout, one that stuck with me the most is Marlow speaking to the doctor and he is told that the changes that occur to many of the people sent to Africa "occur on the inside". I found it fascinating reading of Kurtz and the control he has over the 'savages' that Marlow describes. Also very interesting to see the effect that Kurtz has on everyone, though we know him to be merciless he is described as being incredible and even Marlow notes him as being so.
Personally I didn't find this book by any means "pretentious", sure I had to re-read a good amount of pages because they weren't quite clear at first. Though, isn't that the point of great literature, to make you think?"
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