
Heart of Darkness
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Narrated by:
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David Rintoul
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By:
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Joseph Conrad
About this listen
Joseph Conrad's searing tale of one of the strangest and most memorable journeys ever taken. Quite simply the scariest book ever written, this is a searing tale of one of the strangest and most memorable journeys ever undertaken - to the heart of a geographical and psychological wilderness from which no-one returns unscarred. For this isn't simply a journey up an uncharted river into a geographical wilderness; rather, it's a trip deep into our collective subconscious.
This story - about what happens when so-called "civilized" human beings go off the rails - was the inspiration for Francis Ford Coppola's movie Apocalypse Now.
Conrad himself had undertaken such a river journey as a ship's captain back in 1889 when he was in his early 30's and before he took to writing full time. Back then, the Congo Free State, as this area of Africa was known, was a Belgian colony under the personal control of King Leopold II. Atrocities were commonplace, to the point where the international community finally had to sit up and take notice; in a report published in 1904, over 3 million people were said to have died as a direct result of European intervention in the area.
It has long been argued whether Heart of Darkness, which first appeared in 1902, was in any way influential in bringing Leopold's violent regime to the public's attention; but whether or not, it remains a searing indictment of human rapacity - and depravity.
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This book was breathtaking from beginning to end… and that ending… W O W!
I DEFINITELY recommend this book if you like classic novels with flowing prose and human psychology. Joseph Conrad may be the most underrated author I’ve come across!
OH. MY. GOODNESS.
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Masterfully performed
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Would you try another book from Joseph Conrad and/or David Rintoul?
HmmmWould you recommend Heart of Darkness to your friends? Why or why not?
No. It seemed obtuse to me, jumpy in terms of visualizing scenes and following the time line. In addition, narrative is stylized and from another era that may not have translated well into the spoken word.What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?
I did not like the over wrought style. That style may be appropriate to the stylized written narrative but I did not like that style either.Any additional comments?
This is almost non-fiction. Conrad spent time in Congo and this representation apparently includes real people and a real boat (see King Leopolds Ghost - but read my review first) and is actually understated.Actually Non-Fiction
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Loved It
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Great story, well read.
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I was really enjoying the build up. It was leading me to wonder at all manner of possibilities. Next thing I knew the suspense was over and I didn't realize we'd hit the climax. Even more abruptly was the conclusion. No where in any of the climax or conclusion was there any sense of the horror and suspense that the first few hours tried to portray. It's like watching a scary movie only to find out the monster is a person wearing a costume holding a sign that says "I'm scary. Be terrified."
Such anticlimaticism
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Excellent
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A Chilling Tale Told by a Great Narrator
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vivid account of the evil in humanity
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Overall, with only its 4+ hours, I would say this is definitely a must-read and absolutely a (cult-)classic. There are some descriptions which are now entirely outdated but that is something anyone can expect from a story like this. It is a child of its time.
A classic 'must-read'; better as Audiobook
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