| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
|
There is a newer edition of this item:
|
Product details
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the greats,
By
This review is from: Heart of Darkness (Paperback)
Some readers seem to have difficulty with this short novel. It's certainly not easy reading (Conrad never is, though I love his prose style), but is a challenging, thought-provoking and highly absorbing character study. The journey is as much into a mind breaking down as it is a physical journey down the Congo River. I found it richly rewarding (both the 1st time and when I read it again recently). It probably says more, in a short space, than any other novel about human existence, civilization and human excesses (with the possible exception of "The Fall" by Albert Camus). Powerful stuff - if you like a strong poison then try it (and then check out Conrad's great full-length novels: "Lord Jim", "Nostromo" and "Under Western Eyes").
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not the easiest, but one of the top 5 reads of all time,
By Steve W. (Glasgow) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Heart of Darkness (Paperback)
At the very dawn of the 21st century, the front page of a major UK broadsheet newspaper (The Daily Telegraph), summed up the previous 100 years as "the century of 'Heart of Darkness' and 'The Waste Land'". Yes, this short novel, actually first published (I think) in 1899, presciently captures the horrors that are to come once "civilized" men of the industrialized West gain dominion over the Earth. I first read this book about 25 years ago - and, as a callow youth, I barely understood a word of it. Yet its symbolism enthralled me and I have been compelled to return to it 4 or 5 times since, each time gaining a deeper insight into what Conrad, through his imperfect narrator Marlow, is struggling to say. The writing is superb, the themes immense, and the setting in Africa's dark heart (counterpointed with the scenes on the Thames) sensational. One day I hope to emulate Graham Greene and reread the book while travelling up the Congo by boat. But I know I must be prepared for a dark, dark journey... and one that fails to reach a neat and tidy conclusion.
117 of 124 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Kindle edition review,
By
This review is from: Heart of Darkness (Kindle Edition)
This review is specifically about the Kindle edition of The Heart of Darkness, and more specifically:# Publisher: Public Domain Books (9 Jan 2006) # Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. # ASIN: B000JQU7A8 Reviews between editions seem to be frequently amalgamated and so it is important to note this is about the free (at time of writing) version. Please also note that this review is about the 'edition', not the actual story itself and is therefore no reflection on Conrad's writing. Having made myself clear on what I am reviewing (hopefully!) then my opinion is this: Download some samples of other versions and pay some small amount for a better text. I struggled with half of this version before resorting to the actual book that I already owned. There are two major problems: 1. The style of writing and the protagonist Marlow's delivery makes very frequent use of dashes (en or em rules). This Kindle edition uses double hyphens, viz --, with no spaces, as in 'There were cases of them down at the coast--cases--piled up--burst--split!', which makes reading awkward and detracts from the narrative style. 2. Carriage returns are used frequently in error and seemingly at random. It is possible to identify new paragraphs as they are correctly indented but, having a line finishing after the first word for example, implies the end of a paragraph. However, the non-indented start of the next line shows that the text was meant to be continuous. Checking several examples with the Penguin text edition shows that these frequent carriage returns are, indeed, in error. This edition is not recommended for reading on the Kindle.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
|
|
|