Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad 🇬🇧 BOOK REVIEW

In which I review HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad.

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Hey guys! My name's Juan and I make videos about books (mostly, literary fiction).

#BookReview #HeartOfDarkness

[RunwrightReads]

I started reading this on ebook last year and stopped because I think I need a physical copy to make notes. I have heard that it's a difficult to read book but that the story itself is important enough to wade through the text. Thanks for the review and for reawakening my desire to return to the book.

[estycki]

I read this book 20 years ago, grabbed it because I needed a short book for a book report because I was overwhelmed with final exams… to this day I still don’t know what that book is about. My teacher warned me 😅

[seriela]

I first heard of Heart of Darkness while reading Adam Hochschild's book King Leopold's Ghost. I had wanted to read it ever since - until I heard it trashed on a few Booktube channels. Now I want to see for myself. I even saw (or read, don't remember now) a biographical piece on Conrad and was fascinated by his personal story. So thanks for bringing him back on my radar.

[fredirecko-lq]

I know it's just a minor detail but in the beginning of the novel they are not on a steam boat, it says in the first sentence it's a cruising yawl which is a type of sail boat. It also says that Marlow is leaning against the mizzen-mast when he tells the story to others. Since I didn't know any of these terms I had to look them up, so the opening imagery really stuck with me. Also, at this time Marlow is not a captain. In the second or third paragraph it says, "The Director of Companies was our captain and host.". At least that's how I interpret it.

[DumbBeat]

I visited the African museum in Belgium over the weekend. It was very much a trophy during colonial times but the museum has now “decolonised” its collection to be more sympathetic and less sensational. I definitely want to read Heart of darkness.

[BookishTexan]

I have read _Heart of Darkness_ and my reaction was similar to yours. In places it is very difficult to understand what is taking place.


I read it after reading _King Leopold's Ghost_ a history of Belgium's genocidal exploitation of the Congo. At the time I was reading alot about central sub-Saharan Africa so the brutality depicted in the novel corresponded with what I had learned about colonialism in that region in the past and its aftermath in terms of the tragedy in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I do think Conrad's depiction of the people of Africa is problematic/ racist. Though the overall point of Conrad's novel is to expose the evil and violence of colonialism, that doesn't mean his view wasnt inherently Eurocentric and that his depictions of the people of Africa fair, accurate, balanced, or free from racism.


Great review as usual.

[msnuggg]

what is it with youtubers to call their videos book reviews but actually just summarizing it.. and not ya know.. review it

[ameliareads]

I've read it, I think, last year and didn't like it at all. It made me feel very uncomfortable and I also couldn't see why it gets so much praise. It didn't convince me in any way.
How's your opinion about it? Your review was great, but you didn't talk about your own opinion on it a lot. But I got the impression that you liked it and could appreciate why it is so famous and critical acclaimed.

[samuelfreitas]

I feel like your review just... intro'd the book? Yeah, 'some people' think it's hard, 'some people' criticize it, but what do - you - think? I'm sorry, Juan, but I did not like your approach to this review. If you intended to do a synopsis, or a quick summary, or an overview, then it'd be great. But I clicked on the video expecting a review, and I didn't get one. At least, in my opinion.
Best of luck to you in future videos, I did enjoy the video, just not as a review.