Heart of Darkness

JulianTheApostate · Sophomore Joined: 23 Jul 2005 Posts: 286

I've never read Heart of Darkness. However, Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost is an excellent account of Belgian exploitation of the Congo, the setting of Conrad's novel.

King Leopold's Ghost included multiple references to Heart of Darkness and made me curious about it. However, I haven't decided yet whether to read the novel.

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Penelope · Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 8:00 am Post subject:

Hello Jules

Oh do read it and join in. I might go on to read King Leopold...but it is a dismal subject isn't it?

Can we read something funny soon? I am just finnishing off the Alexander McCall Smith trilogy which starts with 'The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency' which takes place in Botswana.

I am only half-joking. Human beings almost always find something to laugh at in the most bleak of situations. I don't think books without any humour are lifelike (ie Jude the Obscure!!!). Still, I said I wanted to read books I would not otherwise choose - so I can't argue. Sad

Ophelia · Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:38 am Post subject:

Penelope,

I'm going to copy your post and answer it in the "April and May fiction book suggestion" thread.

Penelope · Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:46 am Post subject:

Oooh Thank you Ophelia

I am not used to people paying any attention to me.....

I will try not to let it go to my head! Crying or Very sad

irishrosem · Doctorate Joined: 19 Oct 2006 Posts: 536 Gender:

Ophelia, I was more asking how you managed to discuss Heart of Darkness in college without exploring character. But, actually, looking over your first post, I can see that you don’t have much memory from your first reading (same here, btw), so probably couldn’t recall how you did so without discussing character.

Penelope the film is loosely based on the book, but it has a different setting. And the protagonist is American, so all the elements of British colonialism are not in the film. Though there are definitely still elements of colonialism. Although some of Apocalypse Now comes off as a little indulgent, particularly the director’s cut, I think it’s one of the best book-to-film I’ve seen. I think part of that might be because Coppola doesn’t try to make a film directly from the book. And that might be possible with Heart of Darkness because of an element of the book that Mad discusses above. Conrad’s use of language, in addition to drawing a narrative, seems more so to elicit a particular feel. Coppola takes that environment, that murkiness, that sense of heaviness and dread and gives it a different history. Which, for me, makes it a more interesting interpretation than anything more direct might have been. There are other elements of the book that Coppola transfers differently to film that I appreciate, but I’ll save that for later. And as Mad suggests, I think it’s best to save most the discussion of book-to-film until after we’ve exhausted discussion on the text itself.

Mad, on my rereading, I too noted the set of characters Marlow encounters on the Thames compared to those on the Congo, but not in the structural way that you outlined. Though possibly each other’s observations might inform where the other was going.

Mr. P., I was having exactly the same inklings, which is why I asked how many of us have seen the film before. I think it would probably only work if it were not a first viewing of the film, so we wouldn’t have to pay as close attention. I have absolutely no idea whether it would work, but it might be interesting to try. And because of how slowly the film itself moves, it might be a good one to try on.

Julian, hope you end up jumping in. If you don’t already know, and if it further tempts you, Heart of Darkness is pretty short, about 100 pages—so it isn’t a huge commitment.

Penelope, there are moments that I chuckled on rereading. That’s not to say that there are any light moments in the story itself, by any means, but there is definitely some humor to Conrad’s writing here and there.

And now, as a follow-up to the follow-up and merely out of curiosity, who of us has seen Eleanor Coppola’s Hearts of Darkness—the documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now? Considering the unexpected rigmarole that the film went through, it turns out it was fortuitous that E. Coppola had decided to make a documentary about the making of the film. I’ve only seen it once; but when I did see it, it was only shortly after suffering through Coppola’s cut of Apocalypse Now, and I remember thinking I liked the documentary much better than the film itself.

Penelope · Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 7:17 am Post subject:

I must hold up my hand and say I have never seen either the film or the follow-up, as I tended to avoid 'war' genre in any form.

I haven't even begun Heart of Darkness because I have been enthralled by the short biography of Conrad at the beginning of my copy. What an amazing person!

My son is going to lend me his copy of the film.

When I say I have avoided 'War Genre' I have read 'All Quiet on the Western Front' many years ago. Also - 'Birdsong' by Sebastian Faulks, which I thought was wonderful and that is the book that is spurring me on to change my reading habits. Also, I was an enormous fan of that old TV series - 'Mash'.

When I tried to read 'Catch 22' - well, it might as well have been in Chinese. I felt as though I had something missing in my experience/psyche. It will be good for me to expand my horizons with your help. Then I might be able to go back to Joseph Heller. Confused

Ophelia · Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 7:25 am Post subject:

Hi Penelope,

I'd say your avatar was worth the struggle.

Penelope · Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 8:20 am Post subject:

Well, thank you Ophelia - I am pleased with it, although of course it isn't Pre-Raphaelite like yours.

Is yours by Burne-Jones? Is it entitled 'Ophelia'? I know there was one called 'Ophelia' but I thought it was of a beautiful drowned girl.

Ophelia · Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:00 am Post subject:

Penelope,
My avatar is "Lady of Shalott" by J W Waterhouse.
There is a beautiful "Ophelia" painting, but I thought it would be a touch too gloomy for daily use.

Penelope · Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:20 am Post subject:

I used to have the Holman-Hunt version of the Lady of Shallot in her tower, waiting for Lancelot? or was it Gallahad? to ride by., on my living room wall. I do love them (the Pre-Raphaelites).

However - I now have a more cheerful, beautiful lady in blue flowing robes on her bicycle!


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