Book Review of Heart of Darkness

I personally felt that Heart of Darkness was a unique story, but not exactly a book I would willingly read on my own. It contained its pros and cons -- the main cons of course being what kept me from enjoying the story. Heart of Darkness wasn't all bad thanks to elements such as imagery, the use of two narrators, and the theme of mystery that serve to give it originality in the way it is written.
Joseph Conrad chose to tell the story through the perspective of two narrators: Marlow (who tells his story) and the anonymous narrator (who listens to Marlow's story, along with three other companions). I felt that this literary device was unique and served to give the story a vast sense of imagery through the shift of the two narrators. We can definitely imagine Marlow telling his story on the boat while the others listen thanks to the shifts between narrators. The use of two narrators however, can also make the story a bit confusing for some to follow through. If one doesn't follow the punctuation thoroughly (ie: the quotation marks that indicate Marlow is speaking), one can lose track of when the main narrator talks -- something that can require reading certain parts more than once.
Imagery was a vital part of the story. Imagery itself is what gives the reader the opportunity to envision the surroundings or setting of the story, as well as the appearance of various people/characters. From the moment you begin reading this story, you will witness a vast amount of imagery which truly helps you picture things as you read; this was something I enjoyed in the story. Unfortunately, there were points in the story that were far too descriptive for their own good -- this is the most thing that irritated me as I read. An example of this would be in part II, where Marlow describes the cannibals who are presumably hungry after going some days without food, and want to literally eat the people who have made a spontaneous clamorous scream during this chapter. Marlow describes these people and their actions for two and a half pages straight, something I found unnecessary. While this part is discrepant from any real imagery found in the book (such as the environmental descriptions in the very beginning of the story), it still contains a sense of imagery and is an example of how overly descriptive this book can be.
The story itself was interesting in its own sense, but the fact that it was too descriptive made me lose any desire to continue reading for long. I found the sense of colonialism interesting, and love how through this book I could actually experience this atrocity through literature. Being able to picture the African workers and envision their cadaverous appearance was also something that interested me near the end of part I. The addition of Kurtz to this story was also a great thing to implement. His enigma and mysterious background add mystery to the story, and motivated me to continue reading. Unfortunately, in part III, Kurtz was finally introduced, but not as I envisioned him. He was gaunt, emaciated, sickly, and not capable of using proper speech at this point. He was also depicted as primitive during this part of the story. This disappointment kept me from reading with interest.
Each aspect of Heart of Darkness contained its pros and cons. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this story as I had hoped. It was told in a unique way, but in the end, that wasn't enough to allow me to read with pleasure and enjoyment.
posted by Anthony M.