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Heart of Darkness

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Heart of Darkness

By: Joseph Conrad
Narrated by: David Horovitch
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About this listen

"...he seemed to stare... with that wide and immense stare embracing, condemning, loathing all the universe. I seemed to hear the whispered cry, 'The horror! The horror!'"

On a becalmed yawl in the Thames estuary, Marlow tells a tale of Africa. His job there is to find the enigmatic Kurtz, but his journey further and further upriver reveals the brutality of the white Imperialists who run the country. Established as one of the great English novels, and a story of mythic power, Heart of Darkness is rich in meaning – allusive, enthralling, and haunting.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2010 Naxos Audiobooks Classics European Literary History & Criticism World Literature
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Not for the faint of Heart complex and every reading gives a new meaning to the text

Symbolic of culture and human nature

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What do you think is the ultimate revelation when one goes down or up river - now is the chance to find out !

The horror the horror

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Great quality audio, a measured, considerate performance which doesn't feel rushed. The book's reputation more than likely precedes it if you are reading this, but I felt spends a long time building up the mystery of Mr Kurtz for not a great payoff. This is still a particularly illuminating criticism of colonialism directly informed by the author's experiences.

Historically illuminating, but anticlimactic.

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This… was not what I had expected to hear. I was looking forward to a dark tale of a horrible adventure where danger lurks around every corner, in the wilds of Africa - the so called heart of darkness. Instead I get something horribly boring, with the most dragged-on ending (chapter 13) that I have ever read. It’s a rather poetic diary with a lot of pretty descriptions and interesting wordings, sadly the first 2 hours are spent talking about preparations for the journey to come. And what a journey it turns out to be… Yes there is death and madness, as I was expecting and looking forward to. But my God is it tedious to listen to, when so little actually happens to the protagonist and his followers! Amazed and proud of myself for listening through the whole thing, I shall now finally move on and put this utter nonsense of a book behind me.

Stunningly boring but… somewhat poetic

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I really wish I hadn't bought this through Audible, the .aa file format is very restrictive and the whole process rather painful. I have since bought direct from Naxos, which although more expensive is easier & also in a more user friendly format. Never again.

Audible - Heart of Darkness

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