چند نکته‌ی کوچک:
1- کتاب تا حدودی سخت خوان است و باید با تمرکز زیاد و حوصله و دقت آن را خواند تا بیش‌ترین دریافت را داشت. من ابتدا به خوبی با آن ارتباط برقرار نکردم. ولی چون کتاب دارای یک مقاله‌ی مقدمه‌ای از دکتر صالح حسینی و دو مقاله‌ی مؤخره از ایشان و دکتر پرویز طالب زاده است، با خواندن آن‌ها خیلی بیشتر لذت بردم و این مقالات امتیازم به این کتاب را بالا برد. در ضمن این کتاب نقدخور خوبی هم دارد و نقدهای زیادی برایش نوشته‌اند.
2- من برای مطالعه‌ی این کتاب، به خاطر وجود لغات زیاد ناآشنا، بارها به لغتنامه رجوع کردم و البته درک می‌کنم که مترجم مجبور بوده است از این لغات استفاده کند. سخت خوانی کتاب را نمی‌توان به گردن مترجم و ترجمه‌ی بد گذاشت. دکتر صالح حسینی را از زمانی که در شهید چمران اهواز بودم می‌شناسم. می‌دانم که انسانی فرهیخته و اهل مطالعه و باسواد است و شاگردان ایشان خیلی دوستش داشتند و برایش احترام زیادی قائل بودند و این را به چشم دیده بودم. چند سطر از خود ایشان در مورد ترجمه‌ی کتاب "دل تاریکی" برایتان نقل قول می‌کنم: "پیش از این که به ترجمه‌ی این رمان بپردازم، هفت بار آن را درس داده‌ام و می‌توانم بگویم که تمام مقالات انتقادی و تفسیری را درباره‌ی آن مطالعه کرده‌ام. ضمن بحث هم ریزه‌کاری‌های فراوانی بر من معلوم شده است. کار ترجمه هم با روزی هشت ساعت تأمل و نوشتن و باز نوشتن، با دشواری و رنج فراوان و در عین حال با شور و سرمستی در چند ماه به پایان رسیده است. قدر مسلم این است که انتقال زبان شاعرانه‌ی این اثر که در عین حال تلفیقی از زبان فاخر و زبان عامیانه است، اگر نگوییم محال، بسیار دشوار است. اگر توانسته باشم پنجاه درصد چنین زبانی را به فارسی منتقل کنم، پاداش خود را گرفته‌ام." صفحه 26 و 27 کتاب. از طرفی کتاب برای اولین بار توسط محمدعلی صفریان (1355) ترجمه شده است که حسینی در مقاله‌ای تحت عنوان "کشف حقیقت در عمق تاریکی" این ترجمه را نقد می‌کند و کتاب را نیازمند ترجمه‌ای دوباره می‌داند و سپس آن را دوباره ترجمه می‌کند.
3- در جستجوها و مطالعات پراکنده اینترنتی فهمیدم که "فرانسیس فورد کاپولا" هم فیلم "اینک آخر الزمان" را تحت تأثیر "دل تاریکی" ساخته است و به نوعی این فیلم اقتباس آزاد از این رمان است. اگر علاقه‌مند بودید پس از مطالعه‌ی کتاب این فیلم خوب را هم ببینید.
Apocalypse now (1979) 8.4 Meta:94
4- یک بررسی آکادمیک به صورت پایان نامه‌ی کارشناسی ارشد، تحت عنوان "بازتاب ایدئولوژی در رمان دل تاریکی ترجمه صالح حسینی بر اساس مدل حتیم و میسن" توسط آقای عماد خلیلی نگاشته شده است که شاید برای مترجمان و زبان شناسان جذاب باشد.
********************************************************************************
فتح زمین که اغلب اوقات به معنای گرفتن زمین از دست کسانی است که رنگ پوستشان با رنگ پوست ما فرق دارد یا دماغشان پهن‌تر از دماغ ماست، چون نیک بنگریم، چندان کار خوبی نیست. چیزی که مایه‌ی نجات آن می‌شود، عقیده است و بس. عقیده‌ای در پس آن؛ نه تظاهر احساسات گرایانه، بلکه عقیده؛ و اخلاص در عقیده- چیزی که آدم آن را برپا دارد و در برابرش سجده کند و نذر و نیاز کند...ص 36 کتاب
خودتان می‌دانید از دروغ بیزارم و از آن بدم می‌آید و خارج از تحملم است. دلیلش هم این نیست که من از شما روراست‌تر باشم. دلیلش این است که دروغ هراسانم می‌کند، همین و بس. ته رنگی از مرگ و طعمی از فنا در دروغ هست- و درست این همان چیزی است که از آن بیزارم و بدم می‌آید- همان چیزی که می‌خواهم از یاد ببرم. درمانده و ناخوشم می‌کند، همان بلایی که از گاز زدن چیز گندیده‌ای بر سر آدم می‌آید. ص 72 کتاب
سرنوشت. سرنوشت من! آوخ که زندگی- این ترتیب اسرار آمیز منطق بی‌امان برای هدفی بیهوده- چه بیمزه ‌است. آدمی نمی‌تواند برای هیچ چیز به آن دل ببندد جز رسیدن به معرفتی اندک درباره‌ی خودش- که آن هم دیر به دست می‌آید- و خرمنی از حسرت‌هایی که آتش آن خاموش نمی‌شود. ص 147 کتاب

HEART OF HORROR



Conrad arrivò nel Congo nel 1890 come tanti altri europei alla ricerca di un lavoro, di un’occasione di crescita economica e professionale, attratto dalle panzane che il re del Belgio, Leopoldo II, era riuscito a spacciare per verità, e cioè che in quella (immensa) parte dell’Africa i bianchi stessero cercando di contrastare e arrestare il commercio degli schiavi condotto dagli “arabi”.



Conrad voleva diventare capitano di marina e sperava che l’esperienza africana avrebbe comportato anche il raggiungimento di quel grado militare.

Si trovò davanti una realtà ben diversa da quella che si aspettava: i bianchi in Congo era schiavisti come e più degli “arabi” – ignoravano il rispetto dei più elementari diritti umani – trattavano i locali come materia prima, forza lavoro, bestie da soma – erano crudeli, rapaci, volgari, prepotenti, accecati dal loro potere, violenti, stupratori, assassini, torturatori.


Immagini di ragazzini congolesi mutilati per non aver raccolto la quota stabilita di gomma durante il regime di Leopoldo II.

In realtà erano molto di più, erano autentici genocidari: si calcola che tra il 1890 e il 1905, sempre sotto il dominio belga, la popolazione del Congo si sia ridotta di circa 8/10 milioni di persone. Tutte morte: in nome della “civiltà”, della conquista – tutte morte in nome dell’avorio e della gomma.

Conrad rimase colpito e stordito, e da qui è nato questo magnifico libro, probabilmente il romanzo breve in lingua inglese più tradotto e ristampato.



Marlow è l’alter ego dello stesso Conrad che risalì il fiume Congo – e Kurtz impersona alcuni dei peggiori servitori del Belgio, non necessariamente nati in quel paese, tutti passati alla storia per la crudeltà e il numero di morti (tale Léon Rom usava adornare il suo giardino con le teste degli africani decapitati per punizione conficcate in paletti proprio come nel libro fa Kurtz).
Cuore di tenebra è prima di tutto questo: un atto d’accusa del genocidio che i belgi hanno commesso in Congo.
Poi, col tempo, è diventato un inno contro la violenza umana in generale, contro l’imperialismo (vedi l’interpretazione datane da Coppola in “Apocalypse Now”).




Ma Conrad all’imperialismo credeva, purché di marca britannica, fino al punto di investire i suoi risparmi in una miniera d’oro vicino a Johannesburg (quindi, sotto controllo inglese – l’imperialismo inglese andava benissimo, era sinonimo di civiltà e progresso).
In fondo in queste pagine i personaggi di colore non fanno una gran figura, più che parlare, cantano, grugniscono, emettono suoni.
In fondo il razzismo vittoriano (quindi di stampo inglese) in queste pagine si sente eccome.



Kurtz è un magnifico villain: non è solo un assassino e torturatore, ma anche un intellettuale che si diletta di pittura, di poesia, di giornalismo, di teoria e pensiero (Sterminate tutti questi bruti!), confermando con penna e inchiostro la conquista compiuta con fucile e mitragliatore.

(Required reading for English class)
I found this book really hard to get into. Conrad's writing is very concise and I never really felt like I was given time to get into it because the novel was so short. I liked how it was all a spoken story with interjections from the audience popping up at random times, but I didn't find the story very engaging. It's rare for required reading to catch my attention and stay with me and this was one of those books that just fell flat. Also, after reading this for English class after Beloved, one of my favorite works that we read this year, almost anything would have done so.

Acknowledgements
Chronology
Introduction to 'Heart of Darkness'
Introduction to 'The Congo Diary'
Further Reading
A Note on the Texts
Map of the River Congo

--Heart of Darkness
--The Congo Diary

Appendix: Author's Note (1917)
Notes
Glossary of Nautical Terms

Much shorter than I had expected from this often studied classic fictionalisation of Conrad's time in the Congo DR, or Belgian Congo as it was unfortunate to be at the time. Leopold was a ego maniacal madman at whose hands the Congo became a plaything to be exploited for his person wealth - but this is really just the background to the part of history the story takes place in.

The writing I found to wonderfully descriptive. I read some reviews by people who dismissed it as poorly written and unnecessarily complex. I think there is a difference between reading of your own free will, and having to read a book for University, and most people bemoaning the difficultly of reading it (it is 101 pages long! (although my copy has ridiculously small print)) are students.

There is simply no point in plot descriptions, there are hundreds of reviews to give that.
Here are a few sentences I enjoyed:

The old river in its broad reach rested unruffled at the decline of day, after ages of good service done to the race that peopled its banks, spread out in the tranquil dignity of a waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth. describing the Thames, P2.

Trees, trees, millions of trees, massive, immense, running up high; and at their foot, hugging the bank against the stream, crept the little begrimed steamboat, like a sluggish beetle crawling on the floor of a lofty portico. It made you feel very small, very lost, and yet it was not altogether depressing, that feeling. in the upper Congo river, P43.

I read this back in high school and I thought I had it already on my list of books I have read. I received a recommendation to read it that made me realize it was not on my list.

I don't remember a lot about it other than it was short, but seemed to drag on forever. It is never a good sign for a short book when it feels like a thousand page tome. It does have a lot of cultural references that have lasted through time and led to many retellings (most notably Apocalypse Now). Perhaps it is worth a re-read as an adult to see if it still doesn't sit well with me?

1/5stars

Dropping this to a 1 Star cause goddamnit I hate this fucking book.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad tells the story of Marlow, a seaman and drifter who ends up in The Congo in the late 19th century, on a quest to find legendary ivory trader Kurtz. A period described as “The scramble for Africa”. Kurtz operates at a virtually inaccessible ivory station half-way up the River Congo. Marlow hears numerous stories about a man called Kurtz. For example, his ability to acquire massive amounts of ivory is legendary, as is his facility to work seamlessly with the local tribes. No mean feat at all – considering the subjugation, violence and atrocities committed against the native people by the Imperialists.

Marlow is tasked with fixing a knackered steamboat at one of the stations lower in the river. This takes some time, so we experience the languid existence of these pioneers and their accompanying and captive savages. The author takes the time to describe the oppressive, sweltering, almost pointless conditions of these outposts. He also creates high-level uneasiness in the reader, violence is either florid or simmering just under the surface. The native people, of course, are treated appallingly – sure some are engaged in work such as keeping the steamboat boiler going, but most are subjugated to abject slavery. Black corpses litter the landscape.

The African workers were dying slowly – it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now – nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom. Brought from the recesses of the coast in all legality of time contracts, lost in uncongenial surroundings, fed on unfamiliar food, they sickened, became inefficient, and were then allowed to crawl away and rest…..

The journey up-river is confronting. Tropical jungle seems to be creeping towards, and over the riverbanks, wanting to swallow up the steamboat piloted by Marlow, and inhabited by white pilgrims and subject natives – including cannibals . He observes (he thinks), hundreds of sets of eyes within the dark green, watching his every move, also, dark shadows moving amongst the shadows. It’s very atmospheric. It’s worth dwelling on this writing, re-reading, putting the book down and thinking, imagining.

The eventual meeting with Kurtz is not what I expected at all. How about I just refer you to the painting by Phil Hale below? This book has given me reason to checkout more works by this ‘moody’ (his paintings, not him – well he might be moody, who knows!) artist. His work is stunning. Hale encapsulates this literary gem – in all its disturbing, atrociousness.



Conrad hoped this story might have a continuing “vibration”. The introduction to this novella also says ”Conrad would have been astonished by these contemporary reverberations”. Indeed, Mr Conrad, your work has given this reader a thorough shake-up all the way forward to 2022 – and reminded me why most, if not all of today’s so-called first world countries are wealthy. For that I thank you.

Exterminate all the brutes

5-Stars

[NOTE: As much as I loved HoD, it was truly Coppola's film that seeped into my bloodstream. What follows are my thoughts on the cinematic masterpiece inspired by the book]

There are some scars that never heal. There are some memories that resist the urge to fade. There are some movies which rise above the others and stand alone as monuments of artistic achievement. Francis Ford Coppola’s "Apocalypse Now" from 1979 is one of these milestones in American culture which has never truly lost its power to fascinate and terrorize. The story is loosely based on Joseph Conrad’s haunting classic Heart of Darkness from the 19c about the British colonization of Africa, but the narration also bears certain parallels to both Dante’s Inferno and to Homer’s Odysseus. From beginning to end, like Alex in A Clockwork Orange, the spectator is treated to the Ludovico Technique in watching the characters within losing their sanity and their humanity.

“...all I could think of was getting back into the jungle ” Captain Willard

The opening scenes of Apocalypse Now are among the most powerful in the history of cinema. Willard recounts to us his previous tour of Vietnam and the inexplicable, irresistible urge to return over a dreamy vision of napalmed jungle. His drunk brain associates the ceiling fan in his Saigon flophouse to chopper blades. This over the eerie chords of Robby Krieger’s guitar and Jim Morrison’s vocals.

"Sometimes the pain is too much to examine, or even tolerate... That doesn't make it evil, though – or necessarily dangerous. But people fear death even more than pain. It's strange that they fear death. Life hurts a lot more than death. At the point of death, the pain is over. Yeah – I guess it is a friend…” (James, Lizze (1981). "Jim Morrison: Ten Years Gone". Creem Magazine. Detroit, Michigan)

These words could have been spoken by Willard because the psychic pain torturing him reveals itself in the rage which drives Willard to break his hand against a mirror - symbolic of his self-destructive urges. Notably, Martin Sheen, when filming this scene, actually did have a nervous breakdown which introduced delays in the tournage. As documented in "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse" by Coppola’s wife, the filming took over three years to complete and was beset with difficulties, not the least of which were the issues with Martin Sheen.

In terms of literary parallels, this scene is akin to the first circle of hell, Limbo, where Willard is waiting to plunge deeper into his own personal hell. Similarly, the flashbacks can be thought of at the beginning of The Odyssey where Ulysses looks back on the Trojan War which he had just left before beginning his long journey home.

Unnamed Civilian: “Terminate with extreme prejudice”

Willard receives his orders from the local army command and a mysterious civilian (CIA?) to pursue the renegade Colonel Kurtz and “terminate his command.” The scene features an obscenely luscious meal which is somewhat reminiscent of Danté’s 3rd circle of Hell, Gluttony. We are only given sketchy details about Kurtz, but the condemnation - utterly deniable by those giving Willard the orders - is without appeal.

Curiously, we learn that Kurtz has taken justice into his own hands and has executed some South Vietnamese double agents and it is this act which the US has declared treasonous and merits his execution. If you have not studied the context of the Vietnam War, you may not realize the subtle point being made here which points to the faulty justification for continued US presence in Vietnam. The best book I have found about this is Fire in the Lake by Frances FitzGerald, which won the exceedingly rare triple crown (Bancroft Prize, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize all in 1972). It is a masterpiece of journalism which explains how the government which the US installed in South Vietnam after the departure of the French colonials was a corrupt and brutal regime infiltrated at all levels by the Viet Cong (the remnants army of North Vietnam (Viet Minh) left fighting in South Vietnam for liberation after the partition of Vietnam into North and South in 1954 following the French defeat and pullout). Kurtz says that he spent weeks studying several South Vietnamese where he was operating and had determined that they were in fact infiltrators from the North and thus he eliminates them. This creates an issue for the US which cannot admit that the “democratic" regime they are protecting is illegitimate - they have to bow to pressure from the South Vietnamese government in Saigon to punish Kurtz for the murders. This is why Willard’s mission (and that of at least one person before him) is done in utmost secrecy. It also explains why Kurtz feels betrayed and goes over the line and why Willard is so tortured by his mission. It points to one of the central points of tension in the film, “Why are we here?” This is perhaps, despite being out of order, Dante’s 6th circle, Heresy.

In the extended director’s cut, Apocalypse Now Redux from 2001, the theme of the political background to the conflict is addressed by French colonists on a rubber plantation. After draining an egg, Philippe de Marais says prophetically, "The white left, but the yellow stays."

Another cinematic sidetone to this scene is the cameo appearance of Harrison Ford as Colonel Lucas - the character’s name a direct reference to Ford’s work with George Lucas in Star Wars and other films. Lucas has worked on the script for Apocalypse Now with John Milius and who was originally going to direct the film.

Chef: “Never get out of the fucking boat”

The team that will take Willard upriver into Cambodia to accomplish his mission is led by Chief who is none too pleased to be at Willard’s disposal. He cares for his crew, “Chef” from New Orleans, Lance from California, and “Mr Clean” (played by Laurence Fishburne who was only 14 when the filming started and was 17 (his character’s age) when the filming ended) as a father or wise older brother and remains aloof. These three companions remind me of some of Ulysses companions and represent various reactions to the Vietnam experience. Lance is nearly always completely fucked up on acid and is mostly detached and withdrawn, riding out the experience trying to stop it from seeping into himself. “Mr Clean” is exuberant and happy to be out of his native Bronx and its poverty in this jungle adventure. “Chef” is actually appalled by his experiences. The mythic scene of gathering food for the boat with Willard in the jungle in which they are attacked by a tiger is a breaking point for “Chef” who never quite regains an edge against his terror, but still leans on Willard as a possible (and ultimately impotent) savior. The crew is reminiscent of the Lotus Eaters episode in the Odyssey in that they are constantly getting high to take an edge off of the violence and danger. Perhaps also the 3rd circle of Gluttony since Chef was trying to get mangoes for his cooking before the tiger attack.

Kilgore: “Charlie don’t surf”

One of the other mythical moments in Apocalypse Now is the encounter between the boat and the 9th Calvary under the command of Robert Duvall’s epic Lt Col Kilgore. Of the two possibilities for helping Willard get upriver, Kilgore chooses the one that moves his closer to a good surfing beach. The complete absurdity of Kilgore’s surfing obsession is underscored by the intensity of the attack by helicopter of a Viet Cong village and the senseless murders of civilians while Kilgore strips and orders men into the surf despite machine gun crossfire. He even calls in a napalm strike in order for the surfing expedition to continue. I think of Kilgore kind of like the Cyclops with a single-minded obsession on surfing. It could also be somewhat likened to the 4th circle of Dante’s hell: Greed.

Circe and the Underworld

There are a few other confused scenes before the final confrontation between Willard and Kurtz which in my mind are most akin to episodes from The Odyssey: the men ogling the Playmates and nearly assaulting them before their flight in the chopper was similar Circe turning Ulysses’ men into pigs whereas the haunting bridge where Willard searches unsuccessfully for the commanding officer among shellshocked kids all wasted and under attack was like Ulysses walking through the Underworld. In Dante’s world, these scenes would cover the 2rd circle, Lust as well as the 7th circle, Violence.

The Death of the “Chief”

Near the end of the river voyage, Lance provokes an attack from the shorts of the river that results in the death of “Mr Clean”. Clearly, “Chef” blames this death on Willard’s as-yet unexplained mission which has put his crew in mortal danger. Later, another attack, this one presumably from Kurtz’s cadres using bows, arrows and lances results in “Chef” himself being transpierced by a lance. He tries to impale Willard on it, but the protagonist chokes “Chef” to death in self-defense. This is sort of symbollicaly a mashup of the Sirens episode (the lance), the Sylla and Charybdis episode (attacks from both sides of the boat) and the Helios episode (the provocations of Lance and “Mr Clean” and perhaps karma for the murder of the riverboat family earlier in the film). In the Odyssey, the rage of “Chef” against Willard represents the 5th circle, Anger.

Photojournalist: "He's a poet warrior in the classic sense"

In more scenes of violence and beauty, Willard, Chef and Lance arrive in the Kurtz heartland and meet Dennis Hopper’s Photojournalist character who spews mountains of Kurtz-centric phrases and coded warnings. He quotes one of my all-time favorite poems from TS Elliott, The Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock, "I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across floors of silent seas” in his nearly incoherent ranting. He seems to represent Fraud, the 8th circle of hell.

The workup to the climax includes the imprisonment and torture of Willard and the decapitation of Chef, just as the latter is attempting calling in a suicidal napalm strike. The train has come off the rails and the film hurtles towards its climax.

Kurtz: “The horror. The horror.”

The climatic scene of Willard’s brutal assassination of Kurtz with a rudimentary agricultural tool takes place in parallel to the ritual slaying of a cow and with The End of The Doors once more providing the background music. The cinematography is stupefying as Kurtz is executed in the 9th circle of hell for Treachery. We do not see Willard, however, reach Ithaca and Penelope. We also could wonder why he would complete this mission despite his own skepticism about its legitimacy. He tells us in his monologues that, in fact, he sees Kurtz as a man in immense psychic pain (mirroring his own of course) so in Willard’s mind this is a mercy killing (this the sacrificial cow in the parallel scene). We can also inquire as to whether either Willard or Kurtz received peace at the end. For Kurtz, I’d have to say, no because he died terrified of death. Willard survives with Lance and heads back down river, but his ultimate fate is left ambiguous unless we can interpret his action as stoic acceptance.

The film draws the spectator close enough to feel Kurtz’s breath on his or her face in those final words. And as in any extraordinary piece of cinema, it leaves us to draw our own conclusions about the multitude of issues explored here: legitimacy, truth, absurdity…but especially death. I think the film explores various solutions to deal with death: acting out, withdrawal, fear, acceptance. Which will you choose?

Never in all my life has 100 little pages made me contemplate suicide...violent suicide. i had to finish it. i had no choice (yay college!). every page was literally painful.

am i supposed to feel sorry for him? because i don't. i feel sorry for all of Africa getting invaded with dumbasses like this guy. oh and in case you didn't get it...the "heart of darkness" is like this super deep megametaphor of all metaphors. and in case it wasn't clear enough, conrad will spend many many useless words clearly explaining the layers of depth his metaphor can take. oh man...my heart is dark...and i'm also in the middle of Africa...and it's dark...and depressing...get it...get it...

A story about Marlow's journey upriver to rescue Kurtz who has gone wild and controls the natives. I didn't enjoy it the writing was so dry and dense and I had to work to get through all the way to the end. I didn't like the way the natives were portrayed or Africa in general either. I don't understand why Africa and it's inhabitants always need to be symbols for wildness or destruction and I just couldn't get into the story at all. I honestly hate reading classics.

It doesn't get much grimmer than this.



In the late 1800s, Charles Marlow is appointed as a captain of a river steamboat for an ivory trading company in Africa. He travels up the Congo river toward his appointment with the steamboat and with fate, in the form of Kurtz, the megalomaniac manager of an ivory trading station two hundred miles up the river.

But the wilderness had found him out early, and had taken on him a terrible vengeance for the fantastic invasion. I think it had whispered to him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with this great solitude—and the whisper had proved irresistibly fascinating. It echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core.

Joseph Conrad explores the darkness in men's hearts in every way feasible in little over a hundred pages, illustrating it with various symbols: the heart-shaped Africa, with the snake-like Congo writhing its way into the heart; the greed for ivory that motivates the employees of the trading company, exposing their dark sides; the looming, brooding jungle; the dark, oppressed natives; the European men (who are as dark spiritually as the Africans they heartlessly take advantage of are physically); the "whited sepulchre" of Brussels, Belgium (whitewashed on the outside but filled with decay and corruption on the inside).

No one is exempt from the horror that Kurtz sees in his final moments, except perhaps his intended bride, but only because she's suffering under delusions about Kurtz's goodness and honor. The conversation between Marlow and this woman is one of the darkly (of course) humorous parts of this tale, with a double meaning in almost everything Marlow says to her:

'You knew him well,' she murmured, after a moment of mourning silence.

"'Intimacy grows quick out there,' I said. 'I knew him as well as it is possible for one man to know another.'

"'And you admired him,' she said. 'It was impossible to know him and not to admire him. Was it?'

"'He was a remarkable man,' I said, unsteadily. Then before the appealing fixity of her gaze, that seemed to watch for more words on my lips, I went on, 'It was impossible not to—'

"'Love him,' she finished eagerly, silencing me into an appalled dumbness.

I found Heart of Darkness hard to wade through in college, despite its short length. It was a lot better this time around: I appreciated Conrad's writing, the way he layered descriptions and symbols until the gloom and horror of it all close in around you. On the con side, it does start to feel repetitive, and most of the characters other than Kurtz and Marlow remain rather flat symbols--especially the Africans and the few women characters, though I liked the two women knitting their black wool who were cast as the Fates. And I cut Conrad some slack here, given that this was written over 100 years ago. He's more open and fair-minded than most of his Victorian-era contemporaries. I'm not much on the unrelievedly cynical and gloomy worldview displayed by this story, but as a work of literature it's an amazing achievement.

It wasn't really enjoyable reading for me per se, but it was absorbing, and it's made a permanent impression on me.