Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

63 reviews

hjb_128's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Genocide, Slavery, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Misogyny and Sexism

pbella3's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

randofos's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Violence

librarymouse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I'm rating this higher than I did last time around, but not by much. It's not my favorite book by a long shot, but after learning more about Joseph Conrad and writing about textile manufacturing practices  contemporary to Conrad's writing of the book in how they relate to its content, I got a lot more out of it this time around.
It's a slow paced book, but time moves quickly for the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: Cannibalism

cinderellalovesbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

saraaaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A very mild read, whose status as a classic is surely upheld by its relevance as a historical document. Conrad harshly criticizes colonialism, but does so from within the racist framework of his times.
I liked that the reader is constantly reminded that the story is being told by a specific character with specific views on life, and therefore is only one of many different perspectives on the narrated events.
Conrad paints the colonial environment and the Congolese forest as engulfed in a haunting, menacing spell that gives an air of magic realism to the novella – when it did not have the tones of exoticism, it painted a beautiful picture.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Grief, and Colonisation

Moderate: Gun violence and Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

jade_smith's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was me revisiting this book for the first time since studying it in high school. I still find it to be such an incredibly interesting novel. To say I "enjoy" this book doesn't feel right -- but to say it enthralls me as a historical object is definitely true. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, and Colonisation

Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Genocide, Misogyny, and Cannibalism

oliviatheron's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, and Colonisation

duarshe's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

So... I can safely say I didn't enjoy this. I felt like there was nothing happening and even the climactic moment of the story was extremely  bland and underwhelming. I appreciate the theme and topic of the novella, the playing with the light and dark... But this was not for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Colonisation

Moderate: Death

em031605_9's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Lots of troubling language, to say the least. Dated stereotypes. It was boring, problematic, and not interesting at all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Violence

Minor: Torture