A review by linda_1410
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Technically, I listened to the whole thing, but I can't really say I got much out of it. Lots of n-words and imperialistic attitudes with a smidge of moral consciousness, and nearly 60 occurrences of dark/darkness, in case you missed the title. The book isn't subtle, but then again, given when it was published, could it really afford to be subtle? The fact that it wasn't popular in Conrad's time tells me it was probably too good at criticizing imperialism. Of course, that criticism is coming from the angel of "we're just as bad as those 'primitive savages'," which is problematic in its own right since it doesn't acknowledge any of the positive aspects of the civilizations that were being destroyed by imperialism. I understand the criticisms and the praise, but I came away feeling mostly meh about it.