A Quote From Heart of Darkness

[John Stone]

I suspect everyone has heard of Conrad’s book Heart of Darkness. Most people probably know John Milius built his masterpiece movie Apocalypse Now squarely on top of Heart Of Darkness. But I suspect few people have actually read it. Maybe in college. The problem is you don’t really know anything in college. Read it after you have lived some because then you can seriously relate to the thrust of the story and Conrad’s wide ranging commentary about the human condition. It’s short—about 77 pages. I highly recommend it.

The book usually comes with a lot of academic commentary about what Conrad “means.” You don’t need that crap. If you have done some living you don’t need an academic to interpret it for you. You can feel it in your bones.

Conrad was a ship captain. He knew what he was writing about. He was a keen observer of people, especially men. He also understood and despised the unimaginative bureaucrats of his day. He wrote a damning passage on a station manager whose only purpose was to keep the wheels of the machine turning. We have all had run ins with the station manager.

Anyway, there is a great quote in the book I wanted to share. It’s about working on a boat and what it means to a man.

The main character’s (Marlow) mission is to go up the river to rein in a highly successful ivory trader that has gone off the rails and is totally disregarding dispatches from “the company”. The ivory traders name—Kurtz of course.

Marlow has to figure out how to get up the river. He decides the best way is to repair a derelict steamship and make it seaworthy. So he sets to it.

She [the derelict steamship] had given me a chance to come out a bit—to find out what I could do. No, I don't like work. I had rather laze about and think of all the fine things that can be done. I don't like work—no man does—but I like what is in the work,—the chance to find yourself. Your own reality—for yourself, not for others—what no other man can ever know. They can only see the mere show, and never can tell what it really means.
——Heart of Darkness

I can sure relate to that. I bet many of us can relate to it. I have more to say about this passage based on a bizarre encounter I had recently. But it will have to wait. I’m mulling it over in my head...a scary picture indeed.

[Megunticook]

You're inspiring me to go back and read that (yes, it was college three decades ago). I've always appreciated Conrad--great writer. Heavy stuff but rings true.

Sounds like you have a story to tell, please share when ready.

[JD-MDR]

Thanks John. I love reading good books. Haydens Wanderer was too boring. I had t put it down. I have "Voyage"also . I'll give him another try.

[Joe Myerson]

Thanks for that. I read, or re-read "Heart of Darkness" a few years ago. Conrad's language is exquisite, especially considering that it was not his native tongue.

--Joe

[John Stone]

Thanks John. I love reading good books. Haydens Wanderer was too boring. I had t put it down. I have "Voyage"also . I'll give him another try.

It depends on what you are looking for. Wanderer, to me anyway, is not an action yarn. It’s a look deep into the mind of a guy who wrote with brutal honesty...about what he saw around him and what he saw in himself. I don’t think I have ever read anyone more honest. It was even scary at times because...you can sometimes see yourself maybe In ways you hadn’t before or even want to acknowledge. For me there is personal growth when that happens. And maybe at times I didn’t really want that particular growth....

Books like HOD are appealing to me because Conrad has the ability to describe and link together observations about the human condition I don’t have the skill to do or perhaps I had never thought about before but instantly recognize as truthful. I have to read them slowly. Think about them. Turn the words around in my head. Sometimes it’s more work than I want so I move on to something else for a while and then come back for another bite.

Of course, not all classics work for me either. I have tried three times to read Last of the Mohicans. I have it here with me on the Far Reach. I wanted to enjoy it, but alas it has to be the worst writing I have ever read. The story is interesting... But Cooper’s writing is just awful. He makes me want to gouge out my eyes. LoL.

Good luck with Wanderer. I hope it clicks for you.

[Pembquist]

If you were forced to read Conrad in high school and did not like it you should try it as an adult. Conrad is a master stylist and there is some thought that part of what makes his prose so dense and trenchant is the fact that english is not his native language. I started re reading Conrad in my mid 20's and was amazed. I find that I have to read it slowly almost out loud to hear it in its full mellifluousness. One of my favorites of his is "Secret Agent."

Another great stylist is Ivan Doig and he has a boat story called "Sea Runners" about some men who escape indentured servitude in Russian Alaska by stealing a boat having a plan to make their way south to the Columbia River.

[Joe Myerson]

I started re reading Conrad in my mid 20's and was amazed. I find that I have to read it slowly almost out loud to hear it in its full mellifluousness. One of my favorites of his is "Secret Agent."

"The Secret Agent" is one of my favorites, too. I did have to read it in high school, but since I was a writing nerd, I appreciated it. But rereading it as an adult opened the whole thing up in many ways.

--Joe

[MFC]

Nice thread. Happy Memorial Day to all y'all.