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☖ Forums → Discussion Forum → Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
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Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
2005-03-01, 9:48 PM #1
I am attempting to read this book because I have a test on it in about 6 hours, I have literally fallen asleep 6 times since 4PM this afternoon while attempting to read this sack of crap.

Discuss what a lame book this is.
2005-03-01, 10:34 PM #2
I agree fully. I had to read that in my Year 11 Literature class and I think I read the first fifty pages then the last fifty just to get to the "The horror... the horror..." bit. Took me about a month to do so, too.
2005-03-01, 10:48 PM #3
I liked it.
2005-03-01, 10:52 PM #4
Quote:
Originally posted by Mikus
I am attempting to read this book because I have a test on it in about 6 hours, I have literally fallen asleep 6 times since 4PM this afternoon while attempting to read this sack of crap.

Discuss what a lame book this is.

I just finished reading it and I liked it. Go read Great Expectations first and then complain about longwinded and boring.
2005-03-01, 10:55 PM #5
The only book I actually like that I had to read in High School was Fahrenheit 451. Hell, it's the only book I think I've ever truly enjoyed, other than some non-fiction texts.
"it is time to get a credit card to complete my financial independance" — Tibby, Aug. 2009
2005-03-01, 10:55 PM #6
Quote:
Originally posted by tofu
I just finished reading it and I liked it. Go read Great Expectations first and then complain about longwinded and boring.


Oh my god, don't get me started on Great Expectations, or any Dickens book for that matter. We read the abridged version in 8th grade, and that was awful. You want to read something worse though, "Little Dorritt" is the book for you. I wanted to find Dicken's tomb, dig up his corpse, ans desecrate it in as as many ways possible after being forced to read that monstrosity.
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2005-03-01, 11:25 PM #7
Quote:
Originally posted by Mikus
I am attempting to read this book because I have a test on it in about 6 hours, I have literally fallen asleep 6 times since 4PM this afternoon while attempting to read this sack of crap.

Discuss what a lame book this is.


Did you try sparknotes.com?
"The only crime I'm guilty of is love [of china]"
- Ruthven
me clan me mod
2005-03-02, 2:00 AM #8
The only thing I want to see infront of "of Darkness," is "Army."
2005-03-02, 3:47 AM #9
Arrg. That book.

Atleast Sparknotes came in handy. I don't like the author's style of writing.
SnailIracing:n(500tpostshpereline)pants
-----------------------------@%
2005-03-02, 4:37 AM #10
Quote:
Originally posted by tofu
I just finished reading it and I liked it. Go read Great Expectations first and then complain about longwinded and boring.


DON'T DISS THE DICKENS!
D E A T H
2005-03-02, 7:19 AM #11
You do know that Heat of Darkness is the novel upon which the movie Apocalypse Now is based, right?

I personally wasn't too fond of The English Patient when I had to read it last year for one of my Literature Classes. The thing about me, though, is that I tend to be prejudiced against books which I am forced to read in class. I think its because I normally read so much on my own that when I have to read for a class, it means I have to put down whatever book I am enjoying on my own to read the assigned book.
2005-03-02, 7:29 AM #12
I actually enjoyed HOD in my English Literature class. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't buy it or indeed sit down and willingly tear through it: but in a subject dominated by topics of feminism, class distinction and unrequited love, it's good to read a story about fighting, madness and the evil in men. Set in the Congo, no less.
The Last True Evil - consistent nobody in the Discussion Forum since 1998
2005-03-02, 8:06 AM #13
Sparknotes got me through High School English. I think out of all the books I was assigned (probably around 25 total), I only read six. I read bits and pieces of other books assigned, like Heart of Darkness; I only read part I of that book, it was so dreadfully boring.
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2005-03-02, 8:13 AM #14
I agree completely with The Last True Evil. I enjoyed it.
If it breaks, you get to keep both pieces.
2005-03-02, 9:00 AM #15
Quote:
Originally posted by Rob
The only thing I want to see infront of "of Darkness," is "Army."


Haha!

...I liked Heart of Darkness.
"Those ****ing amateurs... You left your dog, you idiots!"
2005-03-02, 10:26 AM #16
I hate most books by Charles Dickens. All his "good" characters are so annoyingly "cute" that you want to smack them really, really, hard. Or shoot them. It really hurts when in the end good things happen to them. Oliver Twist is really bad about that.
2005-03-02, 12:32 PM #17
Another point...

Dont complain about Dickens' works until you have to read Wuthering Heights. That book is the worst piece of 18th Century Literary **** ever.
"Those ****ing amateurs... You left your dog, you idiots!"
2005-03-02, 1:00 PM #18
... You have no taste whatsoever. Heart of Darkness is one of the best books ever written!
A desperate disease requires a dangerous remedy.

A major source of objection to a free economy is precisely that it gives people what they want instead of what a particular group thinks they ought to want. Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.

art
2005-03-02, 1:12 PM #19
LIES!
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2005-03-02, 1:16 PM #20
I think I read the last paragraph of that. I was assigned to read it in high school around the same time I learned that I didn't have to read to pass the class :P
"Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it."
2005-03-02, 1:23 PM #21
I thought it was quite good, actually.
2005-03-02, 1:38 PM #22
Quote:
Originally posted by Schming
Another point...

Dont complain about Dickens' works until you have to read Wuthering Heights. That book is the worst piece of 18th Century Literary **** ever.


Wuthering Heights is like an action packed thriller comapred to this.
2005-03-02, 2:37 PM #23
The number of people here who actually seem to put work into and enjoy their English classes really depresses me.

I'm reading HOD right now and don't see what's so bad about it.

On the other hand, two books that should never be forced upon a living soul are The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne) and Absalom! Absalom! (Faulkner).

Not saying that I don't like Faulkner, mind; As I Lay Dying and Sound and the Fury are amazing, but... *shudders*
2005-03-02, 2:48 PM #24
I've read The Scarlet Letter, Wuthering Heights, Heart of Darkness, Jane Eyre, etc etc etc etc...
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2005-03-02, 2:57 PM #25
Quote:
Originally posted by Vornskr
The number of people here who actually seem to put work into and enjoy their English classes really depresses me.

I'm reading HOD right now and don't see what's so bad about it.

On the other hand, two books that should never be forced upon a living soul are The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne) and Absalom! Absalom! (Faulkner).

Not saying that I don't like Faulkner, mind; As I Lay Dying and Sound and the Fury are amazing, but... *shudders*


I hate the Scarlet Letter, but it IS an important symbol of American literature.

And I don't care what you think, Faulkner's a badass, plain and simple :(
D E A T H
2005-03-02, 4:37 PM #26
Holy ****. Heart of Darkness is about the worst book ever written.
"When it's time for this planet to die, you'll understand that you know absolutely nothing." — Bugenhagen
2005-03-02, 4:46 PM #27
Quote:
Originally posted by Dj Yoshi
I hate the Scarlet Letter, but it IS an important symbol of American literature.

And I don't care what you think, Faulkner's a badass, plain and simple :(


The thing I hated about the Scarlet Letter is that he couldn't get to the damn point!

SERIOUSLY.

There's articulate literature, and then there is so many details the book leaves the taste of SAND in your mouth.


One of my favorite books is Of Mice and Men.

It's like what, 98 pages I think?

VERY to the point but not without being great, and the ending was just the best.
2005-03-02, 4:55 PM #28
Grapes of Wrath > Of Mice and Men.
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2005-03-02, 5:14 PM #29
Quote:
Originally posted by Matthew Pate
I agree fully. I had to read that in my Year 11 Literature class and I think I read the first fifty pages then the last fifty just to get to the "The horror... the horror..." bit. Took me about a month to do so, too.


That's mightily impressive given that the version I have runs to a staggeringly long 78 pages and is hardly in miniscule text...

And yes, I did think it was a great novel.
2005-03-02, 11:14 PM #30
I hated The Scarlet Letter and A Tale of Two Cities.
The prose in The Scarlet Letter was abysmal. I did enjoy the sparknotes though.

There was a lot of stuff I read for high school that I ended up really liking:
Hamlet
MacBeth
The Canterbury Tales
Antigone
Things Fall Apart
The Great Gatsby
Of Mice and Men
Pride and Prejudice
Fahrenheit 451
It's not the side effects of cocaine, so then I'm thinking that it must be love
2005-03-03, 12:21 AM #31
Quote:
Originally posted by Vornskr
The number of people here who actually seem to put work into and enjoy their English classes really depresses me.


Put work into English classes....?!

I seriously don't understand how you could put work into an English class. I read the things we were supposed to read and did the exams and major pieces of coursework, but everything else....my god it's all just so glaringly obvious. I can't remember anything specific now (haven't studied English for 5 years or so) but I remember spending hours in class being taught how to see the most blatent subtext. I don't want to insult anyone who might have had difficulty with it, but I personally never considered myself any good at English because I could not be bothered to spend time rereading and analysing text that I hated, but then got an A and a B for my GCSEs (and I am far from being a straight-A student!!). It seemed to me that as long as you could read and knew what a metaphor was you could pass the class with flying colours. No work required.
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2005-03-03, 12:38 AM #32
/me agrees with maevie. My english/lit classes had some of the most boring stuff to read in the world, and a lot of stuff that also didnt make sense but I still never got less than a B... I actually cant remember not getting an A, hmmmm..
"Guns don't kill people, I kill people."
2005-03-03, 5:24 AM #33
Quote:
That's mightily impressive given that the version I have runs to a staggeringly long 78 pages and is hardly in miniscule text...


Amazon seems to disagree chum...p

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140281630/103-4711400-5024665

Quote:
And yes, I did think it was a great novel.


Because you have no taste.
2005-03-03, 5:59 AM #34
When they give you books to read in highschool, they're not always the same as the version that the author had done.

Often times they give you books that are dumbed down. Not to say that you aren't intelligent, just that at the time not everyone is ready for that level of reading though you yourself may be.

You also have to consider the size of the book, the font size, and the margins.
2005-03-03, 6:01 AM #35
Quote:
Originally posted by maevie
Put work into English classes....?!




NOT everyone has the ability to excel easily in English.

I myself am dyslexic, and while I'm by no means a serious case it was still hard for me when I was younger to get through English classes.


Differen't people are better at different things, thats what makes them human. If everything was the same for everyone.... life would so damn boring.
2005-03-03, 3:49 PM #36
NEW RULE NEW RULE NEW RULE:

next person to badmouth my favorite book gets sent up the congo on a rickety steamer. and by that i mean b&!

ps thanks saberopus
A desperate disease requires a dangerous remedy.

A major source of objection to a free economy is precisely that it gives people what they want instead of what a particular group thinks they ought to want. Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.

art
2005-03-03, 4:07 PM #37
Well, I'm not going to argue that I've ever run into an English class that I would call "hard", only teachers that love giving out insanely long assignments. (But, I'd say the same thing about all the other courses I've taken, too...)

When I said "not put work into it" I was referring to the propensity to read Spark/Cliff's Notes instead of actually reading the works.

The fact that it's really not that much work makes it more disheartening.
2005-03-03, 4:16 PM #38
Quote:
Originally posted by Rob
The only thing I want to see infront of "of Darkness," is "Army."

<3
2005-03-03, 6:47 PM #39
Seriously though, this book sucks. In my high school experience I would say the only books I didn't hate so far were Shakespeare's King Lear and Hamlet (I hated Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet was pretty lame), Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Shaffer's Equus (which I would have absolutely loved were it not for the **** *** last scene with that stupid annoying monologue, otherwise it was awesome), Beckett's Waiting for Godot (which I appreciate more reading it for the third time). As much as I hate saying this, my English teacher made me hate Siddhartha a little less.
"When it's time for this planet to die, you'll understand that you know absolutely nothing." — Bugenhagen
2005-03-03, 6:56 PM #40
Herman Hesse inspired steppenwolf, don't diss!
D E A T H
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