Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad

I never really expected to like this book. It's about sailing through the Congo and not a love story in sight, why would I bother? Well, it's on the AP list. But actually, I did like this book. The writing is fantastic. It's quite a dark book and it the writing really captures that. My only flaw was that the story didn't flow very well. There were moments that just jarred you out of the story, maybe that was in part to give you a break or something but it got a little annoying.

The book opens with Marlow telling a story to four comrades while they are sailing on a yaht on the River Thames. He tells them about a time when he took a job to captain a river boat down through the Congo to retrieve a man who is running one of the inner stations. Marlow describes the cruelty that he observes the whites inflict on the Africans. Also, there is immense corruption. Kurtz, the man Marlow is there to retrieve, is said to be the only humanitarian in the Congo. Even though Marlow has never met Kurtz, his anticipation to meet such man is evident. Through his journey he learns a lot about human nature and he has many surprises revealed to him.

Here is quote I really liked:

"No fear can stand up to hunger, no patience can wear it out, disgust simply does not exist where hunger is; and as to superstition, beliefs and what you may call principles, they are less than chaff in a breeze....It takes a man all his inborn strength to fight hunger properly. It's really easier to face bereavement, dishonor, and the perdition of one's soul--than this kind of prolonged hunger."

There were lots of great passages in this book that I wish I could tell you about, but you'll just have to read it. I think I will read it again someday because I didn't fully understand the impact of this novel. I read the introduction by A. Michael Matin where he says "The aspects of Marlow's storytelling method that impede our efforts to arrive at an unambiguous understanding of his tale's meaning also hinder us from gaining a clear apprehension of the events themselves, something attested to by many first-time readers of the text who have difficulties following the plot." Reading the introduction after reading the novel helped a lot.


The Secret Sharer

This is a short story about another Captain of a ship who hides a stowaway who has escaped from his own ship because he killed a man. The story constantly reminds the reader of the duality of these two characters. The Captain sees this man as his double and soon I began to wonder if this person was just something produced in the mind of the Captain, but it is never made obviously clear. It was an interesting story and again the writing was wonderful. The way Conrad can write suspense and anticipation is amazing.