Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. (Originally published in 1902. Page 126 - 186 The Edition: The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction) How to begin with the story. Well first I'll say that it is in a storytelling framework, where the narration is about a person telling a story that another person has told them. **SPOILERS AHEAD**
I: This is the easiest part of the story, and that is probably because it is the start of the story and you haven't met Kurtz yet. It starts off with a narrator describing his trip down the Thames river. When the sun sets and the boat is completely pitch black, Marlow (another man on the boat) says "And this also has been one of the dark places on the earth" (129). Marlow is the one who tells the story of his adventure down the Congo River. Looking back at this part of the story the only thing I really want to write about is the women knitting black wool. Right away this made me think back to when he said "tolerant of each other's yarns" (127) and my English Drama class and Greek Mythology.
Background information needed: In Greek Mythology it is believed that people have a Moira (the personification of fate) which cannot be changed that is made by two woman who are knitting it. I would get more into the idea of Moira, but even after the class ended no one understood what it was suppose to do entirely. Read Oedipus the King if you want to read about how it was applied in plays.
II: This part was really boring so I don't really want to write anything about it. All I remember is Marlow breaking down because he thought Mr. Kurtz died and he never had the chance to meet him. I don't even want to look at it really.
III: The conclusion. Yay! It's almost over! At this point I started counted down pages till I would be done. 18 to be exact. Finally we meet Mr. Kurtz. And guess what! He is CRAZY! Woohoo! Well most of the times. Anyways, you meet him and its about their meeting and all that stuff. Blah blah, then he runs away, goes psycho? then Marlow carries him back?. There are questions when I say this because I honestly have no idea what happened. At one point they were in the trees, and Marlow is just talking, then Marlow is putting him on the couch, then he's back in London...? Kind of questioning what just happened. Marlow does go and visit Mr. Kurtz "intended" and lies to her telling her that he said her name as his last words, when really it was "The horror!"(186).
I have to be honest, I liked the first part. I was really quite easy to get through and I was enjoying it. If the entire book had been like that, maybe I would have read it faster than I had. But alas, that never seems to happen. Personally I kind of enjoyed it, there's just places where I keep questioning what is going on, and how something like that just happens. Maybe it was the time period. Oh. Another thing about the time period being an influence on the writing, Marlow is a racist. Legit. But I don't think Conrad was. That's what I love about authors. They make up insane characters for you!
Happy Reading!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh
Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh. (Originally Published in 1930. The Edition: Penguin Classics 1996) This book is a very slow and hard read. I found that there was no point in reading it, and that it was just all around pointless. **SPOILERS AHEAD**
The story surrounds Adam Fenwick-Symes. At least, I think it does. Well. By the end after the beginning on the train it starts to surround Adam's life. The very beginning was very confusing. I didn't understand why Mrs. Ape was in the story at all, or the "angels". The names Faith, Charity, Fortitude, Chastity, Humility, Prudence, Divine Discontent, Mercy, Justice, and Creative Endeavour were odd. But so were many of the other names in this story. Like Mr Outrage, Lady Throbbing, and Mr Chatterbox to name a few. (Yes, I realize that Mr Chatterbox was just a name that what-ever writer at the time wrote under for the newspaper.) I think that the amount of names, and oddity of the names made me turned off from the story itself. But I tried to give it a chance.
It wasn't worth it. It was only written about all these young people going to parties and following their lives, and had no plot line. Except maybe the on-and-off again engagement between Adam and Nina Blout. That was the only thing that was consistent, until the end where she ends up marrying Ginger and pretty much has an affair with Adam while he works. Well, that's what I thought. Maybe they didn't have an affair, but it was at the end that I really thought they did because she says something in her letter to Adam along the lines of "Ginger has quite made up his mind that it is his"(186). Who knows.
The one character that I did like was Miss Runcible. She was funny and was one of those people that are always in the newspaper, either good or bad. And then Waugh killed her off. At first he made her crazy and then killed her off. Upsetting! I kind of secretly wanted her to end up with Adam after he found out about Nina and Ginger's engagement, but it didn't happen. She just ended up getting more crazy. The one thing that bothered me about her death was the way they just nonchalantly say "Did I tell you I went to Agatha's funeral?" (177). Like really? That's all that you can say? I mean I should have known that Waugh would just leave the death alone after meeting Simon for maybe ten pages before he ends up dying, NOT killing himself. It's just frustrating when deaths like that happen. Sometimes I wish for closure more than suspense.
I would never want to read this again. Because I did not like it and if there is a point, which there isn't, I don't see it. Or a moral. Or a meaning. There's nothing but words there, that are constantly repeating themselves, which has to have some point, but it was just slow and long. My advise if you are going to read this, make sure you are in the most uncomfortable positions or chairs then read it. You are bound to stay awake than.
Happy Reading!
The story surrounds Adam Fenwick-Symes. At least, I think it does. Well. By the end after the beginning on the train it starts to surround Adam's life. The very beginning was very confusing. I didn't understand why Mrs. Ape was in the story at all, or the "angels". The names Faith, Charity, Fortitude, Chastity, Humility, Prudence, Divine Discontent, Mercy, Justice, and Creative Endeavour were odd. But so were many of the other names in this story. Like Mr Outrage, Lady Throbbing, and Mr Chatterbox to name a few. (Yes, I realize that Mr Chatterbox was just a name that what-ever writer at the time wrote under for the newspaper.) I think that the amount of names, and oddity of the names made me turned off from the story itself. But I tried to give it a chance.
It wasn't worth it. It was only written about all these young people going to parties and following their lives, and had no plot line. Except maybe the on-and-off again engagement between Adam and Nina Blout. That was the only thing that was consistent, until the end where she ends up marrying Ginger and pretty much has an affair with Adam while he works. Well, that's what I thought. Maybe they didn't have an affair, but it was at the end that I really thought they did because she says something in her letter to Adam along the lines of "Ginger has quite made up his mind that it is his"(186). Who knows.
The one character that I did like was Miss Runcible. She was funny and was one of those people that are always in the newspaper, either good or bad. And then Waugh killed her off. At first he made her crazy and then killed her off. Upsetting! I kind of secretly wanted her to end up with Adam after he found out about Nina and Ginger's engagement, but it didn't happen. She just ended up getting more crazy. The one thing that bothered me about her death was the way they just nonchalantly say "Did I tell you I went to Agatha's funeral?" (177). Like really? That's all that you can say? I mean I should have known that Waugh would just leave the death alone after meeting Simon for maybe ten pages before he ends up dying, NOT killing himself. It's just frustrating when deaths like that happen. Sometimes I wish for closure more than suspense.
I would never want to read this again. Because I did not like it and if there is a point, which there isn't, I don't see it. Or a moral. Or a meaning. There's nothing but words there, that are constantly repeating themselves, which has to have some point, but it was just slow and long. My advise if you are going to read this, make sure you are in the most uncomfortable positions or chairs then read it. You are bound to stay awake than.
Happy Reading!
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