Welcome to Litsy!

New IRL bookclub is a fabulous group of smart & funny people. I am really looking forward to future book dissections, I mean discussions.

I “enjoyed” Conrad‘s novella for what it is/was in its time. The literary criticism from various writers included added food for thought. I argued with them via pencil. 😆

Ooofta - this little piece is slow going for all that‘s packed into it. I can only read a few pages at a time to absorb it.

I caught a cold 😒, but I‘m thankful it was after the festivities. It‘s nap/reading time and this classic has been on my TBR forever. The impetus is a new bookclub starting up in January.

It disturbs me that we as a human race can be so cruel towards each other.

At a later stage I will re-read this book, in a more enlightened frame of mind. Because this time around I was not ready for harsh topics so blatantly stated.

I can see why this is seen as a Modernist masterpiece

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕A Feast for Crows
📕The Goblin Emperor
📙The Drowned World

Progress:

Finished a novel and novella this week. I have 30% left on The Drowned World but my brain is fried for today so I will have to finish it on Monday, on top of other things. I feel pretty good about the upcoming week and hopefully jump back into TGE (I keep stalling with it and it's frustrating)

As a story it's convoluted, but there is plenty of nuance to it. The themes of colonialism and imperialism, exploitation of people and land, and deeply rooted racism are horrific.

#OnThisDay #Nov13

#MayMontage
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
#Dark

One of the darkest books I've read.

3-5 Apr 23 (audiobook)
Branagh is wonderful and I loved this book when I read it for Postmodern Literature as an undergrad, but this audiobook did not succeed for me. I wonder whether the denseness of the writing needs to be read. I found it difficult to follow, although I thought I recalled the plot well. Maybe it was just too short and I did not have a chance to adjust to the style after having spent so many recent hours with Dickens.

The unimaginably twisted mind of colonialism is laid bare in this eery novel.

This is the dark story of steam captain Marlowe following the Congo River to find Kurtz. Kurtz is among the most evil of characters in literary history, who is based on the author‘s experiences in Belgium Congo during the horrific genocide perpetrated on the native population to gather rubber (& in Kurtz‘s case, ivory). This book was a success for two reasons: 1) Branagh‘s narration made it very enjoyable despite the subject matter. 2) The ⬇️

I vowed to read this classic for #readingafrica2022–there are just so many references to it as I‘ve been reading through Africa. Fortunately there‘s an audiobook free for Audible subscribers. The narration as you‘d expect is superb. #Congo @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

#IndelibleMoments @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

#ExoticTravel

Tagged book for #Congo for #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

Even though I have the Congo covered I figured I needed to read this classic sometime this year while doing the challenge

Although it‘s not overly long this was still slow going. I kept coming back to “If I was on this boat I‘d tell Marlow to stop waffling.” I didn‘t really get the reverence for Kurtz and his going on about him was a bore. I did like reading a first hand account of part of the colonisation of Africa and I felt like his distaste for it was apparent. Glad I read it but not heaps fun.

#QuotsyOct21 Day 14: #Flicker

I recommend this book, even though this post is not a review. I just wanna say that I like it but quite not understand it on some parts, due to its old English. Give it a try, it's very short.

- Yes; but it is like a running blaze on a plain, like a flash of lightning in the clouds. We live in the flicker

Is this just confusing or am I just stupid? It‘s hard to tell. I just know that when I finished this, I could not figure out wtf I just read. And now I have to write an essay on it 😕
Thank you Overdue Podcast, Sparknotes, and Schmoop for existing and making sense of this confusing mess.

Great

I have not read this since I was an undergrad and while Conrad‘s skill is still apparent , I am not sure how well this holds up.

the danger, if any, i expounded, was from our proximity to a great human passion let loose. even extreme grief may ultimately vent itself in violence, but more generally takes the form of apathy

#currentlyreading

It has been on my list for a very, very long time...but it just didn‘t appeal to me. I didn‘t find any of the characters relatable or redeeming. Maybe it requires a reread in the future.

"Civilization as a pretext for imperialist barbarism in Heart of Darkness," (Winter Bastos)

Dense book, full of layers and with many adjectives, a wonderful book. I recommend reading about the author's biography and historical overview before starting reading for a better appreciation of the work.

Because it‘s one of the top 100 classics to read (and controversial), I picked this up. Closely based on Conrad‘s experiences, the story takes us into the depths of the Congo upriver. ‘The horror! The horror‘ -the famous line. What‘s horrific was the brutal and ugly truth of colonialism. 👇

#JennyIs30 #classics
#Booked2020 #finishinaday
#classicschallenge2020

Unquestionably powerful and unsettling as a historical document

🎶You took a pretty picture
And you smashed it into bits
Sank me into blackness
And you sealed it with a kiss🎶

The author explores the unfathomable darkness in every human soul.

#amazing

#movember

@Cinfhen

#AyUpAugust #AllOfMyHeart Heart of Darkness is the only one I can find. I love this cover , it‘s my sons book. ♥️🖤🖤

#AyUpAugust

(Day 1 - #CryMeARiver)

*I think Conrad‘s book was where I first gleaned the trope of river as life. To quote Conrad: “[T]he last pages of ‘Heart of Darkness‘ where the interview of the man and the girl locks in ... the whole 30000 words of narrative description into one suggestive view of a whole phase of life and makes of that story something quite on another plane than an anecdote of a man who went mad in the Centre of Africa.” ♥️

I saw #appocalypsenow for the first time yesterday, since it was shown as 'final' directors cut for its 40th anniversary in conemas again. What a feat of cineastic and auditive storytelling! Now i really need to go back to the original since i never got further than the first few chapters. #reread #adaptation

#GoodnightSaigon #WanderingJune
I have many humbling moments when it comes to literary stuff. This novella came to mind for today's prompt because of the film adaptation, and I needed Wikipedia to explain that the location was changed in the film...and that Conrad died about four decades before the Vietnam war 😳 (does this also mean the novel lacks a surfing aficionado U.S. army lieutenant who loves the smell of napalm in the morning? 😂).

Thanks to @rohit-sawant for posting that #theend features in Apocalypse Now. This is the book the film is loosely based on. #maymoviemagic @Cinfhen

Self indulgent

I had to read this book twice during my college years. The first time I read it, I HATED it. I thought it was quite possibly the most boring book I‘d ever read. (Or if I‘m honest, ever attempted to read. I never finished it. 😆) The second time, obviously I dreaded it. And wouldn‘t you know, it was actually pretty good the second time around. #ownerofalonelyheart #anglophileapril

#marchintothe70s

(Day 21 - #HungryHeart)

The title of Springsteen‘s album with the song “Hungry Heart” is “The River.” The lyrics of the song include a passage about a river flowing who knows where (anyway, the singer doesn‘t, or so he claims). All of this makes me think of the overused metaphor of the river as journey, or life. Naturally, Conrad‘s novel comes to mind, but also both Coppola‘s and Herzog‘s movies.

A roller-coaster into the depth of darkness.

Oh how I hated this #audiobook. If I hadn‘t wanted to scratch it off my 100 Essential Novels poster, there is no way I would have finished. Lots of derogatory language aimed at African natives and a story that I just didn‘t find compelling.

Trying out an audiobook for the first time. I find it difficult to concentrate on the story when listening, but I‘m determined to finish the book. Maybe it‘s just something I have to get used to?

Happy Valentine‘s Day, Littens! This is what greeted me as I came down the stairs 🤓. May your day be filled with cards and books!

Having a rotten day, so I went to my local #indie for some retail therapy. They messed up my preorder for the newest Orphan X (of course, because I canceled my Amazon order of it) but they had the #PenguinClassicsDeluxeEdition of Heart of Darkness that I‘ve been dying to get my hands on, plus a Nordic crime thriller that looks ah-may-zing. I‘m still sad, but now I have new books, so that‘s a plus, right? 🥰

I can't believe I wasn't forced to read this in school, it would have been incomprehensible to me, perfect learning material. Seriously though, this is some of the best writing I have ever seen, if you can handle the late Victorian era, industrial strength racism.