From AudioFile
In HEART OF DARKNESS, Marlow, the narrator, undertakes both an outer and an inner journey. The outer journey takes him into the heart of Africa, where he encounters representatives of every colonial stripe. Performing the work instead of simply reading it, Scott Brick emphasizes this aspect of Conrad's classic, clearly conveying class differences and a range of foreign accents, as well as pidgin. Conrad's prose is dense and complex, but Brick delivers it smoothly and gracefully. However, Marlow's inner journey--during which he confronts the mysterious Mr. Kurtz--remains too distant and intellectualized to fully capture the emotional charge of the moment. G.T.B. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In Conrad's haunting tale, Marlow, a seaman and wanderer, recounts his physical and psychological journey in search of the enigmatic Kurtz. Traveling to the heart of the African continent, he discovers how Kurtz has gained his position of power and influence over the local people. Marlow's struggle to fathom his experience involves him in a radical questioning of not only his own nature and values but the nature and values of his society.

SYNOPSIS

Written several years after Conrad's grueling sojourn in the Belgian Congo, the novel tells the story of Marlow, a seaman who undertakes his own journey into the African jungle to find the tormented white trader Kurtz.

FROM THE CRITICS

Booknews

Presents the novel along with essays from five critical perspectives: reader-response, feminist and gender, deconstruction, the new historicism, and cultural criticism. Each essay is accompanied by a succinct introduction to the history, principles, and practice of the critical perspective. The text and essays are complemented by an introduction providing biographical and historical contexts for Conrad and the novel.

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