Fiction_L Archives Defending Heart of Darkness Dates: 12/17/99,11:30 AM  through  12/17/99,3:48 PM  (2 postings) Search for: Select one or more indexes to search: 2011-current     2009-2010     2004-2008    1995-2003    (Matches from each index will be displayed separately in the results page.) Return to December 1999 thread menu   |   Fiction_L Archives Menu

FROM: "Joanna Hazelden" <[removed]@chipublib.org>
REC'D: 12/17/99, 11:30 AM

FROM: "Robin Bradford" <[removed]@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu>
REC'D: 12/17/99, 3:48 PM

Well, I certainly appreciate your attempt. I think my dislike of Conrad
is so deep, however, that I can't see past Heart of Darkness. I've been
contemplating reading something else by him, just to see, but it hasn't
happened yet. On the other hand, I completely understand how difficult it
is to see someone maligned if you have a great appreciation for them. I
personally feel that way when someone (Especially fellow English majors)
shares an intense disliking of Shakespeare. But, as with the rest of this
thread, it is just my opinion. . .

Robin Bradford
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign


On Fri, 17 Dec 1999, Joanna Hazelden wrote:

> I think context is everything. When we have books shoved down our throats, we
> can never savor them. I hated Heart of Darkness in High School and loved it in
> college. I was lucky enough to have a teacher who read aloud passages of works
> and made the emotion behind them come alive.
>
> Conrad labored extremely hard to get people to be in the moment with him. In the
> context of today's writing styles maybe he seems over verbose, but he has those
> moments where it all jells:
>
> "My task which I'm trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word to make
> you hear, to make you feel--it is, above all, to make you see. That, and no
> more, and it is everything. If I succeed, you shall find there according to your
> deserts: encouragement, consolation, fear, charm--all that you demand--and
> perhaps, also that glimpse of truth for which you have forgotten to ask."
>
> Even though English was his third language, he chose to write in it because he
> felt the words had more texture, strength, and layers of meaning. Even if you
> hate Heart of Darkness, try Chance (hey..it's got a shipboard romance). Read a
> few passages aloud and listen to the flow of words, like the slow eddy of water
> (Conrad's favorite setting) and look for those moments:
>
> "..the artist appeals to that part of our being which is not dependent on
> wisdom: to that in us which is a gift and not an acquisition--and, therefore more
> permanently enduring. He speaks to our capacity for delight and wonder...."
>
> Joanna Hazelden
>
>
> Robin Bradford wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > In the realm of "Classic Literature", I simply cannot stand Heart of
> > Darkness. I've had to read this book three times in the process of my
> > English degrees (BA and MA) and it doesn't get any better with time. :o)
> >
> > Robin Bradford
> > Graduate School of Library and Information Science
> > University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
> >
> > On Wed, 15 Dec 1999, Fiction_L wrote:
> >
> > > Hi, I can't believe how many titles have been mentioned that I found
> > > uninteresting. I just have to add that I haven't read a Grisham book that
> > > I liked, and could not see what everybody liked about MIDNIGHT IN THE
> > > GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL.
> > > Sally Edwards
> > > Columbus Metropolitan Library
> > > [removed]@freenet.columbus.oh.us
> > > On Thu, 9 Dec 1999, Beth Postema wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > > I could not get through Grisham's The Firm (back when everyone was raving
> > > > about Grisham). Not too much earlier I had been a library clerk in a law
> > > > firm, and just could not willingly suspend disbelief.
> > > > Beth E. Postema
> > > > Public Services Coordinator
> > > > Fargo Public Library
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
>

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