Heart of Darkness
On with the sixth of the classics we have included in the RUSC Literary Challenge, and we continue with the haunting, dark theme.
The Heart of Darkness is without doubt, one of the most memorable, albeit most harrowing, novels I have ever read.
It's written in the first person, and whilst not really an adventure story, it's a story of greed and insanity, and is full of hidden meanings and complex twists in the plot. It is widely considered to be one of the most intricate works of literature ever written.
Authored by Joseph Conrad in 1899, the storyline is loosely based upon his own experiences as the captain of a steamer on the Congo River in Africa. From a young age, he had been determined to become a sailor, and spent fifteen years traveling all over the world. However, in 1889, he was stuck back in Europe with no ship to command, until he was offered the opportunity to captain a ship on the Congo in Africa. He didn't hesitate.
His work on the Congo changed him forever, and even without the health issues he suffered with for the rest of his life, the trip had changed who he was, with his lifelong friend Edward Garnett being quoted as saying, “Conrad’s Congo experiences were the turning-point in his mental life, and their effects on him determined his transformation from a sailor to a writer".
The Heart of Darkness is the story of a steamer captain called Marlowe who is employed by an English trading company, and who is sent to the Congo to travel up river, visiting the traders and bartering for ivory with the locals.
Marlowe soon begins to hear stories about another employee of the same Company as himself, named Kurtz, who is in charge of the inner trading post, as deep into the Congo as you can get. There have been rumors that the station is in jeopardy, and that Kurtz is ill, so Marlowe is given the order to travel to this location find and recover Kurtz, and secure the inner trading post.
I'm sure you'll be as fascinated in the tale from beginning to end as I was, and I hope that you'll forgive me if you struggle with the dialogue in some parts due to the audio quality.
This particular show was directed by Orson Welles on the Mercury Theater on the Air, but as it's from the 1930s, the audio isn't as good as I had hoped. However, Welles also wrote the screenplay for another radio adaptation of the story for his first program as a producer-star of the CBS radio series, This is My Best, which is also available on RUSC.
Another alternate adaptation of better quality, is from NBC University Theater in 1949, which again, is also available on RUSC.
As always, I'd love to know your thoughts about the latest book in the RUSC Literary Challenge, so please do comment below.
Happy listening my friends,
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