Heart of Darkness cover art

Heart of Darkness

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Heart of Darkness

By: Joseph Conrad
Narrated by: Alan Munro
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About this listen

Although Heart of Darkness was one of the first literary texts to provide a critical view of European imperial activities, it was initially read by critics as anything but controversial. While the book was generally admired, it was typically seen either as a condemnation of a certain type of adventurer who could easily take advantage of imperialism’s opportunities, or else as a sentimental novel reinforcing domestic values: Kurtz’s Intended, who appears at the novella’s conclusion, was roundly praised by turn-of-the-century reviewers for her maturity and sentimental appeal. A classic.

Public Domain (P)2013 Trout Lake Media Classics

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All stars
Most relevant  
time has moves on and only the wonderful description has survied the transition. too long and languishing for modem liseners.

dated classic

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Listened and read in one day. Good performance and overall a good plot, however I found it confusing at times.

interesting

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What disappointed you about Heart of Darkness?

Alan Munro often seemed to mumble and there was an ironic tone to his voice that didn't fit with the text.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Alan Munro?

I see there's a Kenneth Brannagh version. I wish I'd listened to that instead.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

There's no problem with the book which is a classic.

Difficult to hear

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I think I would have enjoyed this alot more with a different voice actor. I found monotonous tone hard to follow which stopped me getting into the book.

Good hard to follow

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monotonous tones breed irritation. poorly read and difficult to follow due to this. 15 words.

monotonous tones breed irritation

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What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

If the book had been read by almost anyone else

Would you be willing to try another book from Joseph Conrad? Why or why not?

Probably not, Conrad's writing style and subject matter didn't appeal to me.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

This was the most appalling reading of any audio book I've ever listened to, I mean it was really bad. I've genuinely listened to better readings from Librvox.

The narrators intonation was all over the place, he sounded like he was doing an incredibly bad impression of William Shatner with high's and low's all in the wrong place, pauses where there shouldn't be any and generally didn't pay attention to any of the punctuation in the text. It actually sounded like a computer programmed voice from the 80's as if Stephen Hawkin had decided to read us a story.

Normally I can live with a narrator even when they're not that great, but in this case, all I could focus on was how poorly the book was being read which completely detracted from the text. Poor job, spend a bit more money to get one of the better recordings if you want to stand a chance of enjoying this novella.

What character would you cut from Heart of Darkness?

Kurtz - he's hardly in it despite the fact that he's the main reason for the journey!

Any additional comments?

I feel cheated!

If your SatNav read you a book...

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Great classic book but ruined by the very odd narration that sounds like it has been done by a computer rather than a person!

Terrible narration

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too slow
little story
poor characterisation
politically motivated
reads like a bad dream that you just want to end

poor

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A priceless assessment of human nature and how absolute power corrupts absolutely. In particular, how war ultimately dehumanizes

A masterpiece on paper and on the silver screen

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I really don't understand why this narrator is so regularly employed. This book is close to unlistenable. He sounds very much like he is reading the words without any sense of comprehension whatsoever.

It's like listening to a Korean pop singer mouth English lyrics they obviously do not understand.

Awful. Avoid anything narrated by Alan Munro. Sadly, he's been employed to read a large amount of classics.

Avoid Alan Munro

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