I am very pleased I reached the end of this book. It was a struggle at times against the flow of the descriptions, word repetitions, and almost constant contemplation of Marlow’s existence. He comes up against the corruption and despair that the author thought was at the heart of human existence, a struggle to make headway against the current of a human life fraught with dangers and disappointment.
Kurtz is talked about far more than he appears as a character and the conclusions people draw about him are difficult to believe, given his actual character is in the book so little. His influence is everywhere, but it’s difficult for me to understand how someone could become so pervasive when he spends so little of the time on the page.
Anyway, no more Joseph Conrad for me although he is more readable than Virginia Woolf.
Julian Worker Fiction Writing 