Heart of Darkness - Rated 
`Heart of darkness' is probably Joseph Conrad's most well know novel and it makes for short but powerful reading. In just over hundred pages you get intense character study, as well as brief insight into British colonial trade and dealings. This book follows Marlow's journey up an African river to find a colleague, Mr Kurtz, and explores the break down in the latter's psyche as he becomes immersed in tribal life and becomes affected by solitude in the jungle. The film `Apocalypse Now' is famously based on this novel and if you have seen that film you will picture Kurtz's disintegration all the more vividly. The prose is a little stilted in places and the sentence structure is a touch convoluted, but the images Conrad paints with those sentences more than makes up for the minor extra effort that is required to enjoy this book. I feel Conrad could've explored Kurtz's descent into madness and created a more rounded story but apart from that this was quite enjoyable. A classic for good reason and although this is one you'll have to concentrate to read and enjoy fully, the effort more than pays off in the end.
The Heart of Confusion - Rated 
What is it with me and classics? I am beginning to get a little bit distressed by this now. Apart from Brideshead Revisited none of the ones I have tried this year have set my literary heart a flutter so far. This I think has to be my least favourite of the classics, I simply didn't get it. I can't pretend that I did, I just didn't.
I did think some of the prose was simply stunning, but sadly I couldn't put it into context, I couldn't work out who the narrator was for a few pages which I found most disconcerting. The narrator is Marlow and he is telling his crew of a voyage he once took (this took me three re-reads to figure out - I know you should try with a book but there is trying and there is a trying book, this was the latter) travelling to the heart of an African continent to find the dictator Kurtz.
The journey he goes on opens his eyes to the true situation in Africa and also is a journey into the human mind... fallen asleep yet? I almost did. The good thing about this book was that it was short. I am wondering if I need to re-read this one day as maybe I will take more from it, I seriously doubt it though.
Unbelievable! - Rated 
I find it absolutely unbelievable that anyone could regard this novel as "dull"! And if novels shouldn't be depressing... well, don't bother with the rest of the Western canon. Maybe you need to try a little harder with the source novel than you do with the Hollywood film. (Consider this: if it's such an average read, why was Francic C. so inspired by it in the first place?)
Hard Going - Rated 
I decided to read this book after reading the End of The Affair which I love especially the internal struggles of the main characters and from what I could remember of the film I thought this book may follow the same themes.
I loved the first page as it is set very closed to where I live so I found that interesting. Also I enjoyed his arrival and commencement of his new job but then I started to loose the plot a bit. It felt a bit like there were several pages missing from my book because it jumped so much from one scene to the next. For all that it is a small book it does take some reading to get through. I am glad I managed to get to the end but I am left a bit bewildered and am tempted to read it again in the future to see if it is easier to digest the second time around.
An unpleasant read - Rated
I found this a rather disappointing read, especially after all the favourable reviews and publicity surrounding the book. I found it wanting for a plot, and the writing style rather off-putting. I gained absolutely no pleasure from reading this book, and I certainly won't recommend it to anyone.
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