My Thoughts: Heart of Darkness

Title: Heart of Darkness
Author: Joseph Conrad
Publication date: 1890

Dark allegory describes the narrator's journey up the Congo River and his meeting with, and fascination by, Mr. Kurtz, a mysterious personage who dominates the unruly inhabitants of the region. Masterly blend of adventure, character development, psychological penetration. Considered by many Conrad's finest, most enigmatic story.

Usually when I finish a book, I like to review it on my blog, but with this one, I'm not going to give it a rating (though I do have one on goodreads) because this was assigned to me to read for AP English. In general, I'm just not a fan of this style of writing and I feel like rating this book based on how it fit with my tastes would discount all the literary brilliance that Conrad displays. So, I've decided to just let you know my thoughts about this book.

Now, to be honest, I started this book at midnight the day it was due...
Yes, yes, I know. What was I thinking?!
I'll tell you what I was thinking: "Gee, this book only has 160-or-so pages. Pshhh, I can totally read that in an hour or two!"

For anyone considering doing this: DON'T. BAD IDEA. Boy, was it a bad idea...

Conrad's writing style was pretty.... confusing. And no, it wasn't confusing because I was reading it at midnight it was confusing period. Although, reading it super late at night certainly did not help.
On the whole, I found the narration pretty monotonous. It droned on and on and didn't capture my attention. Not going to lie, I totally fell asleep while reading this. Multiple times. The writing just didn't grab my attention.

Now there are certain books that you just absolutely have to read in an English class, and this was one of them. Once you actually start discussing symbolism and themes, holy wowza this book is chock FULL of them!
Reading this on my own and then talking learning about it in English class is like away layers of an onion. Once you dig really deep into all the complex web of symbols and understand all their meanings, you realize that Conrad's actually genius! Once you start understanding everything, it's like everything just falls into place and you see the real meaning behind everything. In the way he contrasts the savages and the Englishman, the way he characterizes nature as a character, and just the symbol of the Russian in general, it's all so deep in meaning!

All in all, while I did not enjoy reading this book, I cannot help but be awed by Conrad's brilliance in crafting this story. Did any of you have to read this for school? If so, let me know what you thought! :)

Review: Wuthering Heights

Title: Wuthering Heights
Author: Emily Brontë

Emily Brontë's only novel, Wuthering Heights remains one of literature's most disturbing explorations into the dark side of romantic passion. Heathcliff and Cathy believe they're destined to love each other forever, but when cruelty and snobbery separate them, their untamed emotions literally consume them.

Set amid the wild and stormy Yorkshire moors, Wuthering Heights, an unpolished and devastating epic of childhood playmates who grow into soul mates, is widely regarded as the most original tale of thwarted desire and heartbreak in the English language.

This book left me with a big tangled mess of conflicting emotions. On the one hand, I loved Brontë's writing and the concept of the story. But on the other hand, I had such a love-hate relationship with these characters.

I should mention that I started Wuthering Heights immediately after finishing Pride and Prejudice so I was extremely surprised by the harsh contrast between the dispositions of these books. The violence and cruelty exhibited by the characters of Wuthering Heights is so in-your-face, and I was not prepared for that at all!
And as for the characters...Oh. My. Gosh. There were times when they were so petty and frustrating I sometimes wished I could reach into the story and smack them upside the head!

I wish there could have been more time devoted to Catherine and Heathcliff's love story; it was such a central part of the novel, but there time together was too short for me to really become invested in them.

Overall, though, Brontë's themes of cruelty, love, and even redemption were veru well-incorporated throughout the story and I enjoyed the complex inter-character relationships--even if they confused me at first!

Rating: 3.75 stars

Review: Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice
By Jane Austen

"When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited, while he struggles to remain indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen shows the folly of judging by first impressions and superbly evokes the friendships, gossip and snobberies of provincial middle-class life."

-Goodreads


Rating: 5 brilliant stars!
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a girl who loves YA and hates classics must eat her words once finishing Pride and Prejudice...

GUYS. Would it be very unoriginal of me to say that I LOVED this book? But really, what is there to say about P&P that hasn’t already been said?

Jane Austen’s prose is just beyond wonderful. She writes with fabulous wit and humor that had me laughing out loud in just about every chapter. While there were some paragraphs I had to reread and some words I had to look up, it was all worth it. Her writing is absolutely enthralling and her language makes me feel ashamed at being part of the "YOLO" and "SWAG" generation...

Austen's characters are all wonderfully crafted and while some got on my nerves (*cough* Lydia *cough* Lady Catherine)  I still ended up loving them all at the end because of how they contributed to the story. Elizabeth was a far better heroine than I ever imagined her to be. She's sarcastic, witty, kind, and the most amazing of sisters. I was very surprised by how relatable I found her to be and even more so at how much I loved her as a character.

And now for the obligatory Darcy paragraph....

Y'ALL. There is a reason why he is the original book boyfriend. Admittedly I did not like him at first and I feared that I, lover of all romances, would not be susceptible to the infamous Mr. Darcy swoon. But he got to me guys. HE GOT TO ME. The relationship build-up, though somewhat slow, was very believable and utterly heart-melting.  

I should also mention that as much as I loved Elizabeth and Darcy, I was also a huge fan of Jane and Bingley. What can I say? Jane Austen knows how to write a good romance!

All in all: This was a fabulous book and I can't believe I didn't read it sooner! I loved the writing, the characters, and the romance and I find myself craving another Austen book--and believe me, I never thought I'd willingly want to read a classic!