Wednesday, December 13, 2023

The Art of Darkness



Rereading Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (1902), with special attention to the section that begins with Marlowe travelling to France to interview for a job as a steamer captain, then south for miles and miles and miles to the "Big River," which we all know is The Congo.

This is nice:

"Watching a coast as it slips by the ship is like thinking about an enigma. There it is before you -- smiling, frowning, inviting, grand, mean, insipid, or savage, and always mute with an air of whispering, Come and find out."

And the line that follows -- typical of the Eurowestern gaze (my italics):

"This one was almost featureless, as if still in the making, with an aspect of monotonous grimness."

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