Heart of Darkness Review, Recommendation for Future Readers

Write a review of Heart of Darkness for someone who has never read the novella before.  What do you recommend they know prior to reading?  What would you recommend that they pay attention to?  Etc.  Feel free to maintain an informal tone with this post. 

“Heart of Darkness”, to me, was a very interesting novella mainly because it’s based on a historical site and on real events, which is something I really like. It think that it will be a great read for anyone who likes reading and learning about history because, even though the colonialism that took place in Congo is fairly recent, it is barely studied, and often not even mentioned, in history classes throughout high school. I personally enjoyed reading it and learning about this dark piece of human history. To anyone who is considering reading it, I would recommend to first learn the basics of the Belgian colonialism in Congo, along with European colonialism in general, during the late 1800s and early 1900s. I would also suggest to research Conrad and his life before reading the book, since it will help to clarify Conrad’s perspective on colonialism, which I was pretty confused about when I began reading “Heart of Darkness”. I will add that this book is not an easy read at all, one has to pay close attention while reading or otherwise will miss out on some important theme build-up and splendid writing by Conrad. Reading this book was a little bit boring at times too, but once I got through those boring parts, Conrad’s magnificent writing and depiction of the scenes brought back my attention and excitement. Just adding on Conrad’s writing style, I have to point out his great use of imagery. He effectively utilized metaphors and comparisons to make the reader feel, what Marlow was feeling in the Congo. Overall I enjoyed reading “Heart of Darkness”, and found it a very interesting historical novella. I would definitely recommend it for anyone interested in European colonialism in Africa, and also to anyone who is looking for their next read and want something more challenging. Great book!