Have I read this before: Yup! I read it in the spring of 2007. It was required for my Western Lit. class.

Review: Y’know, this was actually quite a bit better than I remember. And more upsetting. I don’t know why, but Kurtz really, really strikes me the same way that Pinbacker from Sunshine did. Still trying to make that connection make sense. Maybe it’s because in Sunshine, the crew of Icarus II only hears about the failed mission of Icarus I from recordings made by Pinbacker. In a way, readers are only privileged to learn about the African wilderness/ivory trading/horror through Marlow’s narration, which is centered on events surrounding Kurtz. It’s like these two characters who don’t make appearances until the very ends of their respective stories are actually responsible for the stories in the first place.

There’s also this shared experience of duality: you form an opinion about both Kurtz and Pinbacker based on what’s said about them. This opinion (likely) changes once the men are actually confronted.

Bah, I dunno. Still fleshing it out. But that’s the thing that really stuck out to me most when I read this again.

Rating: 6/10