Non-spoiler guide to classic books

January 6, 2015 7:50 PM

Hi folks -- I'm getting ready to read Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Was wondering if there's a site that serves as a guide to classic books -- one that gives the reader some background on the book without giving away the plot. Couldn't find anything on Google although did not do an extensive search.
posted by gilast to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

For Heart of Darkness specifically, I found that rereading it after King Leopold's Ghost really enriched the book for me.
posted by ChuraChura at 8:17 PM on January 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

This sounds like a job for cliff's notes.
posted by pintapicasso at 8:45 PM on January 6, 2015 [2 favorites]

The part of the article below the fold is full of spoilers, naturally, but TVTropes' description of the book is a fine introduction:

Heart of Darkness is a novella by Joseph Conrad, originally published as a three-part series in Blackwood's Magazine in 1899.

The book starts in the 19th century with five close friends on a boat in the Thames river just outside London, waiting for the tide to go out. As they fill the time with pleasant conversation, one of them suddenly speaks of how the very land they are on was once "one of the dark places on earth" i.e. how the land was once savage, untamed, and incredibly inhospitable to all who entered. He goes on to explain how he got to know this darkness, along with its effect on people, so incredibly well. It all started when he was just starting out as a seaman... This serves as a Framing Device for the tale of woe.

The tale tells the story of Charles Marlow, a seaman just hired as a ferry captain for a Belgian trading company after the last one was killed by the natives over a petty dispute. The objective, as laid out by his employer, is to pick up and return with the ivory harvests collected by each trading outpost along the way. As he visits the various trading posts and their leaders, he is forced not only to bear witness to, but try not to succumb to the savage environment, the brutal enslavement of the Africans at the hands of the settlers, and the human heart at its absolute darkest. In the center of all of this is Kurtz, a man shrouded in mystery but known by all for both being the manager of the top-earning post and for his controversial methods.

The novella went on to inspire or serve as the base of countless other works, and has long been held as the archetypal anti-colonialist novel for its harsh depictions of the exploitative "grab for Africa" policies used by European powers.

In 1979, the novel finally got a film adaptation in the form of the legendary Apocalypse Now. It's a loose adaptation with the story taking place in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, with Kurtz being an American Colonel gone rogue and Marlow (renamed "Willard") being the soldier in charge of taking him down, but otherwise stays true to the novel's focus on the seemingly inherent evil present in humanity.

The rest of the article is also a great resource to revisit after finishing the book.

Sparknotes is also good. The Context and Themes & Motifs pages reference a handful of specific moments as examples, but as long as you stay away from sections like the Plot Overview, you won't get too many significant giveaways.
posted by Rhaomi at 10:54 PM on January 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Sparknotes and Cliffnotes are the best guides.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:32 AM on January 7, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks so much ChuraChura, PintaPiccaso, Rhaomi, and Ruthless Bunny! These were great options for me and exactly what I was looking for. I am a happy camper now!
posted by gilast at 7:49 AM on January 7, 2015