I didn't remember anything about this one. I'm just trying to weed out shorter titles in my lengthy list of books waiting to be read. I was immediately getting Apocalypse Now vibes, and then I realized how the book ended up on my list. This was the novella that inspired the movie. It's not quite the same, though. Instead of the Vietnam War, this story deals with the ivory trade.
Marlow is telling the tale of sailing upriver in the jungle. It's harsh, and Mr. Kurtz is waiting for him at the end. He's more legend than man, and Marlow is interested in just hearing him speak.
The writing is what I dread in older books. This was published in 1899, and I think the writing shows it. The racial language hasn't aged well and appears fairly often. The complex language used for descriptions doesn't make it easy to read without paying close attention. Even though I was trying to pay attention, I still had to go back a few times and reread sections.
I will say the inspiration translated well to the movie. It didn't take me long to make the connection, and of the two, I would rather watch the movie again. I wasn't super fond of the it (I was on the fence on whether I liked it or not), but I didn't really enjoy this story. The writing made it an uphill battle, and I needed more interaction with Mr. Kurtz to understand how he impacted Marlow.
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