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CliffsNotes on Conrad's Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer

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This Cliff Notes guide provides a clear and concise analysis and discussion of the famous Conrad short novel. The author discusses Conrad's personal background as it relates to the story, and the characters, themes, plot elements, the social and cultural views and philosophy of the author, and many other aspects of the book in an easy to understand way.

Conrad is one of the few novelists, which include Melville, Tolstoy, Dostoevski, Lawrence Stern, and Jonathan Swift, whose work continues to impress me and has aged well as I've moved into my more mature years. Partly this is because of the dark themes he treats, such as the violence and cruelty and savagery lurking just below the thin veneer of civilization, the brooding and melancholy power of his prose, and partly because English wasn't even his native language--he even learned it as an adult on shipboard.

Heart of Darkness is one Conrad's shortest but greatest works in this sense, and after having read it in high school, I recently reacquainted myself with it after 30 years. I was just as impressed as I was back then. Most readers and movie fans will know the story's influence on Coppola's "Apocalypse Now," which is many ways a tribute to the Conrad book. This is a great book by one of history's greatest authors whose themes continue to resonate today. All an observant and intelligent individual has to do today to realize that Conrad was right about man's innermost nature and that we have not progressed at all in the last 10,000 years of "civilized history" is to look at the current sad state of the world and of humanity in general.

Could not stand reading or watching anything about Vietnam for about 10 years. I eventually watched the movie "Apocalypse Now" I found it interesting but it did not relate to anything in the central highlands. Later I saw "Pork Lips Now" and could relate this to the movie. Finally someone told me that the whole thing was based on "Heart of Darkness". So I decided to read the book. I found it fascinating and much better than the movie. However I could not see the forest of the trees and needed some help in showing me what I was looking at. Because I was not in some school class, I turned to the "Cliffs Notes" Of course my views don't match the notes exactly but they gave me some questions to ask and showed me the forest. The notes include:
* Life of the Author
* Introductions to the Novel
* Lists of Characters
* Brief Plot Synopses
* Summaries & Critical Commentaries
* Critical Essay
* Suggested Essay Topics
* Selected Bibliography
Later I found a movie that was much closer to the original story,
"Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death" (1988)

Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death ~ Shannon Tweed

This is a well written study guide to one of the greatest novels ever written. It helps to unravel all the layers, symbols and themes of Conrad's masterpiece. Without it, I am sure I would not have appreciated the book as much as I do.

Anyone who has had to read either of these titles for school knows that teachers find a lot more in them than first meets the eye. Cliff Notes are a great way to gain insight into books and get a feel for the various interpretations. NOTE TO STUDENTS: You still have to read the book, folks. This just helps you understand it.

Reviewing CliffsNotes on Conrad's Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer is an excellent way to delve into the novel before reading the novel. Cliffsnotes provides background information about the author Joseph Conrad and summative narratives of the book.

Cliffsnotes helps the reader understand the plot and subplots of the novel as well as a hint about the motives of the characters involved in the conflict.