TIME OUT
Classic Choices
Youth/Heart of Darkness/The End of the Tether - Joseph Conrad
Youth, Heart of Darkness and The End of the Tether were originally published in one book of short stories but the other two tales were rather overshadowed by Heart of Darkness. Most of us will be well aware of this book - as much for Marlon Brando’s tour de force performance as muttering, brooding, overweight lunatic General Kurtz in the film adaptation Apocalypse Now as for its actual literary merit.
This is a shame, because Youth and The End of the Tether, which sandwich Heart of Darkness, are a nice contrast to the rather obtuse ramblings of Conrad in the latter. The two yarns are rollicking good sea stories from a man who knew and loved the open ocean. Indeed, all three tales are based on his own experiences.
discusses the bullish is an equally compelling story about an elderly skipper who has reached the end of the line; washed up in some far eastern port. Both are short, sharp and to the point. Gripping throughout. is the least nautical – covering a trip up the Congo in search of a madman – and the most obscure. Some see it as a work of genius, the rest of us are just left feeling a tad baffled by a tale that meanders as much as the river itself.
