The concept was incredible, and some of the images were deeply moving and felt like a fairly accurate rendition of Conrad’s words, but overall, the execution was shaky. If you liked Heart of Darkness, you’ll likely like this, too! But if you didn’t, this won’t change your mind.

Two introductions—attempting to justify the project. Yet the colonial atrocities cannot be hidden, or explained. This adaptation by Peter Kuper was not as interesting as some of the others I have read. Certainly it did not make me want to pick up Heart of Darkness (which is lurking here on a shelf). But those introductions! Whenever anyone tries to apologize in the introduction just put the book down and walk away.

It was too short. Another 20-30 pages could have given more depth to the story. I appreciated the anti-racism effort that was put into the adaptation by way of illustrations. It has a good Forward and an interesting Introduction by the Artist/Adapter.

It’s hard for me to rate this because I read and taught Conrad’s story for many years and know it so well that it’s hard to judge this adaptation. Although the original is a hard read, it is a much richer and nuanced experience than this simplified, dumbed-down version. Nevertheless, Kuper tells the story well and hits all of the key moments. He uses his artwork to convey reactions and horrors that are more subtle in the original text but help get the story’s main message across. He included man...

This was a really captivating recapitulation of Conrad's novella. Though I'm not sure Kuper offers up a less racist retelling of Heart of Darkness (as he sets out to do), I think his interpretation effectively captures the ineffable horror at the existential heart of the novel. I still think the Congolese aren't given much narrative space, but I also recognize that Kuper is dealing with a novel that is resolved to leave the Congolese in the background, and so the fault lies more with Conrad (and...

This was an ambitious project. There is already so much debate around the place of Heart of Darkness in the cannon, and I've spent the last few years teaching Things Fall Apart and postcolonial literature with only references to Heart of Darkness. I didn't want to create a space for it in the curriculum if it meant losing the perspective of the subaltern.This book seeks to portray Conrad's story while subverting a lot of the racist implications Achebe highlighted graphically. I was hoping that t...

I picked up this graphic novel version of Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness from my local library just because it caught my eye laying on the new fiction shelf. I really like the size and heft of the book, and I think the author did a great job of summarizing the book down to the key elements. To me, this book is a much more exciting and thematic version of Clif's Notes with pictures for Heart of Darkness. The introduction and foreword are really good - I liked how the author chose Maya Ja...

Seeing as how I have not yet read the novel “Heart of Darkness,” I was a bit reluctant to read this graphic adaptation. However, I figured this would be a good opportunity to turn literary traditions on their heads by reading the comic version of the novel before the actual work, which is not something I tend to do. Because of this, I base this review mostly on Peter Kuper’s presentation of then story rather than the story itself (which I also believe I’d hold in high regard). I think Kuper does...

I attempted to read the original when I was too dumb to sit through. In high school I had a big Doors/Jim Morrison phase with put me onto Apocalypse Now and HOD. I am probably still too dumb to read the original, so I thought I would try this graphic-novelized version instead when I saw it at the library. The artwork is stark and interesting and the story must do a pretty good job of paring down the original.I might go take a look at the novel again. But probably not.

“On we crawled towards Kurtz, like a sluggish beetle, feeling very small as we penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness.”Marlow’s tale of his trip up river into Africa. And the European greed for ivory and their disgust/disdain for the natives. It is a story I was to read in 12th grade, but didn't. And reading a graphic novel is hardly the same as reading the actual book. But, I did not enjoy the story at all, and doubt now that I will tackle the "real" text. It just didn't get th...

I picked this up because it caught my eye while at the library. I had tried to read the original and found the racist language too much, and the plot boring. As it is considered a classic though, I was curious about the storyline, and figured why not give the graphic novel a chance.Reading this helped confirm for me that the book is indeed not worth reading at all.

I had to read Heart of Darkness in my AP English class and my teacher made the class read this book. I've never encountered so much confusion in such a small book before. But I think I have the writing style to thank for that. After the story was more thoroughly analyzed in class, I appreciated the story much more. The content was very real and definitely meaningful. Fast forward three years, and now that I've encountered the graphic novel version of this book, I can much more easily see why my

Reading Peter Kuper’s graphic adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness was a real treat. The eminent historian, Maya Jasanoff, wrote the foreword to the book. Her comments are precise and accessible, and they place the classic text within its proper socio-cultural and historical context. Kuper conducted his own research as well. It is clear to me that he respects the source material, yet also acknowledges the lasting impact of its racial and colonial themes. His reflections on Heart of Da...

I read the original story decades ago, and all I really remember is that is seemed to take forever to slog through a mere 100 pages of Conrad's torturous prose.Kuper gamely tries to adapt the work into a graphic novel, but chopping away most of Conrad's words just reveals what a thin and stupid story this is. A man on a boat awaiting a tide in England tells a story about taking another boat slowly up a river in Africa to see a guy named Kurtz. The story tries to convince us how important Kurtz i...

Graphic novel treatment of a classic. Art is very effective in portraying the feeling behind this novel.

“The horror! The horror!”—KurtzI reread this because the publisher sent it to me several days ago, so I thought I would do them the favor of updating my review, below:I chose not to reread Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899) when I picked this up at the library a couple days ago. I have been reading Kuper’s works and admired his adaptation of Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis,” another grim classic, so I thought I would check this out. I like Kuper’s deeply researched engagement with Conrad and hi...

A really good book that I won in a giveaway. I never read the original. I was enjoying the book but then started enjoying it even more when it hit me... omg, Apocalypse Now! lol. The drawings were nicely done and helps bring the story to life. I would definitely recommend it.

I can't remember the last time I sat down and read an entire book in one sitting. I loved that Kuper covered criticisms of Heart of Darkness in the intro, even mentioning an African post-colonial writer who may have been Conrad's greatest critic-Chinua Achebe. In fact, Achebe's final paragraph in Things Fall Apart might be read as a sassy little zing at Conrad, who he believed to be an irredeemable racist. Is Heart of Darkness racist? Well, yeah, yes it is. It was written by a white colonizer in...

A few years ago I read Conrad's Heart of Darkness as part of my reading the Random House Modern Library top 100 novels of the 20th century. I didn't care much for it. (My Goodreads review is here .) I entered and won the Goodreads giveaway for Peter Kuper's graphic novel adaptation because I love the graphic novel format and thought the adaptation might make more sense to me. The foreword (by a Conrad scholar) and introduction (by Kuper) really provide some insight into the story and Kuper's tak...

I thought this was pretty cool! I’m familiar with the artists work since he took over for Prohias in Spy vs Spy in Mad Magazine. I can’t say it would be the best way to illustrate every story, but it definitely works with this story. This is a true classic, I’ve read the book and now the illustrated version. I love the way the madness was portrayed, very real and haunting. So many questions of right and wrong and moral ambiguity and what makes a person. Good stuff! Years ago I was at the Burning...