Listen free for 30 days
-
Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh
- Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh
- Length: 3 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Classics
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £13.79
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Slaughterhouse-Five
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: James Franco
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Traumatized by the bombing of Dresden at the time he had been imprisoned, Pilgrim drifts through all events and history, sometimes deeply implicated, sometimes a witness. He is surrounded by Vonnegut's usual large cast of continuing characters (notably here the hack science fiction writer Kilgore Trout and the alien Tralfamadorians, who oversee his life and remind him constantly that there is no causation, no order, no motive to existence).
-
-
Woefully miscast.
- By D. Payne on 12-06-18
-
Burmese Days
- By: George Orwell
- Narrated by: Allan Corduner
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unabridged recording of Orwell's brilliant first novel read by Allan Corduner. The story is largely based on Orwell's own experiences as a police officer in Burma. Set in the dying days of the Raj, it depicts the harshness and darker side of colonial rule. And at its centre is John Flory, a lone individual hopelessly trapped in a vast political system; themes which set the agenda for much of his writing. Burmese Days was Orwell's first novel, and was issued in 1934 in America, then a year later in the UK where there had been fears and controversy initially that the material could be libellous.
-
-
A wonderful listen
- By Chelin on 05-12-12
-
The Sense of an Ending
- By: Julian Barnes
- Narrated by: Richard Morant
- Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they would navigate the girl-less sixth form together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour, and wit. Maybe Adrian was more serious than the others, certainly more intelligent, but they all swore to stay friends for life. Now Tony is retired.
-
-
The Sense of an Ending
- By Carol on 01-09-11
-
Breakfast of Champions
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: John Malkovich
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Breakfast of Champions (1973) provides frantic, scattershot satire and a collage of Vonnegut's obsessions. His recurring cast of characters and American landscape was perhaps the most controversial of his canon; it was felt by many at the time to be a disappointing successor to Slaughterhouse-Five, which had made Vonnegut's literary reputation.
-
-
A unique and biting wit
- By Kaggy on 28-06-18
-
Brighton Rock
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Samuel West
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unabridged audio edition of Graham Greene's classic gang-war thriller. A gang war is raging through the dark underworld of Brighton. Pinkie, malign and ruthless, has killed a man. Believing he can escape retribution, he is unprepared for the courageous, life-embracing Ida Arnold, who is determined to avenge a death.... Read by Samuel West.
-
-
Excellent.
- By Abi on 09-04-11
-
Down and Out in Paris and London
- By: George Orwell
- Narrated by: Jeremy Northam
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An autobiographical study, Down and Out in Paris and London follows Orwell as he tramps around both Paris and London. Pawning his belongings to buy food, unemployment, drinking heavily and jostling for a place in homeless hostels are but a few of the experiences related with candour and insight in this unabridged exclusive audiobook. Orwell was arguably one of the first 'gonzo' journalists.
-
-
Superb
- By Richard Blant on 20-07-15
-
Slaughterhouse-Five
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: James Franco
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Traumatized by the bombing of Dresden at the time he had been imprisoned, Pilgrim drifts through all events and history, sometimes deeply implicated, sometimes a witness. He is surrounded by Vonnegut's usual large cast of continuing characters (notably here the hack science fiction writer Kilgore Trout and the alien Tralfamadorians, who oversee his life and remind him constantly that there is no causation, no order, no motive to existence).
-
-
Woefully miscast.
- By D. Payne on 12-06-18
-
Burmese Days
- By: George Orwell
- Narrated by: Allan Corduner
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unabridged recording of Orwell's brilliant first novel read by Allan Corduner. The story is largely based on Orwell's own experiences as a police officer in Burma. Set in the dying days of the Raj, it depicts the harshness and darker side of colonial rule. And at its centre is John Flory, a lone individual hopelessly trapped in a vast political system; themes which set the agenda for much of his writing. Burmese Days was Orwell's first novel, and was issued in 1934 in America, then a year later in the UK where there had been fears and controversy initially that the material could be libellous.
-
-
A wonderful listen
- By Chelin on 05-12-12
-
The Sense of an Ending
- By: Julian Barnes
- Narrated by: Richard Morant
- Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they would navigate the girl-less sixth form together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour, and wit. Maybe Adrian was more serious than the others, certainly more intelligent, but they all swore to stay friends for life. Now Tony is retired.
-
-
The Sense of an Ending
- By Carol on 01-09-11
-
Breakfast of Champions
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: John Malkovich
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Breakfast of Champions (1973) provides frantic, scattershot satire and a collage of Vonnegut's obsessions. His recurring cast of characters and American landscape was perhaps the most controversial of his canon; it was felt by many at the time to be a disappointing successor to Slaughterhouse-Five, which had made Vonnegut's literary reputation.
-
-
A unique and biting wit
- By Kaggy on 28-06-18
-
Brighton Rock
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Samuel West
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unabridged audio edition of Graham Greene's classic gang-war thriller. A gang war is raging through the dark underworld of Brighton. Pinkie, malign and ruthless, has killed a man. Believing he can escape retribution, he is unprepared for the courageous, life-embracing Ida Arnold, who is determined to avenge a death.... Read by Samuel West.
-
-
Excellent.
- By Abi on 09-04-11
-
Down and Out in Paris and London
- By: George Orwell
- Narrated by: Jeremy Northam
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An autobiographical study, Down and Out in Paris and London follows Orwell as he tramps around both Paris and London. Pawning his belongings to buy food, unemployment, drinking heavily and jostling for a place in homeless hostels are but a few of the experiences related with candour and insight in this unabridged exclusive audiobook. Orwell was arguably one of the first 'gonzo' journalists.
-
-
Superb
- By Richard Blant on 20-07-15
-
Almayer's Folly
- By: Joseph Conrad
- Narrated by: Geoffrey Howard
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in Malaya, Almayer's Folly is Joseph Conrad's first novel. In it, he charts the decline of a Dutch merchant after a 25 year struggle against overwhelming odds. Though married to a bitter and hateful Malayan wife, Almayer refuses to accept the financial ruin which he has precipitated. Instead, he dreams of fantastic wealth and a return to the civilization of his youth, accompanied by his loving daughter, Nina.
-
-
Dark and stimulating
- By Tom on 23-02-10
-
Within the Tides
- By: Joseph Conrad
- Narrated by: Geoffrey Howard
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written at various times and under various influences, the four stories contained in Within the Tides are linked by Conrad's treatment of loyalty and betrayal. They range in setting from the Far East via 18th-century Spain to England. The tone shifts from the tragic inevitability of "The Planter of Malata" and the pathos of "Because of the Dollars" to the gothic "The Inn of the Two Witches" and the grim humor of "The Partner." Experimental in form, they represent yet another branch of Conrad's search for moral truth.
-
The Rover
- By: Joseph Conrad
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the Revolution rages in France, a seafarer named Peyrol, a master-gunner in the French republican navy, pirate, and for nearly 50 years, rover of the outer seas, comes to the end of a lifetime lived on the seas and seeks refuge in a remote farmhouse on the French Riviera. As he attempts to settle into a peaceful existence, Peyrol struggles to redefine himself and returns to the sea for one final voyage.
-
Typhoon
- By: Joseph Conrad
- Narrated by: Roger Allam
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Typhoon is the story of a steamship and her crew beset by a tempest and of the captain whose dogged courage is tested to the limit. Captain MacWhirr was an ordinary man. However, when his steamer Nan-Shan blunders into a hurricane, he and his crew must pull together to survive. The steadfast courage of an undemonstrative captain and the imaginative readiness of his young first mate becomes a partnership vital to human survival as they are challenged from without by the elements, and from within by human doubts and fears.
-
-
Well done Roger
- By Clare on 28-03-13
-
The Power and the Glory
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Andrew Sachs
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a poor Mexican state in the 1930s, the Red Shirts have viciously persecuted the clergy and murdered many priests. Yet one remains - the ‘whisky priest’ who believes he's lost his soul. On the run and with the police closing in, his routes of escape are being shut off, his chances getting fewer. But compassion and humanity force him along the road to his destiny…Andrew Sachs reads Graham Greene’s powerful novel about a worldly Roman Catholic priest and his quest for penitence and dignity.
-
-
No small entertainment
- By Aquilina Christophorus on 12-01-18
-
Victory
- By: Joseph Conrad
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of the greatest modern writers in world literature comes a magnificent story of love, adventure, and rescue played out against the shimmering South Seas. Alone on a tropical island, a Swedish baron and a beautiful violinist discover the long-lost joys of love. But when two treasure hunters arrive on the beach, the lovers know that evil has invaded their romantic paradise—an evil they are powerless to stop.
-
The End of the Affair
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Colin Firth
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Audie Award Winner, Audiobook of the Year, 2013. Audie Award Nominee, Best Solo Narration, 2013. Graham Greene’s evocative analysis of the love of self, the love of another, and the love of God is an English classic that has been translated for the stage, the screen, and even the opera house. Academy Award-winning actor Colin Firth (The King's Speech, A Single Man) turns in an authentic and stirring performance for this distinguished audio release.
-
-
Depressing story but beautifully performed
- By Dr on 31-10-16
-
The Monster Collection
- By: Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson, and others
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage, Dan Stevens, Greg Wise, and others
- Length: 30 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Audible presents a special edition of three Gothic masterpieces: a brand-new Audible Exclusive recording of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Bram Stoker's Dracula.
-
-
Need to say which chapter = which book!!
- By Christopher on 06-03-20
-
The Odyssey
- By: Homer, Emily Wilson - translator
- Narrated by: Claire Danes
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Acclaimed actress Claire Danes burnishes an epic story of heroes, gods, and monsters in a groundbreaking translation of The Odyssey, the first great adventure story in the Western literary tradition. When the wily warrior-king Odysseus sets off for home after the Trojan War, he doesn’t realize this simple undertaking will become a perilous journey of 10 years. Beset at every turn, he encounters obstacles, detours, and temptations—both supernatural and human—while his wife Penelope fends off would-be suitors desperate to take the throne.
-
-
Line by Line Translation of Homer's Odyssey
- By IM1 on 28-11-18
-
Lord of the Flies
- By: William Golding
- Narrated by: Martin Jarvis
- Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A plane crashes on a desert island and the only survivors, a group of schoolboys, assemble on the beach and wait to be rescued. By day they inhabit a land of bright fantastic birds and dark blue seas, but at night their dreams are haunted by the image of a terrifying beast. As the boys’ delicate sense of order fades, so their childish dreams are transformed into something more primitive and their behaviour starts to take on a murderous, savage significance.
-
-
There's a reason it's a classic
- By Ant on 12-12-13
-
Nostromo
- By: Joseph Conrad
- Narrated by: Nigel Anthony
- Length: 18 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the fictional South American country of Costaguana, Nostromo explores the volatile politics and crippling greed surrounding the San Tomé silver mine. The story of power, love, revolutions, loyalty and reward is told with richly evocative description and brilliantly realised characters. But Nostromo is more than an adventure story; it is also a profoundly dark moral fable. Its language is as compellingly resonant as the sea itself; the characters absorbing and complex.
-
-
Very difficult to engage with
- By Oli on 14-02-19
-
The Captain and the Enemy
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Victor was only 12 when the Captain took him away from school to live with Liza, his girlfriend. He claimed that Victor, now reborn as Jim Smith, had been won as the result of a bet. Having reached his 20s, Jim attempts to piece together the story.
-
-
Great mini-novel, not common these days
- By Hasnat Safder on 26-06-21
Editor reviews
"The horror! The horror!" In this brooding and justly celebrated novella of 1902, seaman Charles Marlow is cruising quietly down the Thames at dusk with some friends. As night begins to fall, he tells them of his harrowing journey down an African river in search of the unscrupulous and near-legendary ivory trader named Kurtz, a quest deep into inky spiritual and symbolic darkness. Acclaimed Irish actor/director Kenneth Branagh impersonates Marlow in this recording. Admirably, while fully playing the drama, he never goes overboard. He plays the tale for the great yarn that it is. But had he taken more cognizance of its trajectory and subtleties, he would have made the listening experience far richer than he has.
Summary
Prose that demands to be read aloud requires a special kind of narrator. For the Audible Signature Classics edition of Joseph Conrad’s atmospheric masterpiece, Heart of Darkness, we called upon four-time Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh.
Branagh’s performance is riveting because he reads as though he’s telling a ghost story by a campfire, capturing the story’s sense of claustrophobia, while hinting at the storyteller Marlow’s own creeping madness. Heart of Darkness follows Captain Marlow into the colonial Congo where he searches for a mysterious ivory trader, Kurtz, and discovers an evil that will haunt him forever.
With this landmark work, Conrad is credited with bringing the novel into the twentieth century; we think Branagh brings it into the twenty-first.
Stay tuned for more one-of-a-kind performances from actors David Hyde Pierce, Leelee Sobieski, Tim Curry, and more, only from Audible Signature Classics.
Critic reviews
More from the same
What listeners say about Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- S. Goodyear
- 13-04-16
Haunting and beautiful
This classic text was beautifully narrated and evoked such vivid images of the events taking place that you could imagine yourself part of the story each time you listened.
Anyone who enjoys a well written and decadent story should listen to this recording. I have read the story many times but to hear it read to you by such a well spoken and emotional voice is fantastic. Kenneth Branagh is amazing as the story teller and with his perfect diction and English accent transports you back in time to the setting of the tale without affectation or pretence.
Although the subject matter is dark it is a joy to hear the tale told.
A must listen!
21 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Fiona
- 13-05-16
Just bliss
Such a strange eerie story. So beautifully read - Kenneth Branagh has such a rich, expressive voice. Highly recommended.
18 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Mr
- 23-12-12
A treat for the senses
Ever since I first read this novella as part of my studies for A Level English Literature, Conrad's prose transported me to a radically different world where colonial Africa became an arena where mankind itself battled to remain uncorrupted and unaffected by the darker side of humanity. Branagh, as we would expect from a master actor of his calibre, captures this conflict for man's soul excellently as he assumes the character of Marlow and takes us through his journey to Africa, up the snake-like river and into the very heart of darkness.
15 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Amit
- 27-05-11
Heart of Darkness - Read by Kenneth Branagh
I must confess I was initially put off by the "celebrity" author tag, but I am very glad I did get the audiobook. Branagh's reading verged on the lyrical in places - and he makes full use of his theatrical skills.
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Hugo G
- 06-05-18
Branagh triumphs but Conrad disappoints
Essentially, this much discussed and disputed book failed to hold my attention overall, simply because it is ovewritten, especially in its latter stages. Branagh's reading is powerful and evocative but even he cannot quite sustain interest in the long final chapter - there are only three - as Conrad laboriously reveals the nature of the "heart of darkness".
The book has provoked reactions across the critical spectrum, from lavish praise as a seminal work of western literature to a racist celebration of imperialist colonialism. I suppose it's one of those books one ought to read. If you think so, listening to Kenneth Branagh's dulcet tones may make the experience more enjoyable.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Anthony
- 19-01-13
Superb narration of a timeless classic
"The horror, the horror" ... timeless classic novel about colonial exploitation and oppression. Beautifully written, full of foreboding from the start. Difficult to switch off; probably best read/heard one uncluttered day from beginning to end as if you were sitting with Marlowe and listening to his tale via Conrad.
15 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wras
- 06-03-15
A reminder to question the conceits of culture
This is a story laden with history and the shame of that history , also a story that has metamorphosed into Apocalypse Now and Hearts of Darkness: A Film-makers Apocalypse A documentary of the making of the film that resembles some of the struggles in the book. This makes it hard to judge or criticize without those influences prejudicing the commentary.
It is still a poignant story of the worst of colonial Africa, and the attitudes of the period. but at the beginning the narrator comments about how in the more distant past of Britain they had been the savages of the Roman empire giving us a glimpse that power and abuse are timeless.
If you have ever wonder why so many animals are nearly extinct this book and its language is a very good example, the companies main interest is ivory but the one word never mention in the book is elephant and all that this men do is collect ivory. The casual and institutionalised abuse of the locals is I am sure described in a very sanitized way, I suspect that the HORROR was much larger. Conrad also describes and inefficient colonial force and wonder why the people of this lands never just wiped them out, it is ponder many writers have made about other conflicts the best reasoning and perhaps the saddest was by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in The Gulag Archipelago “ you surrender because you think “It’s a mistake! They will set things right!” but they is just you, the other "they" are not there to set things right but to implement the new regime and so it goes.
Mr kurtz is not a truly well drawn character and the devotion felt by others seems strange to the modern reader; unlike Kurtz in Apocalypse Now who is charismatic and mad with modern Horror.
A good book to look back and not forget the unlimited inhumanity of man in the pursuit of profit. A reminder to question the conceits of culture and ideology.
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Howler
- 07-04-12
Five stars!
Superb narration by Kenneth Branagh - he injects such realism into the narrative. He must be my favourite male narrator of all time!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 06-04-16
Very deep.
Fantastic story that formed the basis for the film Apocalypse Now. Far better than the film and vastly more expansive in scale.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Emmanuel Zakebam
- 28-11-16
Unmissable!
A mellifluous romp through the darkest recesses of the human soul, beautiful and bitter in equal measure... Branagh's reading is unsurpassable and captures every subtlety of the text. Unmissable!
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- J. A.
- 21-06-20
Censored
This is a great novel but the reader has censored some language that would be considered offensive today. This is a great disservice to the story itself. I recommend another audio version that is more faithful.
51 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Long_Schlong_Silver
- 27-09-18
Disgusting Revision
The text is exceptionally well recited. HOWEVER, in researching this novella I came to realize a disgusting change had taken place. The word nigger has been completely scrubbed from this reading and replaced with the word black. I find this to be appalling, as it has substantially changed the tone of the narrator's commentary on black Africans. The text is now fundamentally changed. This change was no doubt well-meaning, but implies that historical reality itself is unsuitable, offensive, and so unnecessary to understanding the literature that it warrants revision. As a consequence, just to preserve an idiotic sense of comfy politeness during the reading of a novel which largely features violent European imperialism, the editors have disarmed the reality of the text and removed it from history. I am most offended in that I would have never noticed this change had I not researched it further, giving me a false impression of the author, rhe story's contents, and its place in history. I cannot stress enough how disappointed I am by this. It was such an excellent reading, otherwise.
308 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Darwin8u
- 21-11-12
Conrad's Brilliant & Wild Novella
The novella is literature's most compellingly roaming form and Conrad absolutely owns it with Heart of Darkness. I first read Conrad in high school, with throngs of other pimply kids. I liked it sure, but didn't understand all of the conflciting currents of this brilliant story. I was re-introduced to Heart of Darkness when I recognized it in Francis Ford Coppola brilliant Apocalypse Now. During the last few years I've been on a huge Conrad kick, listening or reading to Lord Jim, Victory, The Secret Agent, Nostromo, etc.
The man is simply amazing. It is incredible to think that he could write better in his 3rd language (English) than most writers could ever hope to write in their first. In this way, he shares a lot with Nabokov.
Anyway, this is one of those few works I constantly return to for its humanity and for its inspiriation. Kenneth Branagh's reading of HoD is amazing in both its depth and nuance.
73 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Michael
- 11-06-17
God is Dead (for the first time)
I had not read any Conrad until recently, and was mildly surprised Conrad had four novels on Modern Library's Top 100 list (more than any other author). Having now completed the four Conrad novels on that list (Nostromo, Lord Jim, The Secret Agent, and The Heart of Darkness) I definitely enjoyed this version of the Heart of Darkness the most, yet I did not find any of these "must reads" except to gain, first hand, a historical perspective on modernist literature.
Conrad's writing of around 1900 is essentially modern and the earliest novels I have found in which "God is dead". This is not at all explicit, but is subtly, yet distinctly, implicit. In the 1880's Nietzsche declared "God is dead" but it took a while before novels began to explore this viewpoint. I was not expecting this outlook when I started Heart of Darkness, I was expecting a dark adventure novel. I found the writing excellent, but was surprised by the modernist outlook and style elements.
Some have considered Heart of Darkness racist, as the novel clearly objectifies native Africans. I would contend that Conrad objectifies everybody in his novels. There is racism, but it is the racism of the the society and characters, not of the author. The author seems to point out the absurdity, and mindless conformity, of racism (and many other social constructs). The novels are not about story, or about character, but instead are impressionistic interpretations of the author's nihilistic existentialist world view. The author's language is rich and powerful with exaggerated and non-linear descriptions.
Sometimes a book makes a "best" list because it is truly great, sometimes because it is very good and was a creative first. I think the latter applies to these Conrad novels.
There is a strong similarity of fundamental outlook between these four novels. I am happy to have read them all, but won't recommend them all to my daughter...I will recommend Heart of Darkness.
The narration by Branagh is wonderfully perfect and this narration makes this a really wonderful first Conrad.
37 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- Harold
- 11-12-10
From Civilization into Darkness
The enigmatic narrator Marlowe tells his dark story of madness and despair from the deck of a ship anchored in the Thames in the harbor of London, the then world's center of commerce and civilization. It ends in the heart of madness and despair, the Congo river deep in Africa. In this short novel, which has been called one of the most important works in modern literature, Marlow's voice is that of Kenneth Branagh, one of the finest of actors today. His voice gives a complete new dimension with an interpretation on a richer more meaningful level that is impossible with just the printed word.
52 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Sher from Provo
- 05-11-11
Dark story, much to ponder
This book is so full of symbolism that I had to listen to it twice to get the most out of it. I checked out sparknotes in between listens so as to get as much as I could out of the second listen, and it was a smart move on my part. If I had been satisfied with one time through, I would have missed the whole point of the story. It is a short book, more of a novella, which might help entice me to read it again in the future. It is a great allegory and commentary on human nature. Conrad is a great writer. I think I will ponder on this story for a long time and try to determine which character I am most like at an given time. I will also use it to analyze (not judge) those around me. It is inevitable, I think. Read this book if you enjoy stories that make you think, dig deep for hidden meanings, and analyze. It will stay with you for a long time. However, keep in mind that it was written for another era and much of the structure should not be considered or evaluated according to modern standards. It is a classic and will stand up to the test of time if the reader remembers that fact. The story itself is timeless.
I can't say enough good about narrator Kenneth Branagh. Fabulous!!
33 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Thomas
- 06-02-18
Branagh kills it
Branagh's performance is absolutely stunning, especially so in the 3rd & final chapter. Would highly recommend
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- Kyle
- 10-12-10
Great narration
This is where I wish we could give two scores, one for narration and one for writing.
I was assigned The Heart of Darkness in high school and despised every minute of it. In fact, I have often referenced it as my most-abhorred book.
As an adult, I wanted to give the book a second chance, and I figured if I didn't like it with Kenneth Branagh narrating it, there was no hope for reconciliation. I figured that four hours was short enough a time to devote to this experiment.
Branagh gets an A+. The narration is impeccable. If you like this story, you're in for a treat.
Unfortunately, I still can't stand the book. I didn't agree with Conrad's premise as a kid and nothing has changed in the interim.
But, that's just me. If you like this story or want to experience it for the first time, this is in the upper echelon of audiobooks.
68 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- MikelMask
- 09-09-18
Making Joseph Conrad Interesting
I feel like an uneducated Philistine by saying that I have attempt to read Conrad's Heart of Darkness a number of times but have never been able to complete it. In all cases, I failed because I found Conrad's dense prose, lack of story, and philosophical musings boring. However, Sir Kenneth Branagh is able to make the story come to life in a way that that the prose and musings become interesting and worth the time digesting. I understand now why this book is considered a classic of English literature. I highly recommend this Audible book.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 07-12-10
Highly enjoyable.
This was my first time reading Heart of Darkness. It was highly gripping, and Kenneth Branagh does a great job at narrating. I listened to the entire book in one sitting. There's not much more for me to add, because it is such a classic novella.
37 people found this helpful