One of the things that impressed me most about Conrad\u2019s novel about Charles Marlow\u2019s nightmarish adventures in the Congo was the lushness of language. The atmospheric opening immediately struck me as exceptional:<\/p>\n
The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway. In the offing the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished sprits. A haze rested on the low shores that ran out to sea in vanishing flatness. The air was dark above Gravesend, and farther back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding motionless over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It\u2019s been 118 years since Heart of Darkness<\/em> was published, and I can see the imprint of Conrad\u2019s style on modern authors such as Dan Simmons (most notably in his historical horror novel\u00a0The Terror<\/em>). Novels a century ago could meander in ways that no publisher would accept today; a modern popular novel needs to be a narrative machine if its author expects it to find a good home. The standard advice many beginning writers receive is to open with dialog and avoid opening with a stretch of description. In\u00a0Heart of Darkness<\/em>, the reader finds three whole pages of nothing but descriptive narrative before we encounter the first bit of dialog. But Conrad\u2019s prose is so excellent that I didn\u2019t mind.<\/p>\n\u201cIn the offing the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint\u201d is not only a much more evocative way of describing \u201cseamless\u201d but also foreshadows the protagonist\u2019s focus on rebuilding (and, later, struggling to keep afloat) the steamboat he\u2019s put in charge of. The description \u201cin the luminous space\u201d has a lovely consonance to it, and further, it evokes the brightness of the open sea and sky \u2014 a world that is lost to Marlow on his journey into darkness.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s great color and detail in the middle: tanned sails, drifting barges, red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, the gleam of varnished sprits. These descriptors pop and put the seascape right in the reader\u2019s mind with just a few words. And \u201cvanishing flatness\u201d has a satisfying assonance to it.<\/p>\n
The final line of the paragraph \u2014 \u201cThe air was dark above Gravesend, and farther back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding motionless over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth.\u201d \u2014 is loaded with wonderful atmosphere. The assonance of the repetitive \u201cohs\u201d in \u201cmournful gloom, brooding motionless over\u201d make that part of the description read like a lament. And that line further foreshadows the themes of the book. Why is the greatest town on earth so burdened with a hanging gloom? Because the horrors in the Congo have traveled there, psychic parasites on the souls of the men who have survived that darkness.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s just the opening. The other descriptions throughout the book are equally evocative and stylish. If one can look past the despicable characters and racism in the novel, it\u2019s an excellent study in vivid prose and represents a good model for writers who seek to improve the quality of their own descriptive writing.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the things that impressed me most about Conrad\u2019s novel about Charles Marlow\u2019s nightmarish adventures in the Congo was the lushness of language. The […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[114,113,97,6],"class_list":["post-1674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-writing-advice","tag-description","tag-joseph-conrad","tag-novels","tag-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/heart.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8qT6f-r0","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1729,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/the-secret-sharer\/","url_meta":{"origin":1674,"position":0},"title":"The Secret Sharer","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"February 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Joseph Conrad\u2019s novella\u00a0The Secret Sharer\u00a0tells the story of a young sea-captain who aids Leggatt, the mate of the Sephora who is a fugitive after killing a sailor. This novella offers a tighter and much faster-paced narrative than Conrad\u2019s\u00a0Heart of Darkness\u00a0and I found it to be the better \u201cread\u201d despite\u00a0HoD\u2019s\u00a0many fine\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "book review"","block_context":{"text":"book review","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/book-review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/sharer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/sharer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/sharer.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/sharer.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/sharer.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/sharer.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1721,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/the-shadow-over-innsmouth\/","url_meta":{"origin":1674,"position":1},"title":"The Shadow Over Innsmouth","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"February 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Shadow Over Innsmouth\u00a0is a classic horror novella by H.P. Lovecraft. It tells the first-person story of a young man on break from college who travels to an isolated seaside New England village and discovers that it is run by a cult and most of the townsfolk are doomed to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "book review"","block_context":{"text":"book review","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/book-review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Weird-Shadows-Over-Innsmouth-2013.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Weird-Shadows-Over-Innsmouth-2013.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Weird-Shadows-Over-Innsmouth-2013.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Weird-Shadows-Over-Innsmouth-2013.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Weird-Shadows-Over-Innsmouth-2013.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Weird-Shadows-Over-Innsmouth-2013.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1698,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/the-turn-of-the-screw\/","url_meta":{"origin":1674,"position":2},"title":"The Turn of the Screw","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"January 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I started reading\u00a0Henry James' 1898 novel\u00a0The Turn of the Screw\u00a0with some awareness of the book\u2019s reputation of having an\u00a0ambiguous\u00a0narrative: the young\u00a0governess\u2019s story could be read as a straightforward documentation of a tragic\u00a0haunting\u00a0\u2026 or it could be read as a madwoman\u2019s\u00a0diary, the\u00a0ghosts\u00a0she describes all just figments of her mind. Upon reading\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "book review"","block_context":{"text":"book review","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/book-review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/The-Turn-of-the-Screw-LaFarge.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/The-Turn-of-the-Screw-LaFarge.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/The-Turn-of-the-Screw-LaFarge.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/The-Turn-of-the-Screw-LaFarge.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/The-Turn-of-the-Screw-LaFarge.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/The-Turn-of-the-Screw-LaFarge.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":688,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/movie-review-road-to-perdition\/","url_meta":{"origin":1674,"position":3},"title":"Movie Review: Road to Perdition","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"June 17, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Road To Perdition is a wonderful film based on a graphic novel of the same name written by Max Allan Collins and illustrated by Richard Piers Rayner. It immerses the viewer in six weeks of a fateful Depression-era winter in 1931 when a hitman's professional life and personal life come\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "movie"","block_context":{"text":"movie","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/movie\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":664,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/movie-review-the-salton-sea\/","url_meta":{"origin":1674,"position":4},"title":"Movie Review: The Salton Sea","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"July 15, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"I wanted to see The Salton Sea the moment I saw its intriguing trailer on Apple's Quicktime site, but it seemingly spent only about five minutes in theaters here in Columbus, Ohio before it disappeared. I think the studio figured it had tax write-off marked all over it, and didn't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "movie"","block_context":{"text":"movie","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/movie\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8134,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/recent-poetry-publications\/","url_meta":{"origin":1674,"position":5},"title":"Recent Poetry Publications","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"October 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, my work was published in two new poetry anthologies: Writing Poetry in the Dark from Raw Dog Screaming Press, and Poetry Showcase Vol. IX from the Horror Writers Association. Writing Poetry in the Dark was edited by Stephanie M. Wytovich and includes my article \u201cA Slippery World: Writing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "poetry"","block_context":{"text":"poetry","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/poetry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Poetry book covers","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/poetrypost.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/poetrypost.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/poetrypost.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/poetrypost.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/poetrypost.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/poetrypost.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1674"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1677,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1674\/revisions\/1677"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}