Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh

By: Joseph Conrad

Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh

Length: 3 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's 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.

Listen to more Audible Signature Classics.

Public Domain (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"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." ( AudioFile)

A timeless classic in the art of storytelling

What made the experience of listening to Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh the most enjoyable?

The most interesting character was 'off screen' for most of the book

Who was your favorite character and why?

Colonel Kurtz

Any additional comments?

This book is undeniably racist in some aspects but more so reflects the ignorance of its time. If you get past this, there is a powerful story about one man's lust for an ultimate and dark power.

Classic Novella

Branagh was the perfect narrator for this dark novella. I can't listen to this without thinking about Apocalypse Now. Many of the scenes from the movie are taken from the book verbatim.

Powerful Book

Would you consider the audio edition of Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh to be better than the print version?

This is a powerful listen and Kenneth Branagh brings each character to gut-wrenching life. The passion and the heat of the strange and mysterious land comes out in his tone and cadence. I found myself going back and listening and re-listening to passages not because I didn't understand, but rather for the lyrical quality of this prose.

What did you like best about this story?

The brooding and simmering quality of the narrator's story as he muses upon the motives of others, but also his own thoughts, his own weaknesses. What happens to us when faced with culture, loneliness, avarice in a shockingly different and remote setting. Looking at "The Other' we can find those who look and talk like ourselves as strange and unfathomable as those who look and act nothing like us.

Which character – as performed by Kenneth Branagh – was your favorite?

It is the narrator's story, and while he met many singular people, his reactions and thoughts stayed with me.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. It should be taken in time, much like the journey he tells of. Let the story develop, build and grow just like the river boat's slow progress upriver. It is a powerful tale that should be savored and considered. Listen to this book.

A dark tale told well

Where does Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Heart of Darkness is not my favorite book, so I thought I'd listen to it...it is still not one of my favorites despite a flawless performance by KB.

What did you like best about this story?

Description of landscape as it matches the mind of its characters.

Which scene was your favorite?

The final scene.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Great story

I tried several times to read this book and always got lost... couldn't concentrate. Hearing it was great, special, amazing. off to watch Apocalypse Now again

Kenneth Branagh is a revelation

I just re-read this book once again and hearing Kenneth Branagh breathe new life into Conrad’s words was delightful.

Gripping

The story is a little slow starting but has a very piercing message with deep symbolism. The story itself is good, but Kenneth Branagh reading it is even better. His masterful performance breathes life into the story’s narrator and the events being described.

A classic story and a fabulous reader

I often complain about readers being unable to properly pronounce. No problem with Branagh.No histrionics, no mispronounciations, just a rich, if grim, tale in a rich voice. Terrific.

politically censored

A book should retain the language of its time. Is that not partly their purpose? At the same time, its doesn't really detract from the story that all racial slurs have been thoroughly blunted, while at the same time The Heart of Darkness isn't as dark if you censor its hate.

Incredible performance

Eloquent use of language from an age of formality performed flawlessly in congruence with the writing.