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Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh
- Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh
- Length: 3 hrs and 49 mins
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Editorial 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.
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.
Critic reviews
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What listeners say about Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh
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- William F. Burk
- 03-10-22
Amazing Performance!
I'm not going to lie. The story at times was slightly hard to follow. That said, it was still a great tale. But what truly makes this story so good was the INCREDIBLE performance of the narrator. The voice was easy to get lost in, and a couple times I even got chills. I would definitely recommend this!
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- Karl Pena
- 05-02-22
meh
meh. I enjoyed KB narration more than story. I suppose Im jaded by all the current works that lift from this work.
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- Shane Sager
- 07-06-22
WOW!!
Absolutely incredible. Branagh brings this story to life with vivid visuals, truly unsettling voice acting, and wonderful pronunciation.
Can’t wait to read this one again!
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- austin
- 09-20-22
wow
this book was incredible. my interpretation is that this book is about finding your own meaning of life at the edge of insanity. this book is more about exploring your mind than exploring a jungle
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- Kathryn S. Daugherty
- 12-01-11
Beautiful language, beautifully read
The story can be disturbing because of widespread ignorance and prejudice but the author seems to be aware of it. That makes the difficult parts interesting.
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- Lynn Montague
- 07-27-16
Narration
Would you consider the audio edition of Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh to be better than the print version?
I have already marked narration with 5 starts, but I still have to add that it was fabulous.
Nevertheless, I felt it a bit of a challenge to stay mentally focused. This was my first audio book, so maybe I'll get use to it. Anyway, I bought the kindle version too and read at the same time (most of the time). That was an interesting experience. I'm going to try it again.
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- Brad
- 08-13-16
It doesn't get any better.
loved it. Complements the read spectacularly. Branagh nails it. I highly recommend. Easy to finish.
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- Pinklotuspolo
- 10-28-22
i didn’t get it?
you can’t censor history. clumsy. why are all the audible narrows british. it’s gotten old
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- Alex
- 01-24-23
Well read, interesting read
As a 3 hour listen I would definitely recommend. Were it longer I may hesitate
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- Lauren Loebsack
- 09-02-22
Chilling, beautiful.
Branagh's reading held me captive. The story is greatly served in this rendition. The horror...the horror.
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