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)

Mesmerizing reading

The reading by Kenneth Branagh is mesmerizing! The melancholy and memories of Marlow are brought to life.

The story is itself not always easy to follow on audiobook because of the many long rumination of Marlow. But it's not a long book and I could finish it in one day with some concentration.

Fantastic performance

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely would recommend. A classic story, brilliantly read.

Who was your favorite character and why?

This is not a book where a character is a "favorite". That's not a bad thing

What does Kenneth Branagh bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I'm not usually a fan of Branagh, but his performance here is incredible. As someone else wrote, he tells this as if it's a ghost story. Completely compelling.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Just overall extreme pleasure in the telling

Any additional comments?

It's not a story that fills in every detail.... in some ways you want more.

Easy listening

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Easy listening after a somewhat tedious description of the setting in the first twenty minutes or so.

A Classic Read by a Classic

Who am I to review this narrator, this writer? Excellence breathes through every one of their words. Tune in, drop off, be transported.

Branagh's rendering worthy of this classic

If you could sum up Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh in three words, what would they be?

Intelligence, professionalism, understanding

Who was your favorite character and why?

The narrator

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was awed by the enormity of the setting

Any additional comments?

Would that people still knew how to write prose such as this.

Fantastic performer.

Not only was the story intriguing and compelling, but the performance really brought it to life. I have never heard an audible book so well done. Very enjoyable.

Excellent Story Telling

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

No, Both were very good. It was nice to read along as the story was read, or just sit back and listen.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I haven't finished book yet

What about Kenneth Branagh’s performance did you like?

The way he made you feel the characters he was reading

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

nothing extreme, it did make me chuckles a few times

Branagh is fantastic! Well-written, eerie.

Conrad writes in a slowly unfolding narrative that only reveals enough to keep the reader turning the page. I was slightly off-balance from the beginning. It was a mystery, beautiful writing, exquisite vocabulary (especially for someone writing in his second language).
I was stirred by the themes of human nature, fear, British imperialism and the raping of the African Congo, but I think critics who accuse Conrad of racism miss a deeper perspective. That is, Conrad's protagonist is simply naive, narrow, and blind to a culture and people he doesn't understand. His fear blinds him. That is true of many people throughout history. Marlow is an example.
Branagh is an excellent reader and I was drawn to this because of him. He did not disappoint. I was creeped out by Conrad, but I will certainly read more.

Darkness

This story is atemporal, it doesn't matter how many years pastm we are always fighting the same demons and fears.

There's always a very dark and scary side inside us, and this book (with the wonderful narration) give us just a taste of how in the perfect place we can be the worse version of ourselves. AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY

Great break in experience for Audible

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

This has been top two of the performances heard so far.

Any additional comments?

For the fun of it after listened to the book in its entirety, I went to Sparknotes and took a test on the material to see what I had retained. It was effective for someone with ADD.