• Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh

  • By: Joseph Conrad
  • Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh
  • Length: 3 hrs and 49 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (8,994 ratings)

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Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh  By  cover art

Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh

By: Joseph Conrad
Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh
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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.

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)

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What listeners say about Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh

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riveting

The narrator is perfect for the work. good reason why this is a classic. I could hardly wait for each new chapter.

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A Great Production

This is a good pairing of narrator to story. Kenneth Branagh does a great job with this Conrad classic. His pacing is comfortable while his characterizations come to life with appropriate drama without being over-done.

This book is an easy (although sometimes horrifying) listen.

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Look if your in college your going to have to buy

Ok first off this book is simply AMAZING a classic that has withstood the test of time. In addition, if your getting ready to go to college your going to get this as assigned as reading so to save you time BUY this book.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Branagh is the master!

After listening to Branagh's dramatic reading of Conrad, everything else pales. The average reader of audio books, especially of fiction, is good as long as he or she doesn't get in the way of the work itself, allowing it to speak for itself. All too often, they are such bumbling idiots that they don't even bother to learn the correct pronunciation of the foreign words that crop up in, say, Conrad or Henry James. This is as true of American as it is of 'native' British readers of English-- and is scandalous enough. But with Branagh, Conrad's tale comes so vividly alive THROUGH him, even as he remains absolutely faithful to its text, that one feels that one is finally reading it--hearing it!-- for the first time. Branagh, with his Shakespearean training, INTERPRETS as he reads, speaks, BECOMES what he narrates. I had to rip myself away from this recording, and, if it had been possible, would not have moved an inch until finishing it. I'm a professor of literature, and I now can't imagine ever teaching THE HEART OF DARKNESS without having my students listen to Branagh's rendering. More, please, more from this great master!

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Beautiful

Perfectly orated - expanded my mind. More eloquently acted than any other audiobook I’ve heard. The themes of this adventure generate a story that is absolutely incredible, it’s a classic that survives for good reason. Conrad can explain the abstract like no other.

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Reminds me of some Dickens

At the end of this novela, I asked myself the same question as at the end of 'The Old Curiosity Shop.' What was it about? Sorry, but I don't understand all of the great reviews. It just didn't do anything for me. Since it was technically ok, I had to give it three stars.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Didn’t love it.

I didn’t love it. Maybe I was distracted but not much seemed to happen. I know it’s short, but I thought more would happen in the story.

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Apocalypse Now

I purchased this book as a I am a huge fan of the movie Apocalypse Now. For those who do not know, the movie was based on this book. Extremely well read and definite insight into the movie through this character of Kurtz.

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Fantastic narration, wordy story

i could listen to Mr Branagh read a menu and love it. He made this somewhat verbose story a pleasure. It was also fun seeing the connection to Apocalypse Now.

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Perfect in every way.

This really is the perfect reading of a magnificent book. I have enjoyed listening to it many times. Absolutely perfect.

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