Why it's so hard to follow the train of thought? There's

>>8861421
Reminds me of Blood Meridian

>>8861421
Idk this seems fairly linear to me but this is all I've read of his. The prose isn't anything great but it gets the job done and is only mildly distracting

It's that old-timey Victorian prose, hyuk. Not that difficult. He's talking about boats and the mouth of the Thames. Read the sparknotes if you're missing something.

He's essentially a writer for very young people.

>>8861457
Sometimes while reading I find myself wondering where the protagonist is, where is he going, what has he to do, etc. That's not normal, considered I'm a very observant and alert reader

It's not going to get better OP. I read this book a couple of years ago, and it's difficult to understand.

Also I felt the plot in general was sub-par. Ending bits were really good though.

>>8861421
Have you read what Leavis had to say on him? I don't agree with all of his conclusions but it might give you a better understanding and appreciation of Conrad's prose, which is very good if somewhat dense at times, much like Henry James' works.

>>8861468
I don't find it difficult to understand, just flat and distracting. Let's put it this way: it doesn't have a magnet's effect

>>8861421
It's because he's bilingual. His sentences are close to natural flow of polish. And polish being far more complex language than english makes his prose complicated.

>>8861477
And that's why his prose seems alienating to native english speakers. For me, a polish person, it's pleasant and natural to read him in english.

>>8861477
That could be a good explanation. I didn't know he was bilingual.

>>8861486
>they don't teach about Conrad being polish
feels bad man

>Conrad's prose is awful

Now I know what people on this board's opinion of prose is worth.

>>8861494
I'm sorry man. But it's my fault cause I didn't check his wikipedia page before I started reading

>plebs can't read Conrad
yeah, what's new

I just want everybody to know that this is one of the gayest threads I've ever seen, and I lurk /lgbt/

>>8861533
What makes it gay?
This thread doesn't seem very happy to me. We're talking Conrad.
Yes, I know, this joke is awful. But I find it funny that we interprete this word differently than how it was interpretated houndred years ago. Just like the word nigger, that Conrad really liked.
Maybe let's talk about alleged Conrad's racism? Do you think Heart of Darkness is racist? I think that negative look at negroes was example of negative look rather than negative look itself. Visualisation of what colonialism does, not a embrace of it.

>>8861564
case in point

>>8861570
do you want me to cite the fragments of the novel? I can't do that, I've read that book years ago. I base my point on memory.

>>8861576
To give you something more specific tho, I remember comparing description of first Norman conquerors of today's english land being very similiar to one of colonisators entering the Congo river. London, centre of civilization of that time, was once of the same status which savages has from perspective of an European. It's like Conrad was cultural relativist, so a anti-racist.

no discussion on /lit/, only opinions (based on someone's else opinions)
fucking plebs

>>8861502
Lmao right? I can't get over this shit

>
"I came upon a boiler wallowing in the grass, then found a path leading up the hill. It turned aside for the boulders, and also for an undersized railway-truck lying there on its back with its wheels in the air. One was off. The thing looked as dead as the carcass of some animal. I came upon more pieces of decaying machinery, a stack of rusty rails. To the left a clump of trees made a shady spot, where dark things seemed to stir feebly. I blinked, the path was steep. A horn tooted to the right, and I saw the black people run. A heavy and dull detonation shook the ground, a puff of smoke came out of the cliff, and that was all. No change appeared on the face of the rock. They were building a railway. The cliff was not in the way or anything; but this objectless blasting was all the work going on.

>"A slight clinking behind me made me turn my head. Six black men advanced in a file, toiling up the path. They walked erect and slow, balancing small baskets full of earth on their heads, and the clink kept time with their footsteps. Black rags were wound round their loins, and the short ends behind waggled to and fro like tails. I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck, and all were connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinking. Another report from the cliff made me think suddenly of that ship of war I had seen firing into a continent. It was the same kind of ominous voice; but these men could by no stretch of imagination be called enemies. They were called criminals, and the outraged law, like the bursting shells, had come to them, an insoluble mystery from the sea. All their meagre breasts panted together, the violently dilated nostrils quivered, the eyes stared stonily uphill. They passed me within six inches, without a glance, with that complete, deathlike indifference of unhappy savages. Behind this raw matter one of the reclaimed, the product of the new forces at work, strolled despondently, carrying a rifle by its middle. He had a uniform jacket with one button off, and seeing a white man on the path, hoisted his weapon to his shoulder with alacrity. This was simple prudence, white men being so much alike at a distance that he could not tell who I might be. He was speedily reassured, and with a large, white, rascally grin, and a glance at his charge, seemed to take me into partnership in his exalted trust. After all, I also was a part of the great cause of these high and just proceedings.

I can't believe people on /lit/ think that this prose is both difficult and bad.

>>8861689
Thanks for the reminder. I read it quite a while ago and liked it and reading it again I recall that it is excellent.

>>8861463
Go away Nabokov

>>8861689
It's not difficult, just incredibly bland.

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>>8861917
>I like my prose flashy!

In Conrad the sentence itself takes precedence. Not the paragraph, not the plot, not the character, setting, or even "prose" as such, but the sentence is the jewel in the crown. Everything else is secondary to the motion of thought as it trickles through the winding river of the Conradian sentence (James is similar in this regard, as >>8861473 notes, but whereas Conrad presents a meandering form of thinking, with James, the sentence is like a loose knot whose reading gently unties. At least in the early James; the later James gets decidedly more Gordian, to continue the metaphor.)

I'm op and I've got something to say to you all.

>>8861502
>>8861520
I want you to come to my house and wander around admiring my bookshelves and my infinite piles of books from every era, which I've read, and then, once you're intimidated enough by my ultra-patrician highest level readings, I want you to kneel in front of me, SAY SORRY and finally suck my cock until I jerk off on your pimply faces

>>8861668
I really suggest you to buy a long, shimmering, silver crowbar (make sure it is lead, asbestos or steel made!) and then shove it up your ass. But when you do it, I want you to jump like a crazy horse under my sight and scream - with your eyes falling out - LMAO! LMAO! LMAO! LMAO! LMAO! over and over again

>>8861651
This thread expresses a personal opinion, but it's open to discussion as you can see from the first posts, where people answered seriously, respectfully and with dignity.

>>8861689
IN FACT I didn't say his prose is difficult or bad. I can understand the fucking book, but the prose is indeed bland, as >>8861917 noted. From the beginning I said his prose is flat (>>8861476), distracting (>>8861476), not so "magnetic" (>>8861476) and devoid of emphasis (>>8861465). Now, what about apologizing to me and admitting you're an asshole?

>>8861994
kys you self-important piece of shit

>>8861994
Jesus fuck I can't even read this your prose is awful and too many fucking links desu senpai

>>8862092
Read my hand while I beat your face then

>>8861456

my first thought as well desu.

>>8861463
This is true tho
He wrote children's books, and there's nothing wrong with that.
>>8861477
His prose is not complicated at all. It's simple and linear. He writes like someone who has taken 40 journalism courses. Fucking Hemingway is more complex than this.

>>8861486
english was like his fourth language

>>8861421
Like Woolf, the topic switches very frequently in paragraphs, so for many readers (especially native english speakers, which tend to organize paragraphs by topics) this is difficult because if you glaze over even a few words you can get completely lost

>>8861994
Autism.

>>8862126
Conrad writes some of the cleanest and clearest prose out there. I'd recommend him to English learners, actually.
>Like woolf
>Conrad
christ this fucking board

>>8861421
he was polish, read it in polish

>>8862137
Both Woolf and Conrad switch topics a lot in their paragraph, which as a result requires close reading

>>8862144
Anon was retarded, read it in retard

>>8862113
>>8862137
Holy shit, nobody said his prose is fucking complicated. Learn to read, dumb idiots

>>8862147
Kill yourself

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>>8862160
>tfw to intelligent to struggle with simple prose

>>8861994
Made me chuckle

>>8861421
It is meant to be read fast and superficially. It works well then.

>>8861994
Even for satirical troll prose this is pretty shit.

>>8863455
re-write it for me please

>>8863684
It sounds forced

There's a lack of humour

>>8863894
I'm just provoking. English is not my first language, so of course it's not well written. And I didn't mean to make a food example of satirical prose

>>8863920
*good