An Unreadable Report: Conrad's Heart of Darkness by Peter Brooks

• Heart of Darkness told in style of 19th Century detective story in sense that Marlow is simply solving the mystery behind Kurtz's story and meaning behind his report
• Through his journey into the wilderness, Marlow finds not a tangible prize, but instead "a voice"
• Marlow throughout the story becomes an "echo of [Kurtz's] magnificent eloquence"
  
• However, the experience gained through the journey is indescribable to those who have not seen for themselves and is beyond description by human language, which is why Marlow referrs to the company making a "readable" account of the events later, and lying to the "Intended"
  
• Kurtz's last words "The horror! The horror!" are return to base language and sum up Kurtz's life experience as by 19th century style
• Entire point of the narrative is to retell in order to gain understanding and in turn to then cause another echo of the experience