I was assigned Heart of Darkness in freshman English in college, and never actually finished it because it was so tedious and boring. I later chalked it up to being more concerned with drinking and parties than finishing great books of the western world. I read once that if you don't like a book, try again in 5 years. S0, I decided to try Conrad again to see if my earlier dislike was just youthful indiscretion. Nope, not really. I still didn't connect to this book.