Great American Read List discussion

This topic is for discussion of our January 2022 group read, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad .

I hope you'll participate and read this selection for our book club.
For those who do: share your thoughts as you read, please!
Spoilers are allowed; add a considerate warning if your comment includes any so members have the option to skip.

A few notes on this book:
* It came in at #83 on the final Great American Read list.
* It has a 3.44 average Goodreads rating.
* It was published in serial form in 1899 and then in book form in 1902.

I finished Heart of Darkness and Selected Short Fiction last night. Since I read one of the four stories, “The Secret Sharer,” in a different story collection last year, I figured I might as well read this entire volume. The title story is compelling, once you get into the heart (ha!) of it. The pace really picks up in the middle section and sweeps you along. I especially liked the short story “Youth,” about an ill-fated voyage in the Indian Ocean. The third story, “Amy Foster,” was good but not really stellar and my least favorite was “The Secret Sharer.”

Heather L wrote: "I finished Heart of Darkness and Selected Short Fiction last night. Since I read one of the four stories, “The Secret Sharer,” in a different story collection last year, I figured I ..."

I think this will be interesting to read. Since I don't have the book yet, I might go ahead and get the collection. Should I read "Youth" before the "Heart of Darkness"?

“Youth” is the first story in the collection, and the two do feature the same narrator, but I don’t feel you have to read them in order. They are two vastly different stories.