I feel that the quotes I encountered from the book beforehand were from a story that was more compelling than the one I actually read.

The prose at its best is incredible, at its worst wordy. It does verge I think towards the purple, but when it hits, it hits hard. "It echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core." The sheer imagery in that, the whole psychology and emotions expressed. Conrad has a gift for crafting psychological images.

Marlow carries the story on his back. Kurtz could have been more interesting, but I don't know, I like Marlow better.

I think I would have liked a series of stories where it's just Marlow telling all his experiences as a sailor. Like Moby Dick, but only focused on the sailor as the world transitioned from the age of sails to that of steam. Descriptions of the hierarchy within vessels, types of ships, shipping routes, how a steamboat operates, how they measure distances, what different places were like ... etc.