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This is one of my favorite books.
The take away message is that a person will be changed be their environment. That is, no matter how "good" and privileged your upbringing or how lofty your ideals...you can be changed. Kurtz was changed by the brutality and cruelty that surrounded him. He began to see the utility in these aspects of human nature. Such ideas would have been abhorrent to him in his previous life. and lastly, even the climate and isolation will wear on your soul.

The other great take away was that things don't always work out the way they "should". The example of this is the cruel and stupid Station Manger. He went up the hierarchy, not because he had ability but because he had a good immune system that allowed him to remain healthy and functional while other more capable people got sick and had to be sent back to Europe.

I think the Lost connection is that people on the Island change into what their environment dictates. Only this environment probably has a consciousness. We can see this most in Locke melding with the Island. We are gradually learning more about the "natives" and their motives/beliefs. It has been mentioned elsewhere how our "Losties" are becoming "Other-esque"

I recommend this book highly. It's short and and moves rather quickly, albeit after a slow start. If you read it then see Apocolypse Now, you will "get" the movie.
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"Sensitivity?….WHO CARES"- jg