LoveReading Says
Written more than a century ago, this absolutely timeless book and its underlying themes hold just as much significance today. Intense and compelling, Heart of Darkness looks into the darkest recesses of human nature and Conrad takes the reader through a horrific tale in a very gripping voice.
Conrad’s novella is about a voyage up the Congo River into the Congo Free State, in the heart of Africa, by the story's narrator Charles Marlow. Marlow tells his story to friends aboard a boat anchored on the River Thames.
In little over 100 pages, Conrad explores the darkness in men's hearts as Marlow narrates his travels up the Congo toward his appointment with the steamboat and with fate, in the form of Kurtz, the megalomaniac manager of an ivory trading station. This story is incredibly clever, profound and full of layered descriptions, symbolism and double meanings. It’s a must-read and an absolute certainty for our top 50 classics.
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Heart of Darkness Synopsis
Heart of Darkness is based upon Joseph Conrad's own experience in the Congo; "it is," as he remarks in his 1916 author's note to Youth: A Narrative and Two Other Stories, "experience pushed a little (and only very little) beyond the actual facts." Unlike many other editions, this new edition of Conrad's most famous tale focuses on the time in which Conrad was himself in the Congo, while also exploring the differences between his reported experiences and their reshaping in fiction.
This edition includes an extensive selection of Conrad's correspondence and autobiographical writing, as well as contemporary accounts of the Congo from other writers. Contemporary reviews situate Heart of Darkness in its literary contexts.
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About Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad was born in the Ukraine in 1857 and grew up under Tsarist autocracy. In 1874 Conrad travelled to Marseilles, where he served in French merchant vessels before joining a British ship in 1878 as an apprentice. In 1886 he obtained British nationality. Eight years later he left the sea to devote himself to writing, publishing his first novel, Almayer's Folly, in 1895. The following year he settled in Kent, where he produced within fifteen years such modern classics as Youth, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, Typhoon, Nostromo, The Secret Agent and Under Western Eyes. He continued to write until his death in 1924. J. H. Stape is the author of The Several Lives of Joseph Conrad (1996) and Conrad's Notes on Life and Letters (2004).
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