Product Description

Heart of Darkness has been considered for most of this century as a literary classic, and also as a powerful indictment of the evils of imperialism. It reflects the savage repressions carried out in the Congo by the Belgians in one of the largest acts of genocide committed up to that time. Conrad's narrator encounters at the end of the story a man named Kurtz, dying, insane, and guilty of unspeakable atrocities.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #872 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

About the Author
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, <I>Almayer's Folly</I>, in 1895. The following year he settled in Kent, where he produced within fifteen years such modern classics as <I>Youth, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, Typhoon, Nostromo, The Secret Agent</I> and <I>Under Western Eyes</I>. He continued to write until his death in 1924.

Customer Reviews

One of the greats
Some readers seem to have difficulty with this short novel. It's certainly not easy reading (Conrad never is, though I love his prose style), but is a challenging, thought-provoking and highly absorbing character study. The journey is as much into a mind breaking down as it is a physical journey down the Congo River. I found it richly rewarding (both the 1st time and when I read it again recently). It probably says more, in a short space, than any other novel about human existence, civilization and human excesses (with the possible exception of "The Fall" by Albert Camus). Powerful stuff - if you like a strong poison then try it (and then check out Conrad's great full-length novels: "Lord Jim", "Nostromo" and "Under Western Eyes").

A fearsome journey
"Heart of Darkness" is by no means an easy novel, nor a pretty one but in its hundred or so pages it contains more insights, deeply disturbing ones at that, than your average novel in a thousand pages. The voyage upstream of the narrator to find the enigmatic Mr. Kurtz becomes a voyage into the darkest corners of the human heart. Not a pleasant journey, but one with important lessons for each and everyone of us. Once you've read it, you'll never forget it.

Truly Incredible work of literature
Heart of Darkness is beautiful in the same way that a lion hunting their prey is beautiful. It has a dark menacing, undermining shocking beauty. It is thought provoking, evocative, haunting. Its the great masterpiece of a great master. Conrad's prose is flawless, he deftly weaves his words in to a rich tapestry of experience always showing startling linguistic experiemntation and innovation. The metaphor of Marlows journey is never explicit. Nothing in the nbook is explicit. Everything remains boiling below the surface, simmering demanding thought. Themes of moral deprivation are explored side by side with critiques of western colonialism and imperialism. I still havn't fully recovered from reading this book, its left mke shell shocked and stunned. I don't think I have fully cognated everything it has to offer, in fact I wonder whether I have barely scrathcted the surface. Therein lies one of the triumphs o this book. It leaves you a hypnotic state, unable to escape its mental grip. This is a truly incredible book, that has had a profound effect on the way I look at the power of literature.