Heart of Darkness
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4.0 • 109 Ratings
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Publisher Description
Heart of Darkness is a short novel written by Joseph Conrad, presented as a frame narrative, about Charles Marlow’s job as an ivory transporter down the Congo River in Central Africa. This river is described to be “... a mighty big river, that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land.” In the course of his commercial-agent work in Africa, the seaman Marlow becomes obsessed by Mr. Kurtz, an ivory-procurement agent, a man of established notoriety among the natives and the European colonials.
The story is a thematic exploration of the savagery-versus-civilization relationship, and of the colonialism and the racism that make imperialism possible. Originally published as a three-part serial story, in Blackwood's Magazine, the novella Heart of Darkness has been variously published and translated into many languages. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Heart of Darkness as the sixty-seventh of the hundred best novels in English of the twentieth century.
Customer Reviews
A bit of a slog but enjoyable!
The story meanders around a river for the most part and seems to only have one central plot in the story before concluding. Was enjoyable and there was a bit of anticipation and darkness but overall felt very safe, like being on a ride you knew would not harm you.
Pretty good read, though, and finished through to the end.
Bad Copy
This book copy is not organized correctly. Sections are out of place making reading impossible.
The first book I did not finish
I could not get into the story line of this book and marked it as finished just not a story line that was easy to understand and follow