Product Description

The finest of all Conrad's tales, Heart of Darkness is set in an atmosphere of mystery and menace, and tells of Marlow's perilous journey up the Congo River to relieve his employer's agent, the renowned and formidable Mr. Kurtz. What he sees on his journey, and his eventual encounter with Kurtz, horrify and perplex him, and call into question the very bases of civilization and human nature. Endlessly reinterpreted by critics and adapted for film, radio, and television, the story shows Conrad at his most intense and sophisticated. The other three tales in this volume depict corruption and obsession, and question racial assumptions. Set in the exotic surroundings of Africa, Malaysia, and the east, they variously appraise the glamour, folly, and rapacity of imperial adventure. This revised edition uses the English first edition texts and has a new chronology and bibliography.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48724 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Review

"I believe my students will find the introductory material as useful as I did when I studied this edition."--Ann L. Haehl, University of Kansas

About the Author

Cedric Watts is an authority on Joseph Conrad and the author of numerous books and articles on Conrad including Joseph Conrad: A Literary Life (1989), A Preface to Conrad (2nd edition 1993), and Joseph Conrad (1994).

Customer Reviews

Actually haunting...
The word's thrown around a lot, but this is the only case where I've actually been literally haunted by a book. It surfaces in the mind when I don't intend for it to, and its disturbing. I've never been really psychologically messed with by a book like this. I mean, not bad, but I get chills thinking about it. Like someone said, the images are great. The ship firing into the continent is one of those I can't get out of my head. And for those of you who are curious after seeing Apocolypse Now, I think they really messed up the Kurtz character. Its one of, if not the one of, my favorite movies, but he's so overacted and the script never really tells what the horror is. From the movie I got that it was the situation and man's situation, but from the book it is definitely the mind and soul, in my opinion. Any social commentary in the book is secondary to the more philosophical and psychological, here, I feel.
I also enjoyed Lord Jim and every one of his other short stories I've read, but none have been as good as Heart of Darkness. I'll probably read Nostromo pretty soon, too. If you want another take on a somewhat similar situation in colonial Africa, check out Journey to the End of the Night by Celine. I didn't so much care for the book as a whole, but that part has stuck with me.

Full of crazy characters and vivid images
Heart of Darkness is, without a doubt, one of the best and most confusing books ever written. It is probably the most discussed book of the 20th century, and an obscene number of academic papers, criticisms and interpretations have been written about it. What does it mean, everyone wants to know. It is so impenetrable, to use one of Marlow's favorite words. Even if you don't want to spend the time figuring out the "message" (if there is one), this is a great novel simply for the characters and the images.

Our narrator, Marlow, is a fascinating character in himself, and he always makes me smile with his wit and insight, though he can be a little pretentious. Kurtz is an enigma, a man who has set himself up as a god with unclear motives. He is taken care of my a Russian harlequin, a hilarious idealist who forgives that Kurtz once threatened to kill him (you can't judge a man like that by ordinary standards!) Marlow comes across many others, such as the fat Englishman who cannot stop fainting on their way to see Kurtz. The imagery is evocative and haunting. A group of starving indiginous men are referred to as a "bundle of acute angles." The scenery is described better than a movie could portray (Apocalypse Now does the jungle no justice.)

It's a short book too, so you have no excuse for not reading it!

One of my favorites
How can an author who did not begin to learn english until he was twenty have such control over the language? Like Joyce, and other masters of the English language, Conrad can at times be difficult to read, and confusing to follow, but underneath the complex exterior is a powerful tale that has the potential to give you a deeper appreciation for literature and maybe even for life.

Although the book has been called both racist and sexist, I do not believe that this is the case. I believe Conrad illustrates the feelings and "the horror" of the time as only a master artist could. If you read the novel, do not do so looking to label it as racist or sexist, but rather look at it as an attempt to bring light upon the oppresion of both non whites and women that was taking place at the time. Is the "heart of darkness" really the African jungle and its people as one might naturally assume, or did Conrad want to ironicly portray the colonist, the white europeans, to be the true savages, the true heart of darkness? There are many questions in this book, and it would be impossible to read the novel without finding yourself moved.

How can an author who did not begin to learn english until he was twenty have such control over the language? Like Joyce, and other masters of the English language, Conrad can at times be difficult to read, and confusing to follow, but underneath the complex exterior is a powerful tale that has the potential to give you a deeper appreciation for literature and maybe even for life. Although the book has been called both racist and sexist, I do not believe that this is the case. I believe Conrad illustrates the feelings and "the horror" of the time as only a master artist could. If you read the novel, do not do so looking to label it as racist or sexist, but rather look at it as an attempt to bring light upon the oppresion of both non whites and women that was taking place at the time. Is the "heart of darkness" really the African jungle and its people as one might naturally assume, or did Conrad want to ironicly portray the colonist, the white europeans, to be the true savages, the true heart of darkness? There are many questions in this book, and it would be impossible to read the novel without finding yourself moved.