Joseph Conrad

Best of Conrad: Heart of Darkness: Illustrated Classic Joseph Conrad

A nice edition enhanced with 16 illustrations and photographs.

Heart of Darkness is a 1899 novella by Joseph Conrad about a narrated voyage up the Congo River into the Congo Free State in the Heart of Africa. Charles Marlow, the narrator, tells his story to friends aboard a boat anchored on the River Thames. This setting provides the frame for Marlow's story of his obsession with the successful ivory trader Kurtz. Conrad offers parallels between London ("the greatest town on earth") and Africa as places of darkness. Central to Conrad's work is the idea that there is little difference between "civilized people" and those described as "savages." Heart of Darkness implicitly comments on imperialism and racism. It has been listed among the best novels of the twentieth century.