bettyehollands
Written on Feb 6, 2014
A haunting Modernist masterpiece and the inspiration for Francis Ford Coppola's Oscar-winning film Apocalypse Now, Heart of Darkness explores the limits of human experience and the nightmarish realities of imperialism.
Conrad's narrator Marlow, a seaman and wanderer, recounts his physical and psychological journey in search of the infamous ivory trader Kurtz: dying, insane, and guilty of unspeakable atrocities. Travelling upriver to the heart of the African continent, he gradually becomes obsessed by this enigmatic, wraith-like figure. Marlow's discovery of how Kurtz has gained his position of power over the local people involves him in a radical questioning, not only of his own nature and values, but also those of western civilisation.
Part of a major series of new editions of Conrad's most famous works in Penguin Classics, this volume contains Conrad's Congo Diary, a chronology, further reading, notes, a map of the Congo, a glossary and an introduction discussing the author's experiences in Africa, the narrative and symbolic complexities of Heart of Darkness and critical responses to the novel.
Edited with an introduction by Owen Knowles
'Seems to reach into the heart of Conrad himself' Peter Ackroyd
- ISBN10 0141441674
- ISBN13 9780141441672
- Publish Date 2 August 2007 (first published 1 January 1899)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 9 February 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
- Imprint Penguin Classics
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 192
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780141441672
Reviews
adastra
Written on Nov 13, 2012