Heart Of Darkness

By Joseph Conrad

'The horror! The horror!' A haunting and hugely influential Modernist masterpiece, the "Penguin Classics" edition of Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" is edited with an introduction by Owen Knowles.

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.

The inspiration for Francis Ford Coppola's Oscar-winning film "Apocalypse Now", "Heart of Darkness" is a quintessentially modernist work exploring the limits of human experience and the nightmarish realities of imperialism.

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
• An introduction discussing the author's experiences in Africa, the narrative and symbolic complexities of "Heart of Darkness" and critical responses to the novel