Heart of Darkness

 

Image credit: Penguin Books Australia 

Reading is one of my favourite things to do. I love it because every time a cover is opened or a page is lifted, there is the promise of a new adventure and a new world of new genres, techniques, and characters to discover. But all that glitters is not gold and sometimes the much looked-forward to reading experience of a celebrated classic can be an experience of strangeness and unidentifiable emotions. This was the case for me recently, having just closed the cover of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

This short work is a story within a story as the central character, Marlow, regales a group of British sailors about his life-changing adventures in the Congo where he witnesses the brutal dark side of nature, colonisation, and imperialism. Becoming fascinated by a much talked of European idealist, Mr. Kurtz, he travels into the heart of the jungle to find him, only to discover a man completely driven mad by the wilderness’ savagery and darkness. 

Heart of Darkness is Conrad’s most celebrated and successful work, both when it was released and to this very day. Critically hailed for its enveloping narrative style; the experience of which is like being swept along in a calm ocean with absolutely no idea where you’re going, as well as its anti-racist, anti-imperialist messages. 

The prose itself appears to be simple, but is actually really intense and deeply insightful. The narrative structure is much in keeping with a person telling a long anecdote firsthand, with Marlow going along with one aspect of the story and then backtracking or changing directions as he recalls other points of contextual importance. It’s an intriguing narrative method really because it’s such a recognisable method of storytelling that is chronicling something completely foreign and alien. I think it’s this contrast between the content and the narrative style that makes the book so compelling and unfathomable at the same time. 

Image credit: Britannica

Heart of Darkness is definitely not an ‘easy read’. Despite its short length and smooth chunks of exposition, the overall feel and narrative meaning of the story can be hard to distinguish, making it one of the hardest and easiest books I’ve ever read. 

However, I would certainly say that it’s a literary classic that any avid reader and analytic book-lover should have under their belt. I can definitely see why it has secured its position in The Book!

Author: Joseph Conrad

Published: W. Blackwood & Songs (London), 1902

Longevity: Many adaptations have been made from Heart of Darkness, the most notable being Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now