Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The Heart of Darkness is the story of Charlie Marlow's voyage from the civilized world of Europe into the primitive interior of the Congo of Africa. As a manager of a Belgian ivory company, Marlow travels into the interior of Africa up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, an agent of the ivory company. Deep in the interior of Africa Marlow finds Kurtz living among the savage natives who revere him as a God. In The Heart of Darkness, The Polish born Conrad has crafted a classic of English literature. It is an intense psychological drama that deals with the very nature of good and evil. With this narrative Conrad draws sharp contrast between the civilized and uncivilized world and presents the reader with a strong commentary of the evil savagery that lies at the heart of human existence.
Joseph Conrad, christened Josef Teodor Konrad, Nalecz Korzeniowski, was born on December 3, 1857, in a part of Russia that had once belonged to Poland. His parents were members of the landed gentry, but as ardent Polish patriots, the suffered considerably for their political views. Orphaned at eleven, Conrad attended school for a few years in Cracow, He soon concluded, however, that there was no future for a Pole in occupied Poland, and at sixteen he left his ancestral home forever. The sea was Conrad's love and career for the next twenty years. In the French merchant marine, he sailed to the West. Indies, smuggled guns to Spanish rebels, ran into debt, and bungled a suicide attempt Then in the British merchant navy, he rose to first mate and finally to captain, sailing to Australia and Borneo and surviving at least one shipwreck. In 1890 he contracted to become captain of a Congo River steamer, but the six months he spent in Africa led only to disillusionment and ill health; this episode would become the basis for Conrad's masterpiece, Heart of Darkness. Reluctantly leaving the merchant service, he settled in England and completed his first novel, Almayer's Folly, already begun at sea. Hi subsequent works, many of which drew upon his sea experiences, include The Nigger of the Narcissus (1897), Lord Jim (1900), Heart of Darkness (1902), Youth (1902) Typhoon (1903), Nastromo (1904), The Secret Agent (1907), The Secret Sharer (1910), Under the Western Eyes (1911), and Chance (1913). The man who was twenty-one years old before he spoke a word of English is now regarded as one of the superb English stylists of all time. Conrad died almost literally on his desk in 1924, at the age of sixty-six.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781420922349 |
| ISBN 10 | 1420922343 |
| Title | Heart of Darkness |
| Author | Joseph Conrad |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Digireads.com |
| Year published | 2005-01-01 |
| Number of pages | 80 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |