Heart of Darkness
First published 1899 · English · 123 pages
- Novels
- Love and romance
- Biography and memoir
- Travel
This short novel follows Marlow, a sailor who tells his companions aboard a ship on the Thames about a journey he once made up an African river. Employed by a trading company, he travels deep into the interior to find Kurtz, an agent famed for his ivory and his ideals. As the river narrows and the forest closes in, Marlow sees the cruelty and greed behind the colonial enterprise and grows fascinated by the man at its centre. The book is a dense, haunting study of empire, self-deception and the thin edge of civilisation, and it remains one of the most discussed works in English.
Quotes
The horror! The horror!
We live, as we dream, alone.
The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.
He originated nothing, he could keep the routine going — that's all. But he was great. He was great by this little thing that it was impossible to tell what could control such a man. He never gave that secret away.