Cover of Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness

by Joseph Conrad

1899 · literary fiction · children

Set in 2 places · 1 primary
Sense of Place
5/5
Description · Open Library (CC0)

Heart of Darkness (1899) is a novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad, about a voyage up the Congo River into the Congo Free State, in the heart of Africa, by the story's narrator Charles Marlow. Marlow tells his story to friends aboard a boat anchored on the River Thames. Joseph Conrad is one of the greatest English writers, and Heart of Darkness is considered his best. His readers are brought to face our psychological selves to answer, ‘Who is the true savage?’. Originally published in 1902, Heart of Darkness remains one of this century’s most enduring works of fiction. Written several years after Joseph Conrad’s grueling sojourn in the Belgian Congo, the novel is a complex meditation on colonialism, evil, and the thin line between civilization and barbarity.

Set in

  • Congo River · Democratic Republic of the Congo
    Marlow journey upriver
    ★ primary
  • River Thames · United Kingdom
    frame narrative aboard Nellie

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