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Heart of Darkness

by Joseph Conrad

On a yacht on the Thames, Marlow begins his tale of the Congo.

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Original language: EnglishLevel: Advanced2,952 characters · ≈ 4 minSource: Project Gutenberg

Opening lines

The Nellie, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was at rest. The flood had made, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for it was to come to and wait for the turn of the tide.

The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway. In the offing the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished sprits. A haze rested on the low shores that ran out to sea in vanishing flatness. The air was dark above…

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About the book

Heart of Darkness is a novella by Joseph Conrad in which the sailor Charles Marlow recounts his journey into the African interior as a steamer captain, tasked with finding Kurtz, an ivory trader who has gone native far up the river. Widely regarded as a critique of European colonialism, it also examines power, morality, and the idea that there is little difference between the 'civilised' and the 'savage'. It has been widely republished and translated, and inspired Coppola's film Apocalypse Now.

About the author

Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-British novelist and story writer. Though he did not speak English fluently until his twenties, he became one of the greatest prose stylists in English literature, known for works such as Lord Jim set in nautical settings.

Summary prepared with AI from Wikipedia: Heart of Darkness (CC BY-SA)

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