A reflection on corruptive European colonialism and a journey into the nightmare psyche of one of the corrupted, "Heart of Darkness", the famous novel by Joseph Conrad, is considered one of the most influential works ever written.
Originally published as a three-part series in Blackwood's Magazine in 1899, it is a story within a story, following a character named Charlie Marlow, who recounts his adventure to a group of men onboard an anchored ship. The story told is of his early life as a ferry boat captain. Although his job was to transport ivory downriver, Charlie develops an interest in the station manager, Kurtz, who is employed by the company. Preceded by his reputation as a brilliant emissary of progress, Kurtz has now established himself as a god among the natives in “one of the darkest places on earth.” Marlow suspects something else of Kurtz: that he has gone mad. Kurtz's dying words "The horror! The horror!" became a symbol of the darkness that lurks beneath the veneer of civilisation.
Reading, or listening to the audiobook if available, is what keeps me from going mad as the days draw shorter and the nights get longer. Can there be anything nicer than sitting by the blazing fire with a cup of 'serenitea' and wrapped in a blanket and one of Joseph Conrad's stories?
Want to join me? Grab a cup of tea, turn off the lights, and click below:
