Heart of Darkness: The Restored Text

by Joseph Conrad, Aldwin Grey (editor)

The best-selling novel by Joseph Conrad, now restored from the original text.

A “psychological masterpiece,” Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is consistently ranked among the 100 best novels. Its impact has been profound, influencing the likes of T. S. Eliot and Cormac McCarthy, and inspiring the Oscar®-winning film Apocalypse Now. While other versions of the book may contain dozens of editorial changes and corruptions, this new edition features the complete unabridged text, meticulously reproduced from the original book. Each page was verified word by word and mark by mark, then corrected for typos to make for a clean reading experience.

This special edition of Heart of Darkness all-new reproduction of Conrad’s original textRestored passages not found in many other publications todayDetailed annotations that give deeper insights into the storyAn introduction by editor Aldwin GreyDesign elements and layout that mimic the original book
IT IS THE 1890s, aboard a yawl on the River Thames. Here among the seamen, veteran Charlie Marlow recounts his expedition up a different waterway—into the heart of the African Congo. Hired to pilot a steamboat upriver, the new captain’s optimism quickly dims as he encounters the brutal realities of the enterprise. When word spreads that a shadowy figure is jeopardizing the Company’s interests, Marlow must slog deeper into a jungle hostile not only to the body but to the mind itself. Powerful and controversial, and brimming with the paradoxes of humanity, Heart of Darkness stands among the greatest novels of modern literature.

“Simply a piece of art, fascinating and remorseless.”
—Academy and Literature

“The high-water mark of English fiction.”
—Manchester Guardian

“Conrad has few equals.”
—Athenaeum

120 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 11, 2024

About the author

Joseph Conrad was a Polish-British novelist and story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language and, although he did not speak English fluently until his twenties, he became a master prose stylist who brought a non-English sensibility into English literature. He wrote novels and stories, many in nautical settings, that depict crises of human individuality in the midst of what he saw as an indifferent, inscrutable, and amoral world.
Conrad is considered a literary impressionist by some and an early modernist by others, though his works also contain elements of 19th-century realism. His narrative style and anti-heroic characters, as in Lord Jim, for example, have influenced numerous authors. Many dramatic films have been adapted from and inspired by his works. Numerous writers and critics have commented that his fictional works, written largely in the first two decades of the 20th century, seem to have anticipated later world events.
Writing near the peak of the British Empire, Conrad drew on the national experiences of his native Poland—during nearly all his life, parceled out among three occupying empires—and on his own experiences in the French and British merchant navies, to create short stories and novels that reflect aspects of a European-dominated world—including imperialism and colonialism—and that profoundly explore the human psyche.

Reviews

[AUSTIN HEARST · Rating 5 out of 5]

outstanding

Not a big fiction reader but. In my opinion, this is one of the finest works of English fiction, ranking with J. Joyce, T.Mann and a few others. Not an easy read, quite dense and abstract. Yes it’s clear the film “Apocaoplipse Now” was based on this story. Topics relating to death and impermanence are not block busters. This is a philosophical story- in that it crosses into symbolic and mythical metaphors.; also daunting in that it tackles religion, emperical greed and politics as well. Civilization has an underbelly that we try to forget but clearly we need to acknowledge. We just cant ignore the horrors of life as we must all face the reality of death. To engage in the joys of life but recognizing the sorrows of the world is where this works points.

[Kevin M · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting, but hard to read.