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Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness
Acclaimed cartoonist Peter Kuper delivers a powerful interpretation of this controversial classic.
Heart of Darkness has unsettled generations of readers with its haunting portrait of colonialism and brutal exploitation in Africa. Now award-winning illustrator Peter Kuper reimagines Conrad's masterpiece for a new generation, transforming this dramatic tale of madness, greed, and evil into something visually immersive and profoundly complex. Drawn in pen, black pencil, and ink wash reminiscent of the etchings and lithography of Francisco Goya and Honoré Daumier, Kuper's Heart of Darkness captures the ominous atmosphere and tempo of Charles Marlow's journey up the River Congo.
Kuper's images and concise text confront Conrad's colonial attitudes and systemic racism yet leave room for readers to engage with these issues on their own terms. Longtime admirers of the novella will appreciate Kuper's innovative interpretations and see Conrad's opus with fresh eyes, while new readers will discover a brilliant introduction to a canonical work of twentieth- century literature.
Heart of Darkness has unsettled generations of readers with its haunting portrait of colonialism and brutal exploitation in Africa. Now award-winning illustrator Peter Kuper reimagines Conrad's masterpiece for a new generation, transforming this dramatic tale of madness, greed, and evil into something visually immersive and profoundly complex. Drawn in pen, black pencil, and ink wash reminiscent of the etchings and lithography of Francisco Goya and Honoré Daumier, Kuper's Heart of Darkness captures the ominous atmosphere and tempo of Charles Marlow's journey up the River Congo.
Kuper's images and concise text confront Conrad's colonial attitudes and systemic racism yet leave room for readers to engage with these issues on their own terms. Longtime admirers of the novella will appreciate Kuper's innovative interpretations and see Conrad's opus with fresh eyes, while new readers will discover a brilliant introduction to a canonical work of twentieth- century literature.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2019
15 people are currently reading
1769 people want to read
About the author
Peter Kuper
118 books142 followersPeter Kuper is an American alternative comics artist and illustrator, renowned for his politically charged, socially conscious, and often autobiographical work. He co-founded the influential anthology World War 3 Illustrated, and is best known for his long-running reinvention of Spy vs. Spy for Mad magazine from 1997 to 2022. Kuper has produced numerous graphic novels, including award-winning adaptations of Franz Kafka’s Give It Up! and The Metamorphosis, as well as autobiographical works like Stop Forgetting To Remember and Diario de Oaxaca, documenting life, travel, and social struggles. His illustration work has appeared on covers and in publications such as Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times. Kuper’s style often merges comics and illustration techniques, with both wordless narratives and text-driven storytelling, reflecting his belief that the two disciplines are inseparable. He has traveled extensively across Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia, often documenting these experiences in sketchbook journals. Kuper has taught courses on comics and illustration at the Parsons School of Design, the School of Visual Arts, and Harvard University’s first class on graphic novels. He has received numerous awards, including recognition from the Society of Newspaper Designers, the Society of Illustrators, and Eisner and NCS awards for his work. His comics combine sharp political commentary, personal observation, and inventive visual storytelling, establishing him as a prominent figure in contemporary alternative comics and illustration.
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February 16, 2022
“The horror! The horror!”—Kurtz
I reread this because the publisher sent it to me several days ago, so I thought I would do them the favor of updating my review, below:
I chose not to reread Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899) when I picked this up at the library a couple days ago. I have been reading Kuper’s works and admired his adaptation of Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis,” another grim classic, so I thought I would check this out. I like Kuper’s deeply researched engagement with Conrad and his complex text, which is (primarily) a dramatic tale of the evils of imperialism that takes place in late 19th-century Africa, based on Conrad’s own disillusioning voyage down the Congo.
It’s pen and ink, angular, jagged, seems to owe something to Kuper’s study of Daumier and Goya, and in it, trying to be respectful of Achebe’s characterization of the novel as racist, he tries to focus (some) more on the perspective of the indigenous inhabitants that Conrad encountered there, but he would have had to create a very different book to make critics of Conrad happy. As with Kafka’s Metamorphosis, the story of Marlow’s experience is somewhat surreal, a tale of greed leading to madness, more a nightmare or allegory of evil than an ethnographic study of the Congo and its inhabitants.
“It seems to me I am trying to tell you a dream--making a vain attempt, because no relation of a dream can convey the dream-sensation, that commingling of absurdity, surprise, and bewilderment in a tremor of struggling revolt, that notion of being captured by the incredible which is of the very essence of dreams. . . No, it is impossible; it is impossible to convey the life-sensation of any given epoch of one's existence--that which makes its truth, its meaning--its subtle and penetrating essence. It is impossible. We live, as we dream-alone. . .”
Of Kurtz: “But his soul was mad. Being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself and, by heavens I tell you, it had gone mad.” Francis Ford Coppola was influenced in the making of Apocalypse Now by Conrad, and Marlon Brando’s character might be seen as a useful reflection on another series of acts of imperialism taking place decades later.
“Exterminate the brutes," Kurtz said, referring to the residents of Congo he was happy to pillage. And he does. Why? For the ivory, for greed, of course. Conrad saw the evidence of white colonialist murdering when he was there, and he indicts the West (or maybe in particular Belgium) for its despicable approach to the resources of other countries.
The “heart of darkness” might in one sense be seen as the deep Congo jungle, but it more accurately reflects the (white) imperialist heart, and Kuper does a good job capturing that aspect of the story. It's intended as a kind of companion piece or interpretation of Conrad’s controversial classic. I guess I wish I had more of Conrad's prose, more key passages, and Kuper isn't as much an artist like Conrad as he is like Kafka, but I still admire his aims.
I reread this because the publisher sent it to me several days ago, so I thought I would do them the favor of updating my review, below:
I chose not to reread Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899) when I picked this up at the library a couple days ago. I have been reading Kuper’s works and admired his adaptation of Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis,” another grim classic, so I thought I would check this out. I like Kuper’s deeply researched engagement with Conrad and his complex text, which is (primarily) a dramatic tale of the evils of imperialism that takes place in late 19th-century Africa, based on Conrad’s own disillusioning voyage down the Congo.
It’s pen and ink, angular, jagged, seems to owe something to Kuper’s study of Daumier and Goya, and in it, trying to be respectful of Achebe’s characterization of the novel as racist, he tries to focus (some) more on the perspective of the indigenous inhabitants that Conrad encountered there, but he would have had to create a very different book to make critics of Conrad happy. As with Kafka’s Metamorphosis, the story of Marlow’s experience is somewhat surreal, a tale of greed leading to madness, more a nightmare or allegory of evil than an ethnographic study of the Congo and its inhabitants.
“It seems to me I am trying to tell you a dream--making a vain attempt, because no relation of a dream can convey the dream-sensation, that commingling of absurdity, surprise, and bewilderment in a tremor of struggling revolt, that notion of being captured by the incredible which is of the very essence of dreams. . . No, it is impossible; it is impossible to convey the life-sensation of any given epoch of one's existence--that which makes its truth, its meaning--its subtle and penetrating essence. It is impossible. We live, as we dream-alone. . .”
Of Kurtz: “But his soul was mad. Being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself and, by heavens I tell you, it had gone mad.” Francis Ford Coppola was influenced in the making of Apocalypse Now by Conrad, and Marlon Brando’s character might be seen as a useful reflection on another series of acts of imperialism taking place decades later.
“Exterminate the brutes," Kurtz said, referring to the residents of Congo he was happy to pillage. And he does. Why? For the ivory, for greed, of course. Conrad saw the evidence of white colonialist murdering when he was there, and he indicts the West (or maybe in particular Belgium) for its despicable approach to the resources of other countries.
The “heart of darkness” might in one sense be seen as the deep Congo jungle, but it more accurately reflects the (white) imperialist heart, and Kuper does a good job capturing that aspect of the story. It's intended as a kind of companion piece or interpretation of Conrad’s controversial classic. I guess I wish I had more of Conrad's prose, more key passages, and Kuper isn't as much an artist like Conrad as he is like Kafka, but I still admire his aims.
December 29, 2019
I read the original story decades ago, and all I really remember is that is seemed to take forever to slog through a mere 100 pages of Conrad's torturous prose.
Kuper gamely tries to adapt the work into a graphic novel, but chopping away most of Conrad's words just reveals what a thin and stupid story this is. A man on a boat awaiting a tide in England tells a story about taking another boat slowly up a river in Africa to see a guy named Kurtz. The story tries to convince us how important Kurtz is and how dramatic the trip is, but everything is just awful and dull.
Two introductions to the book try to convince us why this story about violently exploitative colonialism deserves adaptation despite being rightly condemned as racist by Chinua Achebe. At best, it serves as a reminder of what evil looks like. And it is scary how many of the vile thoughts expressed here can still be found in the world today.
Kuper gamely tries to adapt the work into a graphic novel, but chopping away most of Conrad's words just reveals what a thin and stupid story this is. A man on a boat awaiting a tide in England tells a story about taking another boat slowly up a river in Africa to see a guy named Kurtz. The story tries to convince us how important Kurtz is and how dramatic the trip is, but everything is just awful and dull.
Two introductions to the book try to convince us why this story about violently exploitative colonialism deserves adaptation despite being rightly condemned as racist by Chinua Achebe. At best, it serves as a reminder of what evil looks like. And it is scary how many of the vile thoughts expressed here can still be found in the world today.
October 30, 2021
Two introductions—attempting to justify the project. Yet the colonial atrocities cannot be hidden, or explained.
This adaptation by Peter Kuper was not as interesting as some of the others I have read. Certainly it did not make me want to pick up Heart of Darkness (which is lurking here on a shelf).
But those introductions! Whenever anyone tries to apologize in the introduction just put the book down and walk away.
This adaptation by Peter Kuper was not as interesting as some of the others I have read. Certainly it did not make me want to pick up Heart of Darkness (which is lurking here on a shelf).
But those introductions! Whenever anyone tries to apologize in the introduction just put the book down and walk away.
Read
December 17, 2025I’m deeply troubled on how to feel about this book. It is blatantly racist and demeaning towards Black people in general; no people are clearly mentioned, those characters have barely any dialogues, no name, no descriptions… They simply are an indistinguishable-from-one-another mass of “savages”, which is extremely shameful and degrading.
Nonetheless I thought it interesting in the way that it brings an insight into how people felt at that time. I’m definitely not defending this book which is indefensible, I just get an interest from it from an historical point of view.
Nonetheless I thought it interesting in the way that it brings an insight into how people felt at that time. I’m definitely not defending this book which is indefensible, I just get an interest from it from an historical point of view.
March 27, 2021
Dal classico della letteratura di Joseph Conrad, con tunué arriva in Italia l’adattamento a fumetti di Peter Kuper.
Quanti di voi conoscono Cuore di Tenebra?
Un grande libro della letteratura, conosciuto anche solo per nomea.
Io lessi il libro anni fa e seppur la tematica fosse abbastanza pesante, il contenuto, il senso era così potente da entrare nelle viscere.
Quello è un libro che fa riflettere e che tutti dovrebbero leggere, ma se appunto pensate che la lettura sia troppo pesante in ambito narrativo, un'ottima alternativa è leggere proprio la versione a fumetti di tunué che consiglio sia a chi ha già letto e amato il libro a chi appunto vuole iniziare e capire se può amarlo o meno.
Che abbiate letto o meno il romanzo, però, vi parlo un po' della trama che ovviamente nella rivisitazione a fumetti ha tantissimi tagli, ma non elimina le parti essenziali, piuttosto le intensifica togliendo quello che si poteva eliminare e riassumendo il tutto in modo egregio.
La storia si apre in mare e uno dei protagonisti, Marlow, inizia a narrare le vicende portandoci nei suoi ricordi.
Assunto da una compagnia commerciale belga che commercia in avorio dall’Africa nera all’Europa, Marlow si ritrova a partire per l'appunto per una meta tanto affascinante quanto sconosciuta come l'Africa.
Purtroppo però, quando arriva lì non scopre solo la bellezza selvaggia del posto ma anche quanto la schiavitù sugli africani sia tremenda e crudele. I suoi colleghi non vi danno peso, è normale che siano assoggettati alla loro razza, eppure per Marlow non è così, per lui è tutto inumano e meschino!
E poi accade qualcosa: Marlow viene a conoscenza di un uomo tedesco, Kurtz, fonte di grandi guadagni grazie alla quantità d’avorio che procura alla compagnia. Di lui non si hanno notizie e si pensa che sia malato se non morto.
"Risalire quel fiume era come viaggiare indietro ai primordi del mondo, quando la vegetazione tumultuava sulla terra e alberi enormi ne erano i signori. Un fiume vuoto, un grande silenzio, una foresta impenetrabile".
È questo che spinge Marlow a reclutare indigeni e coloni e partire alla sua ricerca nella base che si trova nel cuore della giungla, senza sapere, però, che l'uomo che vuole salvare...
Non vi dico altro, scoprirete leggendo 😝
Ho amato terribilmente ogni tavola, suggestiva e dannatamente vera, i temi affrontati mi sono entrati nelle vene e ho sentito forse più empatia visiva col fumetto che col film.
Insomma, dovete recuperarlo. Assolutamente consigliato!
Quanti di voi conoscono Cuore di Tenebra?
Un grande libro della letteratura, conosciuto anche solo per nomea.
Io lessi il libro anni fa e seppur la tematica fosse abbastanza pesante, il contenuto, il senso era così potente da entrare nelle viscere.
Quello è un libro che fa riflettere e che tutti dovrebbero leggere, ma se appunto pensate che la lettura sia troppo pesante in ambito narrativo, un'ottima alternativa è leggere proprio la versione a fumetti di tunué che consiglio sia a chi ha già letto e amato il libro a chi appunto vuole iniziare e capire se può amarlo o meno.
Che abbiate letto o meno il romanzo, però, vi parlo un po' della trama che ovviamente nella rivisitazione a fumetti ha tantissimi tagli, ma non elimina le parti essenziali, piuttosto le intensifica togliendo quello che si poteva eliminare e riassumendo il tutto in modo egregio.
La storia si apre in mare e uno dei protagonisti, Marlow, inizia a narrare le vicende portandoci nei suoi ricordi.
Assunto da una compagnia commerciale belga che commercia in avorio dall’Africa nera all’Europa, Marlow si ritrova a partire per l'appunto per una meta tanto affascinante quanto sconosciuta come l'Africa.
Purtroppo però, quando arriva lì non scopre solo la bellezza selvaggia del posto ma anche quanto la schiavitù sugli africani sia tremenda e crudele. I suoi colleghi non vi danno peso, è normale che siano assoggettati alla loro razza, eppure per Marlow non è così, per lui è tutto inumano e meschino!
E poi accade qualcosa: Marlow viene a conoscenza di un uomo tedesco, Kurtz, fonte di grandi guadagni grazie alla quantità d’avorio che procura alla compagnia. Di lui non si hanno notizie e si pensa che sia malato se non morto.
"Risalire quel fiume era come viaggiare indietro ai primordi del mondo, quando la vegetazione tumultuava sulla terra e alberi enormi ne erano i signori. Un fiume vuoto, un grande silenzio, una foresta impenetrabile".
È questo che spinge Marlow a reclutare indigeni e coloni e partire alla sua ricerca nella base che si trova nel cuore della giungla, senza sapere, però, che l'uomo che vuole salvare...
Non vi dico altro, scoprirete leggendo 😝
Ho amato terribilmente ogni tavola, suggestiva e dannatamente vera, i temi affrontati mi sono entrati nelle vene e ho sentito forse più empatia visiva col fumetto che col film.
Insomma, dovete recuperarlo. Assolutamente consigliato!
August 2, 2024
Barack Obama recalled being asked by his college friends why he was reading "this racist tract." "Because the book teaches me things," he explained. "See, the book's not really about Africa. Or black people. It's about. . .a particular way of looking at the world."
from "Introduction" by Maya Jasanoff
The yarns of seamen have a direct simplicity, the whole meaning of which lies within the shell of a cracked nut.
But Marlow was not typical.
I enjoyed Peter Kuper's graphic adaptation of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. If any author is going to try to make a work of literature a graphic novel, then the "graphic" element of his story should carry substantive weight: It should reinforce and reimagine the imagery of the text, provide designs and layouts which help convey the meaning or interpretation of the text. Kuper does this very well. The layout, design, and artistry capture Conrad's enigmatic, dense novella. Anyone who attempts reading Heart of Darkness can appreciate how Kuper brings out the visuals which Conrad's tortured prose often obfuscates.
Bottomline: This is an excellent companion to exploring Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
July 18, 2021
I can't remember the last time I sat down and read an entire book in one sitting.
I loved that Kuper covered criticisms of Heart of Darkness in the intro, even mentioning an African post-colonial writer who may have been Conrad's greatest critic-Chinua Achebe. In fact, Achebe's final paragraph in Things Fall Apart might be read as a sassy little zing at Conrad, who he believed to be an irredeemable racist.
Is Heart of Darkness racist? Well, yeah, yes it is. It was written by a white colonizer in the 19th century. Dude was racist.
Does that make the book not worthy of reading? That's a complicated question.
Because (as Kuper points out in his introduction) while Heart of Darkness was racist, it also brought attention to the absolute atrocities being committed in the Congo in a way that hadn't been done before. He writes in gruesome and vivd detail about the violence done to the native people and sums it up in two words, delivered by Kurtz on his deathbed. "The horror! The horror!"
In Conrad's original work, the African people become part of that horror. Africa itself is the "heart of darkness"-a primordial setting of savagery and brutality. The colonists are presented as the brutal and evil ones, but the African people are still dehumanized. Conrad writes about them as if they are wild animals. They gnash their teeth and their limbs reach out from tangled vines, like ethereal monsters crawling out of the night. It's beautiful storytelling and adds a layer of atmosphere, but at what cost? The African people are so completely otherized that the meat of Conrad's anti-colonial (or at least anti-colonization-in-its-most-brutal-forms) message may be lost.
What Kuper has done is reimagined Conrad's classic work, minus the racism, dehumanization, and otherization. some might call this sanitizing a racist text for modern consumption. But I'd argue that since Kuper fully admits the problems with the original text in the intro, he is preserving that history, and not absolving Conrad of any of his sins. He reimagines this classic text in a way that is more respectful of the African people. And hey, now we have an anti-colonial text minus all the racism. I think that's a little better than just reprinting the original text so that a new generation could be influenced by Conrad's racism. Does that mean we never ever read Conrad's original text? Of course not. But there is value in reconsidering classic texts, and this graphic novel adaptation of 'Heart of Darkness' is more than an adaptation: it is a reconsideration of the text. It is an active grappling with the most problematic aspects of Heart of Darkness.
We can love the vivid depiction of the brutality-because it was important for European audiences to know exactly what was happening in Africa. It was important to remove that distance from the supposed "savages"-to make audiences see all of the evil being committed by their own supposedly "civilized" society. Because what kind of civilized person allows men to starve while working his ship? What kind of civilized person puts the heads of native "rebels" on spikes outside his door? What sort of civilized person uses human bodies up factory parts, leaving them to languish and die, sprawled on the grass alongside broken and rusting machines.
There was no "civilizing" aspect of colonialism. Only abject violence.
"The horror! The horror!"
European audiences needed to see that horror and Conrad, as someone who had traveled to the Congo and seen all of this horror firsthand, was the perfect person to make them see it. He was a flawed man living in the 1800s. He did not write respectfully about the native people. That is not okay. But to act like there's no value in a text that so radically condemned the evil being committed in the name of capitalism, the human lives being used up like springs in a machine, it simply makes no sense. It's throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
How much we really gonna expect from a man born in the 1800s?
This graphic novel illuminated the most fundamental aspects of Conrad's work without bringing Conrad's racism to life in a new form. Yet by addressing the problematic aspects in the intro, he also doesn't sanitize the text or excuse Conrad.
The artwork was beautiful. It was full of raw symbolism and so, so powerful.
I loved everything about this book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in post-colonial literature.
I loved that Kuper covered criticisms of Heart of Darkness in the intro, even mentioning an African post-colonial writer who may have been Conrad's greatest critic-Chinua Achebe. In fact, Achebe's final paragraph in Things Fall Apart might be read as a sassy little zing at Conrad, who he believed to be an irredeemable racist.
Is Heart of Darkness racist? Well, yeah, yes it is. It was written by a white colonizer in the 19th century. Dude was racist.
Does that make the book not worthy of reading? That's a complicated question.
Because (as Kuper points out in his introduction) while Heart of Darkness was racist, it also brought attention to the absolute atrocities being committed in the Congo in a way that hadn't been done before. He writes in gruesome and vivd detail about the violence done to the native people and sums it up in two words, delivered by Kurtz on his deathbed. "The horror! The horror!"
In Conrad's original work, the African people become part of that horror. Africa itself is the "heart of darkness"-a primordial setting of savagery and brutality. The colonists are presented as the brutal and evil ones, but the African people are still dehumanized. Conrad writes about them as if they are wild animals. They gnash their teeth and their limbs reach out from tangled vines, like ethereal monsters crawling out of the night. It's beautiful storytelling and adds a layer of atmosphere, but at what cost? The African people are so completely otherized that the meat of Conrad's anti-colonial (or at least anti-colonization-in-its-most-brutal-forms) message may be lost.
What Kuper has done is reimagined Conrad's classic work, minus the racism, dehumanization, and otherization. some might call this sanitizing a racist text for modern consumption. But I'd argue that since Kuper fully admits the problems with the original text in the intro, he is preserving that history, and not absolving Conrad of any of his sins. He reimagines this classic text in a way that is more respectful of the African people. And hey, now we have an anti-colonial text minus all the racism. I think that's a little better than just reprinting the original text so that a new generation could be influenced by Conrad's racism. Does that mean we never ever read Conrad's original text? Of course not. But there is value in reconsidering classic texts, and this graphic novel adaptation of 'Heart of Darkness' is more than an adaptation: it is a reconsideration of the text. It is an active grappling with the most problematic aspects of Heart of Darkness.
We can love the vivid depiction of the brutality-because it was important for European audiences to know exactly what was happening in Africa. It was important to remove that distance from the supposed "savages"-to make audiences see all of the evil being committed by their own supposedly "civilized" society. Because what kind of civilized person allows men to starve while working his ship? What kind of civilized person puts the heads of native "rebels" on spikes outside his door? What sort of civilized person uses human bodies up factory parts, leaving them to languish and die, sprawled on the grass alongside broken and rusting machines.
There was no "civilizing" aspect of colonialism. Only abject violence.
"The horror! The horror!"
European audiences needed to see that horror and Conrad, as someone who had traveled to the Congo and seen all of this horror firsthand, was the perfect person to make them see it. He was a flawed man living in the 1800s. He did not write respectfully about the native people. That is not okay. But to act like there's no value in a text that so radically condemned the evil being committed in the name of capitalism, the human lives being used up like springs in a machine, it simply makes no sense. It's throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
How much we really gonna expect from a man born in the 1800s?
This graphic novel illuminated the most fundamental aspects of Conrad's work without bringing Conrad's racism to life in a new form. Yet by addressing the problematic aspects in the intro, he also doesn't sanitize the text or excuse Conrad.
The artwork was beautiful. It was full of raw symbolism and so, so powerful.
I loved everything about this book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in post-colonial literature.
December 8, 2023
Novel: I can’t believe I hated this so much when I first read it. There’s so much truth in this book, so much timeless importance. Humans have such incredible power for good and evil, and to really look inside oneself and observe this, to really observe it, is horrifying. Beyond being a wonderful (and problematic) criticism of imperialism, this has deep insights into the human condition. We are creatures of immense potential and Conrad asks us: what will we do with that when granted the opportunity? When we have no control over anything in our lives? When no one is watching? What separates us from Kurtz? Conrad perhaps even suggests that civilization itself is the root of this evil— that in removing humans from nature, it has created pent up hatred that must at some point be realized. How, once this is realized, can we say anything other than, “the horror, the horror”?
My professor will probably not appreciate me saying this but this also reminds me of naturalist authors like Jack London. A huge emphasis of the story is on the vastness of nature and the smallness of humans in comparison. To what lengths will we go to make ourselves feel important?
Graphic novel: I first read Heart of Darkness (the novella) in my sophomore year of high school and absolutely despised it. Mostly, I think, because I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Reading this graphic novel version, along with watching Apocalypse Now, has completely changed my perspective. This is a twisted and complicated story that ultimately rings true for every generation (hence its endless adaptability). It is uncomfortably bleak because asks us, “Where are we in this heart of darkness?” and leaves us with no answer other than, “the horror, the horror”.
“I have wrestled with death. It takes place without glory, without victory… I affirm that Kurtz was a remarkable man. He had glimpsed the truth. He had judged “the horror”!”
My professor will probably not appreciate me saying this but this also reminds me of naturalist authors like Jack London. A huge emphasis of the story is on the vastness of nature and the smallness of humans in comparison. To what lengths will we go to make ourselves feel important?
Graphic novel: I first read Heart of Darkness (the novella) in my sophomore year of high school and absolutely despised it. Mostly, I think, because I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Reading this graphic novel version, along with watching Apocalypse Now, has completely changed my perspective. This is a twisted and complicated story that ultimately rings true for every generation (hence its endless adaptability). It is uncomfortably bleak because asks us, “Where are we in this heart of darkness?” and leaves us with no answer other than, “the horror, the horror”.
“I have wrestled with death. It takes place without glory, without victory… I affirm that Kurtz was a remarkable man. He had glimpsed the truth. He had judged “the horror”!”
April 30, 2021
This was an ambitious project. There is already so much debate around the place of Heart of Darkness in the cannon, and I've spent the last few years teaching Things Fall Apart and postcolonial literature with only references to Heart of Darkness. I didn't want to create a space for it in the curriculum if it meant losing the perspective of the subaltern.
This book seeks to portray Conrad's story while subverting a lot of the racist implications Achebe highlighted graphically. I was hoping that this could be a novel that brought both perspectives into a single work because that would be the only way I would feel comfortable bringing it into my classroom. Maybe it is that... I don't know yet.
The artwork is gorgeous and brilliant. There is so much to offer the story, and I found myself pausing on some pages for a few minutes just to see it all. The issue is that with the reduced text, the story is so scaled back that the original narrative and characters are left bare. We added something to the story with Kuper's illustrations, but we lost Conrad's prose, which is what has made Heart of Darkness a classic (justified or not). I could see this book as a great companion piece to the original, but it would be hard for me to justify reading this as a stand-alone novel.
So, for now, I'm saving my space for Achebe. If Kuper wanted to do a graphic version of Things Fall Apart, I would be all for it!
This book seeks to portray Conrad's story while subverting a lot of the racist implications Achebe highlighted graphically. I was hoping that this could be a novel that brought both perspectives into a single work because that would be the only way I would feel comfortable bringing it into my classroom. Maybe it is that... I don't know yet.
The artwork is gorgeous and brilliant. There is so much to offer the story, and I found myself pausing on some pages for a few minutes just to see it all. The issue is that with the reduced text, the story is so scaled back that the original narrative and characters are left bare. We added something to the story with Kuper's illustrations, but we lost Conrad's prose, which is what has made Heart of Darkness a classic (justified or not). I could see this book as a great companion piece to the original, but it would be hard for me to justify reading this as a stand-alone novel.
So, for now, I'm saving my space for Achebe. If Kuper wanted to do a graphic version of Things Fall Apart, I would be all for it!
February 21, 2020
It’s hard for me to rate this because I read and taught Conrad’s story for many years and know it so well that it’s hard to judge this adaptation. Although the original is a hard read, it is a much richer and nuanced experience than this simplified, dumbed-down version. Nevertheless, Kuper tells the story well and hits all of the key moments. He uses his artwork to convey reactions and horrors that are more subtle in the original text but help get the story’s main message across. He included many of the sentences that capture the flavor and always required attention and analysis in class. If he left out important aspects, my mind filled them in. Again, this is no substitute for the real thing but it’s better than a plot summary.
Kuper wrote that he tried to counter some of the accusations of racism in the original by “flipping the perspective” which I didn’t really catch other than he does individualize some of the natives and renders their native culture and garb with detail. The author of the Foreword ended with the claim that this version would “leave anyone already familiar with Heart of Darkness with a startling new appreciation of the book.” That did not happen for me.
Kuper wrote that he tried to counter some of the accusations of racism in the original by “flipping the perspective” which I didn’t really catch other than he does individualize some of the natives and renders their native culture and garb with detail. The author of the Foreword ended with the claim that this version would “leave anyone already familiar with Heart of Darkness with a startling new appreciation of the book.” That did not happen for me.
November 29, 2020
I attempted to read the original when I was too dumb to sit through. In high school I had a big Doors/Jim Morrison phase with put me onto Apocalypse Now and HOD. I am probably still too dumb to read the original, so I thought I would try this graphic-novelized version instead when I saw it at the library. The artwork is stark and interesting and the story must do a pretty good job of paring down the original.
I might go take a look at the novel again. But probably not.
I might go take a look at the novel again. But probably not.
May 21, 2021
I picked this up because it caught my eye while at the library. I had tried to read the original and found the racist language too much, and the plot boring. As it is considered a classic though, I was curious about the storyline, and figured why not give the graphic novel a chance.
Reading this helped confirm for me that the book is indeed not worth reading at all.
Reading this helped confirm for me that the book is indeed not worth reading at all.
July 8, 2021
The concept was incredible, and some of the images were deeply moving and felt like a fairly accurate rendition of Conrad’s words, but overall, the execution was shaky. If you liked Heart of Darkness, you’ll likely like this, too! But if you didn’t, this won’t change your mind.
January 13, 2024
Tole je bilo precej temačno popotovanje v osrčje teme, zato me zdaj zanima tudi roman.
Sluti se rasizem (in sledi kolonializma), sicer pa je že sam slog stripa mračen, tako da deluje gospod Kurtz še posebej zlovešče.
Sluti se rasizem (in sledi kolonializma), sicer pa je že sam slog stripa mračen, tako da deluje gospod Kurtz še posebej zlovešče.
October 24, 2025
The artwork is really cool, especially the hidden images in the jungles. The writing style is bizarre. Some lines are pure poetry, but most are difficult. I’ve never read the novel and now I don’t plan to.
The Russian harlequin is such a tragic cult victim.
Best dying last words ever.
“My station, my career, my ideas, my river, my…” everything belonged to him”
“Droll thing life is- that mysterious arrangement of merciless logic for a futile purpose. The most you can hope from it is some knowledge of yourself, which comes too late.”
What I learned: “we live as we dream, alone” Gang of Four pulled that line from Joseph Conrad.
The Russian harlequin is such a tragic cult victim.
Best dying last words ever.
“My station, my career, my ideas, my river, my…” everything belonged to him”
“Droll thing life is- that mysterious arrangement of merciless logic for a futile purpose. The most you can hope from it is some knowledge of yourself, which comes too late.”
What I learned: “we live as we dream, alone” Gang of Four pulled that line from Joseph Conrad.
September 19, 2025
2.5
Ilustracije so zares zgovorne, na čase strašljive. Sama zgodba je preveč fragmentirana in ima premalo vsebine za nekoga, ki ni prebral izvirnika knjige, ki je navdihnila to priredbo.
Tudi prevod me ni prepričal, saj je bila večkrat jasno razvidna angleška sintaksa in frazeologija pri slovenskem tekstu.
Knjiga mogoče deluje bolj kot grafična dopolnitev originalnega dela.
Ilustracije so zares zgovorne, na čase strašljive. Sama zgodba je preveč fragmentirana in ima premalo vsebine za nekoga, ki ni prebral izvirnika knjige, ki je navdihnila to priredbo.
Tudi prevod me ni prepričal, saj je bila večkrat jasno razvidna angleška sintaksa in frazeologija pri slovenskem tekstu.
Knjiga mogoče deluje bolj kot grafična dopolnitev originalnega dela.
September 20, 2019
A few years ago I read Conrad's Heart of Darkness as part of my reading the Random House Modern Library top 100 novels of the 20th century. I didn't care much for it. (My Goodreads review is here .) I entered and won the Goodreads giveaway for Peter Kuper's graphic novel adaptation because I love the graphic novel format and thought the adaptation might make more sense to me. The foreword (by a Conrad scholar) and introduction (by Kuper) really provide some insight into the story and Kuper's take on it. Well worth the time to read before delving into the graphic novel itself. Kuper's adaptation is pretty straightforward; it does make the story easier to read and follow by eliminating some of Conrad's "dense prose," but I can't say I really liked it much more than the original (a little, though, hence 2 stars opposed to the novel's 1 star). Not a huge fan of Kuper's cartoony caricature style of art, but it flows well and the layouts are good. The problem lies in the source material, which is just so bad to begin with.
August 11, 2019
Seeing as how I have not yet read the novel “Heart of Darkness,” I was a bit reluctant to read this graphic adaptation. However, I figured this would be a good opportunity to turn literary traditions on their heads by reading the comic version of the novel before the actual work, which is not something I tend to do. Because of this, I base this review mostly on Peter Kuper’s presentation of then story rather than the story itself (which I also believe I’d hold in high regard). I think Kuper does a tremendous job of using only the most poignant pieces of text in dialogue and leaving his drawing to carry the rest of the load. His drawings blend together in a way that can create uncomfortable spaces, which works well with the themes of this book. While reading this, I often felt discomfort that mirrored that of the characters’ in this book. These great illustrations coupled with the amazing plot made this book a quick and enjoyable read.
November 22, 2019
This was a really captivating recapitulation of Conrad's novella. Though I'm not sure Kuper offers up a less racist retelling of Heart of Darkness (as he sets out to do), I think his interpretation effectively captures the ineffable horror at the existential heart of the novel. I still think the Congolese aren't given much narrative space, but I also recognize that Kuper is dealing with a novel that is resolved to leave the Congolese in the background, and so the fault lies more with Conrad (and Marlowe's narrative perspective) than with Kuper. However, there were moments where Kuper literally etches the Congolese into the background, merging them with the "impenetrable darkness" of the forest, only exacerbating the problems this novella often gets flack for. Additionally, there were moments where Kruper's cartoonish style didn't match Conrad's prose, and there were many passages I was surprised he omitted. Overall, however, this was an effective adaptation.
June 25, 2024
I read the graphic novel adaptation of this book, not the original novel. In the past I found what I have read from Conrad to be slow and tedious with moments of interest and this format really solved that issue. The introduction also provided great insight into the importance of the story, the adaptation from the original, and the creation process.
September 15, 2019
A really good book that I won in a giveaway. I never read the original. I was enjoying the book but then started enjoying it even more when it hit me... omg, Apocalypse Now! lol. The drawings were nicely done and helps bring the story to life. I would definitely recommend it.
April 24, 2021
It was too short. Another 20-30 pages could have given more depth to the story. I appreciated the anti-racism effort that was put into the adaptation by way of illustrations. It has a good Forward and an interesting Introduction by the Artist/Adapter.
January 27, 2020
Graphic novel treatment of a classic.
Art is very effective in portraying the feeling behind this novel.
Art is very effective in portraying the feeling behind this novel.
January 5, 2023
Not sure how to feel about an adaptations? Try this one. You won't be disappointed.
July 3, 2025
Whether one is familiar with the works of Joseph Conrad, a total noob, or even somewhere in-between (e.g., "I watched Apocalypse Now, once, in high school."), Kuper's adaptation of his most well known title is smart, fun to read and experience, and executed near perfectly. He makes use of the language as Conrad rendered it in the book and pairs it with his drawings done in his signature style. Graphic novels adaptations of literature almost always require some abridgement to be made in in the interest of length and pacing of the story. Kuper's cuts find the perfect balance between preserving the story while allowing the pace of the visual story to keep up. I also enjoyed reading the foreword by Maya Jasanoff (a much better choice than Adam Hochschild) and then the author's own preface where he describes his process of bringing this book abstract idea to tangible reality.
The book draws the reader in like few things I've read recently. After checking it out from my local library, I reached over to the stack of books intending to read the blurbs and flip through the pages. Instead I dived right into the introductory pages and subsequently the meat of the book. Thirty minutes later, engine still running, I closed the book having devoured the whole thing like hot French fries that don't survive the trip home after the drive-thru.
Yeah, so it was good. Highly recommended.
The book draws the reader in like few things I've read recently. After checking it out from my local library, I reached over to the stack of books intending to read the blurbs and flip through the pages. Instead I dived right into the introductory pages and subsequently the meat of the book. Thirty minutes later, engine still running, I closed the book having devoured the whole thing like hot French fries that don't survive the trip home after the drive-thru.
Yeah, so it was good. Highly recommended.
May 18, 2025
I picked up a copy of Peter Kuper’s graphic novel adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness for a few reasons. I’m a fan of Kuper’s work, which I admire for its ability to express strong emotions in a terrifying way, which seemed fitting for this project. I’ve read Conrad’s novella and appreciate many things about it, including its unique framing structure. And Apocalypse Now, which was inspired by Conrad’s book, is one of my favorite movies. I found this retelling riveting, spooky, and considered. I guess that last word is sort of a strange thing to say, but Kuper’s version brought something new to the material for me. Perhaps it was the illustrated strife between natives and invaders, or the intensity of this Kurtz’s having “gone native,” or maybe it was the monstrous depiction of what happens to one when one travels far enough up the river. Either way, I loved it.
March 31, 2025
I attempted to listen to Heart of Darkness on audio, because it is on the Great American Read and I often find classics a tad bit easier if they are read to me. But it was a major fail! I had no idea what was happening and was getting nothing out of it. I quit, but then considered trying the book in paperback instead. When I was looking for it at the library, I saw this book. And let me tell you, reading a classic through graphic novel is definitely the way to go! I got through this in one day!! I will still try reading the actual book soon, but at least I will have some idea of what is happening to help me through the difficult parts (all of it).
June 9, 2024
While aboard a boat anchored on the Thames, a nameless sailor and his comrade soon come to be the audience for one Charles Marlow, who tells them the harrowing tale of his trip into the African jungle, seeking a supposedly legendary ivory trader - one perhaps caught too long in the wilderness...Kuper offers an atmospheric adaptation of Conrad's titular novella, its use of greys and shading instilling a foreboding sense of unease throughout. Can man come back from such a depth the same?
August 17, 2024
This will server as a very interesting companion piece to Conrad’s text , as the shifts in POV here differs a bit from the canonic text , more due to Achebe’s and other post colonial commentary on the Conrad text coming as racist . But Conrad was a product of his time , and this graphic reinterpretation, with some remarkable imagery , does manage to the capture the surreal yet ghastly heart of one of the darkest chapters of European colonialism.
September 27, 2025
Peter Kuper’s adaptation of Heart of Darkness is a pretty dark story on imperialism, colonialism and exploitation in Africa in the style of "white man's burden". The grim story is inspired by Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness based on his own experiences and travels. At times, though, the visuals feel uneven, with certain panels lacking the same intensity as others - something that briefly pulls you out of the narrative.
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