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Heart of Darkness and the Secret Agent: New York Public Library Collector's Edition
In these literary triumphs, renowned author Joseph Conrad has written two of the most chilling, disturbing, and noteworthy novels of the 20th century. While "Heart of Darkness" makes a devastating comment on humankind's corruptibility and moral depravity, "The Secret Sharer" boldly explores the dark shadows of the unconscious mind. These are stories that encapsulate Conrad's literary achievements, as well as hauntingly portray the dark side of man.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published November 10, 1997
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About the author
Joseph Conrad
3,087 books4,850 followersJoseph 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 26, 2025
Heart of Darkness only
The horror of what Kurtz has become and done is nothing compared to what the Company has done and wishes to do. The darkness is, as Marlowe observes, on our own shores.
Also note that Conrad deliberately has Marlowe describe the "dark continent" as silent. Is this literal? Are there no insects or frogs or anything along the Congo making noise? Or is this as much a critique of Western white exploitation and dehumanization as the descriptions of the enslaved and dying captive human beings? Why cannot Africa speak? Or can we simply not hear? Marlowe speaks of being trapped into choosing one of two nightmares, that of Kurtz or that of the Company. He can see no other option. But Conrad, I think, condemns both of these options AND the inability to see or hear any other way of interacting with the Congo. Marlowe is trapped. He can see and describe through only one lens. Maybe Conrad does not or cannot have the answer to that, even if he knows the two ways are horribly evil and that there must be another way. I see other reviewers recommending Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart as a response to Heart of Darkness, so I will go there next.
The horror of what Kurtz has become and done is nothing compared to what the Company has done and wishes to do. The darkness is, as Marlowe observes, on our own shores.
Also note that Conrad deliberately has Marlowe describe the "dark continent" as silent. Is this literal? Are there no insects or frogs or anything along the Congo making noise? Or is this as much a critique of Western white exploitation and dehumanization as the descriptions of the enslaved and dying captive human beings? Why cannot Africa speak? Or can we simply not hear? Marlowe speaks of being trapped into choosing one of two nightmares, that of Kurtz or that of the Company. He can see no other option. But Conrad, I think, condemns both of these options AND the inability to see or hear any other way of interacting with the Congo. Marlowe is trapped. He can see and describe through only one lens. Maybe Conrad does not or cannot have the answer to that, even if he knows the two ways are horribly evil and that there must be another way. I see other reviewers recommending Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart as a response to Heart of Darkness, so I will go there next.
June 22, 2010
The latest of my attempts to fill in the yawning chasm in my knowledge of the classics. I was a little apprehensive picking up Conrad, having bad memories of a Conrad short story - The Secret Sharer - that I'd had to study for literature class in Secondary 3. Unfortunately, the first novel of the collection, Heart of Darkness, did little to allay my misgivings. The only factor in its favour was that it was only 102 pages.
Heart of Darkness was the lengthier equivalent of The Secret Sharer - painfully slow, brooding, portentous. There are some classics which are eminently readable and lovable. Then there are others that are anointed classics because there is much scope for complex textual analysis. Every line is brimming with metaphorical significance, is rife with symbolism. I reckon the Secret Sharer belongs to this latter category. In this novel, the narrator Marlow recounts to an audience his travels into the "heart of darkness", into the heart of the Congo, to retrieve Mr Kurtz, a trading ivory agent of the Company, who is ill and has disappeared into the bush. One star for this one.
Thankfully, The Secret Agent proved to be a much better read, both plotwise and characterwise. Here, we learn the fate of Mr Adolf Verloc, an indolent shopowner and card carrying anarchist who leads a double life as an informant for one of the European embassies. One day, he is threatened with the termination of his employment (and comfortable salary), unless he demonstrates his worth by inciting the anarchists (and hence the British police) to action. Interesting character studies in the Assistant Commissioner and especially Winnie Verloc.
Heart of Darkness was the lengthier equivalent of The Secret Sharer - painfully slow, brooding, portentous. There are some classics which are eminently readable and lovable. Then there are others that are anointed classics because there is much scope for complex textual analysis. Every line is brimming with metaphorical significance, is rife with symbolism. I reckon the Secret Sharer belongs to this latter category. In this novel, the narrator Marlow recounts to an audience his travels into the "heart of darkness", into the heart of the Congo, to retrieve Mr Kurtz, a trading ivory agent of the Company, who is ill and has disappeared into the bush. One star for this one.
Thankfully, The Secret Agent proved to be a much better read, both plotwise and characterwise. Here, we learn the fate of Mr Adolf Verloc, an indolent shopowner and card carrying anarchist who leads a double life as an informant for one of the European embassies. One day, he is threatened with the termination of his employment (and comfortable salary), unless he demonstrates his worth by inciting the anarchists (and hence the British police) to action. Interesting character studies in the Assistant Commissioner and especially Winnie Verloc.
March 20, 2014
Conrad is not my cup of tea. This is the second book on his I have read. To sum it up - I just don't get him.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews