---
product_id: 24894938
title: "Heart of Darkness and Other Tales (Oxford World's Classics)"
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# Heart of Darkness and Other Tales (Oxford World's Classics)

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desertcart.com: Heart of Darkness and Other Tales (Oxford World's Classics): 8601410984533: Conrad, Joseph, Watts, Cedric: Books

Review: Like A Veil That Had Been Lifted - “The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.” “We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness. At night sometimes the roll of drums behind the curtain of trees would run up the river and remain sustained faintly, as if hovering in the air high over our heads, till the first break of day. Whether it meant war, peace, or prayer we could not tell. “We were wanderers on an earth that wore the aspect of an unknown planet. But suddenly, as we struggled round a bend, there would be a glimpse of rush walls, of peaked grass roofs, a burst of yells, a whirl of black limbs, a mass of hands clapping, of feet stamping, of bodies swaying, of eyes rolling under the droop of heavy foliage. The steamer toiled on the edge of an incomprehensible frenzy. Were the prehistoric men cursing us, praying to us or welcoming us - who could tell?” “It was as though a veil had been rent. I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror and an intense and hopeless despair. Did he live his life again in every detail of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision, a cry that was no more than a breath - The horror! The horror!” “I found myself back in the sepulchral city resenting the sight of people hurrying through the streets to filch a little money from each other, to devour their infamous cookery, to gulp their unwholesome beer, to dream their insignificant and silly dreams. Their bearing was offensive to me like outrageous flauntings of folly in the face of a danger it is unable to comprehend.” “The tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed sombrely under an overcast sky and seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness.” ************* Imagine this, you are a native Polish speaker and write one of the most influencial novels in the English language, replete with references to ancient and modern history while being a sea captain to far flung parts of the globe. Well, that’s what Joseph Conrad did in this 1899 novella, ‘Heart of Darkness’ adapted into the Francis Ford Coppola film ‘Apocalypse Now’ in 1979. I rarely do this but I recommend getting the Oxford World Classics edition of the book for its frequent and in depth footnotes. Without these it is likely that many of the allusions would have flown over my head. Being of such an age the text is in the public domain and would also surely suffice. There is something in this tale that exudes a legend. The story starts out with the captain Marlow expounding on his previous voyages in the far east and his desire to steam up the Congo, while he sits on the River Thames awaiting the tide to go out. Very quickly it is understood that Marlow is in fact Conrad by clues he left in the text, when plying a steamboat up the river. A prior captain had been murdered by locals over a simple barter deal that had went wrong. Marlow arrives in Brussels to sign up for his captaincy with King Leopold II as Conrad had done in 1890. He leaves onboard a passenger steamer to the West African coast noting the folly of men of war along the way shooting at the shore. If one wishes to hear a tale of human bondage one need look no further than this. Marlow’s first encounter with the Congo Free State reveals an indentured servitude system with native people in a state of moral and physical collapse. Kurtz is described as the overseer of an upcountry ivory trading station. When Marlow arrives at the central station his steamer has been sunk, probably due to some sort of local sabotage. The station manager inspires neither fear nor respect. Marlow speaks of their papier mache Mephistopheles as a false devils. The steamboat is wrecked and unreparable while he waits for weeks due to a lack of rivets. White Europeans trod the land on the backs of black donkeys. Aside from the rapacious trading quest they see themselves on a mission to enlighten the benighted denizens of the forest. Steaming upriver while watching for stone beds and tree logs Marlow keeps an eye out for deadwood to feed the boat’s furnace. Time to collect some ivory and rubber for the King of Belgium. On board were a crew of cannibals: “fine fellows in their place, and after all they didn’t eat each other before my face”. When Marlow’s African ship steerman is murdered by a tribe of onshore archers the passengers and crew members are offended by the unceromonial disposal of his remains. Kurtz appears prematurely as a phantom inside of Marlow’s mind. Kurtz is about to be met and has evolved into an indigenous king, gathering a clan of African and European fealties. His station has been decorated by human heads upon poles. Marlow encounters a ragged young captain on the edge of the Kurtz compound who is entranced by the enigmatic man. Kurtz is compared to an idol whose ravenous appetites are irresistible and charismatic to those he’s assembled around him, but is ill and needs to be carried on a litter. Although prolific in his harvesting of ivory he has stiired up troubles in the region and had ordered the attack on Marlow’s ship. From the forest comes an ominous beating of drums and bonfires blazing in the blackness. He pursues Kurtz onshore through the grass and bush while encountering an anteloped horned witch doctor along the way. It is a terrifying vision of a late Victorian African colony written in powerful prose with a shocking ending.
Review: I'm Enjoying Joseph Conrad - The book contains four stories: "An Outpost of Progress", "Karain", "Youth", and "Heart of Darkness". I was interested in "Heart of Darkness" because of its relationship to the movie "Apocalypse Now". Of the stories in the book, I found "Youth" and "Karain" the most interesting. However, they were all worth reading. The Kindle edition is nice because of the ability to look up the definitions of the somewhat obscure terms used by Conrad. Overall I'd recommend this edition of the "Heart of Darkness"

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #95,396 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1,896 in Classic Literature & Fiction #3,913 in Literary Fiction (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 488 Reviews |

## Images

![Heart of Darkness and Other Tales (Oxford World's Classics) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81W1+-T86JL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Like A Veil That Had Been Lifted
*by D***R on May 18, 2024*

“The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.” “We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness. At night sometimes the roll of drums behind the curtain of trees would run up the river and remain sustained faintly, as if hovering in the air high over our heads, till the first break of day. Whether it meant war, peace, or prayer we could not tell. “We were wanderers on an earth that wore the aspect of an unknown planet. But suddenly, as we struggled round a bend, there would be a glimpse of rush walls, of peaked grass roofs, a burst of yells, a whirl of black limbs, a mass of hands clapping, of feet stamping, of bodies swaying, of eyes rolling under the droop of heavy foliage. The steamer toiled on the edge of an incomprehensible frenzy. Were the prehistoric men cursing us, praying to us or welcoming us - who could tell?” “It was as though a veil had been rent. I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror and an intense and hopeless despair. Did he live his life again in every detail of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision, a cry that was no more than a breath - The horror! The horror!” “I found myself back in the sepulchral city resenting the sight of people hurrying through the streets to filch a little money from each other, to devour their infamous cookery, to gulp their unwholesome beer, to dream their insignificant and silly dreams. Their bearing was offensive to me like outrageous flauntings of folly in the face of a danger it is unable to comprehend.” “The tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed sombrely under an overcast sky and seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness.” ************* Imagine this, you are a native Polish speaker and write one of the most influencial novels in the English language, replete with references to ancient and modern history while being a sea captain to far flung parts of the globe. Well, that’s what Joseph Conrad did in this 1899 novella, ‘Heart of Darkness’ adapted into the Francis Ford Coppola film ‘Apocalypse Now’ in 1979. I rarely do this but I recommend getting the Oxford World Classics edition of the book for its frequent and in depth footnotes. Without these it is likely that many of the allusions would have flown over my head. Being of such an age the text is in the public domain and would also surely suffice. There is something in this tale that exudes a legend. The story starts out with the captain Marlow expounding on his previous voyages in the far east and his desire to steam up the Congo, while he sits on the River Thames awaiting the tide to go out. Very quickly it is understood that Marlow is in fact Conrad by clues he left in the text, when plying a steamboat up the river. A prior captain had been murdered by locals over a simple barter deal that had went wrong. Marlow arrives in Brussels to sign up for his captaincy with King Leopold II as Conrad had done in 1890. He leaves onboard a passenger steamer to the West African coast noting the folly of men of war along the way shooting at the shore. If one wishes to hear a tale of human bondage one need look no further than this. Marlow’s first encounter with the Congo Free State reveals an indentured servitude system with native people in a state of moral and physical collapse. Kurtz is described as the overseer of an upcountry ivory trading station. When Marlow arrives at the central station his steamer has been sunk, probably due to some sort of local sabotage. The station manager inspires neither fear nor respect. Marlow speaks of their papier mache Mephistopheles as a false devils. The steamboat is wrecked and unreparable while he waits for weeks due to a lack of rivets. White Europeans trod the land on the backs of black donkeys. Aside from the rapacious trading quest they see themselves on a mission to enlighten the benighted denizens of the forest. Steaming upriver while watching for stone beds and tree logs Marlow keeps an eye out for deadwood to feed the boat’s furnace. Time to collect some ivory and rubber for the King of Belgium. On board were a crew of cannibals: “fine fellows in their place, and after all they didn’t eat each other before my face”. When Marlow’s African ship steerman is murdered by a tribe of onshore archers the passengers and crew members are offended by the unceromonial disposal of his remains. Kurtz appears prematurely as a phantom inside of Marlow’s mind. Kurtz is about to be met and has evolved into an indigenous king, gathering a clan of African and European fealties. His station has been decorated by human heads upon poles. Marlow encounters a ragged young captain on the edge of the Kurtz compound who is entranced by the enigmatic man. Kurtz is compared to an idol whose ravenous appetites are irresistible and charismatic to those he’s assembled around him, but is ill and needs to be carried on a litter. Although prolific in his harvesting of ivory he has stiired up troubles in the region and had ordered the attack on Marlow’s ship. From the forest comes an ominous beating of drums and bonfires blazing in the blackness. He pursues Kurtz onshore through the grass and bush while encountering an anteloped horned witch doctor along the way. It is a terrifying vision of a late Victorian African colony written in powerful prose with a shocking ending.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I'm Enjoying Joseph Conrad
*by R***O on November 13, 2020*

The book contains four stories: "An Outpost of Progress", "Karain", "Youth", and "Heart of Darkness". I was interested in "Heart of Darkness" because of its relationship to the movie "Apocalypse Now". Of the stories in the book, I found "Youth" and "Karain" the most interesting. However, they were all worth reading. The Kindle edition is nice because of the ability to look up the definitions of the somewhat obscure terms used by Conrad. Overall I'd recommend this edition of the "Heart of Darkness"

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Nice reading copy of Conrad stories.
*by W***. on April 23, 2022*

Conrad is prose poetry, especially in Heart of Darkness. This edition is annotated with an introduction. It is perhaps the best edition of Heart of Darkness for its simple and straightforward analysis and notes. Unlike most Penguin Classics, this Oxford Classics has no misprints as all the many Oxford editions...accurate texts free of errors.

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*Last updated: 2026-01-24*