Robert Kimbrough Livres

"The three stories in this volume lay no claim to unity of artistic purpose. The only bond between them is that of the time in which they were written." Thus Conrad, in his Author's Note of 1917, qualifies his later statement that the stories represent the three ages of man--youth, maturity and age. Together on one volume we see that he did not set out to write about three separate periods of life, but rather that he wrote about life from three separate points of view.

"Heart of Darkness" is one of the most significant British novels. Written during the height of imperialism, Conrad explores themes of evil, colonial obsession, and racial madness. The narrative has inspired numerous film adaptations, including Werner Herzog's "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" and Francis Ford Coppola's anti-war film "Apocalypse Now." The story is narrated by Marlow, a sailor who recounts to friends an experience that profoundly impacted his life. As the captain of a steamboat in the Congo, Marlow embarks on a two-month journey into the wilderness, serving a colonial company that brutally imposes nonsensical rules on the local inhabitants while extracting treasures from the jungle. In his search for the unscrupulous colonialist Kurtz, Marlow ventures deeper into the enigmatic jungle, confronting the unfathomable darkness within the human soul and uncovering horror along the way.