Conrad’s novella was serialised in 1899 in
Blackwood’s Magazinebut was not published in book form until its inclusion in
Youth, A Narrative, and Two Other Storiesin 1902. For some critics, it is one of the first indisputably modernist works written in English. The book is divided into three chapters which follow a journey up the river Congo by Charles Marlow to find a man called Kurtz.
The narrative begins aboard a cruising yawl called The Nellie. A first narrator introduces the scene, explaining that he is sitting aboard the boat, anchored in the Thames estuary waiting for the tide to turn, with four other men: the Director of Companies, who is their host, a lawyer, an accountant, and Marlow, a seaman. After a short preamble by this unnamed character, Marlow takes over the
2351 words
Citation: Childs, Peter. "Heart of Darkness". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 January 2002; last revised 22 February 2018. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4874, accessed 23 November 2024.]
