"To hide in the magnificent folds of eloquence the barren darkness of his heart...."

Conrad’s Heart of Darkness speaks of Marlow’s journeys deep into the heart of the Congo in search of the mysterious Kurtz. Not only does his novel speak of the horrors of the colonial rule in the Belgian Congo and its futile intent, but in a more symbolic way of the human condition. Held in perfect equipoise between realism and modernism, Conrad explores consciousness in a manner which, if not entirely comfortable, is nonetheless fascinating. Infused with the echoes of both the gothic and the detective genre this book appeals to a variety of literary tastes.

I was captivated by the abundance of imagery and symbolism that haunt the pages of this dark novel. I found myself driven further on with an urgency similar to that of Marlow’s, both to discover and understand Kurtz. Deep and complex questions are raised and for a relatively small volume their significance is vast. Long after the last page has been turned these questions continued to linger at the periphery of our conscience.

Heart of Darkness is a classic that is not only a pleasure to read, but causes us to examine in new light the nature of our being.
{my review of Heart of Darkness, published on the Penguin Student Review Website}