Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

What a weird book.

I read this one with my son for his literature class, (and it just happened to also be selected for Carrie's Classic Book Club) and I have to admit he enjoyed it more than I did.

In a nutshell, Conrad uses this mid-1800's-story of an adventure into the wilderness of the Congo to examine man's capacities for self-restraint.  In his pursuit of power and self-elevation, how far will a man go when the expectations of "civilized society" are absent?  Will he recognize self-deception as he ventures further and further into his heart of darkness to avoid the penetrating light of truth?

The narrator, Marlow, is relating his assignment to retrieve Kurtz, a larger-than-life individual well-known for his unparalleled ability to persuade and thus procure more ivory for the company than anyone else.  While Kurtz himself is not present in most of the story, his influence and the shadow of his worldview certainly is.

Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness during Nietzche's lifetime and his philosophical influence is evident with the will to power idea and nihilistic attitude.  It is a story without hope for it is a story based on a hopeless worldview.