Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness (1899) is a novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad about a narrated voyage up the Congo River into the Congo Free State in the so-called "heart of Africa". Charles Marlow, the narrator, tells his story to friends aboard a boat anchored on the River Thames. This setting provides the frame for Marlow's story of his obsession with the ivory trader Kurtz, which enables Conrad to create a parallel between what Conrad calls "the greatest town on earth", London, and Africa as places of darkness.
Modern Library 100 Best Novels
"Ulysses" by James Joyce topped the list, followed by F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" and Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man". The most recent novel in the list is William Kennedy's "Ironweed", published in 1983; the oldest is "The Way of All Flesh" by Samuel Butler, which was written between 1873 and 1884, but not published until 1902. Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", serialized in 1899, is the only novel published in the 19th century; it was later republished in book form during 1902. Conrad has four novels on the list, the most of any author. William Faulkner, E. M. Forster, Henry James, James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence, and Evelyn Waugh each have three novels. There are ten other authors with two novels.