Originally published in 1902, Heart of Darkness remains one of this centuryś most enduring--and harrowing--works of fiction. Written several years after Conradś grueling sojourn in the Belgian Congo, the novel tells the story of Marlow, a seaman who undertakes his own journey into the African jungle to find the tormented white trader Kurtz. Rich in irony and spellbinding prose, Heart of Darkness is a complex meditation on colonialism, evil, and the thin line between civilization and barbarity.