Heart of Darkness

"He struggled with himself, too. I saw it -- I heard it. I saw the inconceivable mystery of a soul that knew no restraint, no faith, and no fear, yet struggling blindly with itself." Aboard an anchored boat on the Thames a sailor named Charlie Marlow tells his fellow sailors a shocking story from his youth as a ferry boat captain traveling up the Congo River. It soon becomes clear to his audience that Marlow is more than a little obsessed with the brilliant ivory trader he met there, Kurtz. Though gifted, powerful and charismatic, the young Marlow suspected the man had gone mad. 'Heart of Darkness' (1899) is a timeless book and a breathtaking story about the corruptive European colonialism. It is the inspiration behind the classic 1979 movie, Apocalypse Now starring Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen.