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Where to start with Joseph Conrad
British novelist, 1857–1924.
Best Joseph Conrad book to start with: Heart of Darkness (1899), on 7 of the 14 lists it could have made.
Start with Heart of Darkness if you want something short, or The Secret Agent if you want something easy. Heart of Darkness is a novella about a journey up the Congo, told on a boat on the Thames. It is dense, so read it slowly, and be aware that it has been criticised for how it treats African characters. The Secret Agent is a thriller about anarchists in London, and it’s the easiest of his books to enjoy.
Lord Jim is about a sailor’s shame and what he does with it. It’s slower, but the narrator, Marlow, is the same one who tells Heart of Darkness. Save Nostromo for later. It is long, it is set in an invented South American country, and it’s the one critics rate highest and readers find hardest.
His sentences are long throughout, so don’t judge any of these on the first chapter.
Joseph Conrad's books, ranked best first
Heart of Darkness comes first, on 7 of the 14 lists it could have made, followed by Nostromo and Lord Jim.
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Joseph Conrad's novels in order
The earliest on our lists is Heart of Darkness (1899), and the most recent is The Secret Agent (1907).
- 1899 Heart of Darkness
- 1899 Lord Jim
- 1904 Nostromo
- 1907 The Secret Agent
Novels on at least one of our 30 lists. Not a complete bibliography.
Also on one list
One more of Joseph Conrad's novels is on one of our lists.
- The Secret Agent (1907): 100 Best Novels (board's list)
Lists used on this page
- The 100 best novels of all time, The Guardian (2026). Original list
- The 100 best novels written in English, The Guardian / Observer (2015). Original list
- The 100 greatest novels of all time, The Observer (2003). Original list
- The 100 greatest British novels, BBC Culture (2015). Original list
- 100 novels everyone should read, The Telegraph (2009). Original list
- 100 Best Novels (board's list), Modern Library (1998). Original list
- Bokklubben World Library, Norwegian Book Clubs (2002). Original list
- 100 books of the century, Le Monde (1999). Original list
- Readers' top 100 novels, The Guardian (2026). Original list
- The Great American Read, PBS (2018). Original list