Cover of Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad, 1899

British novelist, 1857–1924.

Heart of Darkness is an 1899 novella by Joseph Conrad.

All-Time Canon
  • Stood the Test of Time

On 7 of the 14 lists it was eligible for.

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At a glance

Author
Joseph Conrad
First published
1899
Length
240 pages (UK paperback)
Genre
Literary fiction, Empire and colonialism, Psychological

Is Heart of Darkness worth reading?

7 of the 14 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them 100 novels everyone should read (The Telegraph) and Readers' top 100 novels (The Guardian).

ListPlaceOriginal
100 Best Novels (board's list) (Modern Library, 1998)No. 67See the list
100 novels everyone should read (The Telegraph, 2009)No. 5See the list
Readers' top 100 novels (The Guardian, 2026)No. 41See the list
The 100 best novels of all time (The Guardian, 2026)No. 41See the list
The 100 best novels written in English (The Guardian / Observer, 2015)ListedSee the list
The 100 greatest British novels (BBC Culture, 2015)No. 21See the list
The Great American Read (PBS, 2018)ListedSee the list

Best edition of Heart of Darkness

The edition we link to is the Wordsworth Editions paperback (1995), 240 pages.

Publisher
Wordsworth Editions (paperback, 1995)
Pages
240
ISBN
9781853262401

How critics and readers rate Heart of Darkness

Critics rate it most highly: it earned 59% of the points available on critics' lists, against 34% on readers' and booksellers' lists.

Critics
59%
Prizes
Not eligible for any of these lists yet
Readers and booksellers
34%

Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work

Books like Heart of Darkness

If you liked Heart of Darkness, try Nostromo, Lord Jim or The Grapes of Wrath.

Lists used on this page