Heart of Darkness

American  

noun

1. a short novel (1902) by Joseph Conrad.

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Heart of Darkness Cultural  

1. (1902) A short novel by Joseph Conrad. It concerns a seafarer, Marlow, who is sent to the interior of Africa in search of a “mad adventurer” named Kurtz. The book's title refers both to the location of the story and to the evil and darkness in people's hearts.

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Francis Ford Coppola based his 1979 film Apocalypse Now on a version of Conrad's story set during the Vietnam War. He released a newly edited version, Apocalypse Now Redux, in 2001.

Example Sentences

Coppola had, himself, poured some $16 million into the $31 million budget for his Vietnam-set telling of Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness.”

From Seattle Times

He came close to going broke as the movie, its roots in Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” ran way over budget and over schedule.

From New York Times

In 2019 Brazile explained her decision to journey into the heart of darkness to a skeptical New Yorker writer by insisting, "If you want to help the country, if you want to try to improve democracy, you have to go into places where you are uncomfortable and try to stir things up."

From Salon

In Colombia, he arranges a bigger sting, and after that, the narrative diffuses into an improbable “Heart of Darkness” style river journey.

From New York Times

So does Johnson, who embarks on his own obsessive journey into this heart of darkness.

From Los Angeles Times