Joseph Conrad

Polish author Joseph Conrad is considered to be one of the greatest English-language novelists, a remarkable achievement considering English was not his first language. Conrad’s literary works often featured a nautical setting, reflecting the influences of his early career in the Merchant Navy, and his depictions of the struggles of the human spirit in a cold, indifferent world are best exemplified in such seminal works as Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, The Secret Agent, Nostromo, and Typhoon. Regarded as a forerunner of modernist literature, Conrad’s writing style and characters have influenced such distinguished writers as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, William S. Burroughs, Hunter S. Thompson, and George Orwell, among many others. Many of Conrad’s novels have been adapted for film, most notably Heart of Darkness, which served as the inspiration and foundation for Francis Ford Coppola;s 1979 film Apocalypse Now.

Praise

  • The brilliant mind behind Moby Dick in Pictures is back to illustrate Joseph Conrad’s classic.

    —Flavorwire

  • Darkness never looked so good: Matt Kish’s illustrated edition of Joseph Conrad’s classic follows the template he created with Moby-Dick in Pictures.

    —The National Post

  • For your friend who slept through English class, an illustrated version of a classic: Heart of Darkness, written by Joseph Conrad and illustrated by Matt Kish.

    —The Airship

  • Two years after his infinitely wonderful illustrations for every page of Moby-Dick, which ranked among the best art and design books of 2011, self-taught Ohio-based artist Matt Kish returns with an equally exquisite edition of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (public library). With one haunting acrylic-paint-and-ink illustration for every page, Kish, whose artwork was included in the excellent compendium The Graphic Canon, Vol. 3, reinvigorates the Conrad classic and its timeless themes of race, gender, power, privilege, and the dualities of the human soul.

    —Brainpickings