Conrad, J: Heart of Darkness

Charles Marlow's journey into the heart of Africa is an odyssey into corruption, absurdity and folly. He sees rapacious Europeans exploiting the Africans and conspiring against each other; he voyages upstream on a paddle-steamer that comes under lethal attack; and he encounters the great idealist, Mr Kurtz, the genius who seemed to represent the best of Europe. But Mr Kurtz has 'taken a high seat among the devils of the land', and Marlow returns to Europe bearing the burden of appalling knowledge, forced to make his 'choice of nightmares'.