Credit where it's due, this is a hugely atmospheric read. Conrad does really well there, and the sense of environmental menace is palpable. But that's about all I enjoyed here. Every single one of the characters is deeply unpleasant (I spent most of the book hoping they'd all fall into the river and be eaten by crocodiles). It's deadly grim and, until the last third, pretty dull. It's also somewhat over-written, as Conrad belabours the theme over and over and over, until even said crocodiles couldn't fail to grasp it.

There is, however, one stand-out line: "You can't breathe dead hippo waking, sleeping, and eating, and at the same time keep your precarious grip on existence." If I take nothing else from Heart of Darkness, it's the determination to find an appropriate time and place to use that line in the future.