For January's meeting, the Two Harbors Public Library Book Group will read and discuss Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," a literary classic originally published in 1902. Conrad was Polish, living under Russian rule, when he decided to apprentice to a seafarer. Early in his career he became involved in smuggling and gunrunning in Spain, and accrued huge debts in France. Trying to get out of this mess, he joined a British crew in 1878, learned English at the age of 21, and in 1890 began his own journey up the Congo River. It was his near disastrous trip up the Congo which likely led to his writing "Heart of Darkness" about the same subject, and his writings in English that would ultimately make him famous.
Hence, while reading this book, it might be worthwhile to look out for the portions that seem to be more autobiographical than fictional. The intertwining of Conrad's own experiences with those of the character Marlow should make for some very interesting discussion.
(Conrad's biographical information was taken from the book jacket of the Robert Bentley, 1902 edition of the book "Heart of Darkness.")
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