"In 1875 or '76, when very young, in the Gulf of Mexico, I heard the story of some man who was supposed to have stolen single-handed a whole lighter full of silver, somewhere on the Tierra Firme seaboard during the troubles of a revolution." From these slim details Conrad builds one of the great novels of our language and creates one of its most enigmatic central characters: Nostromo.
Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), van oorsprong Pools, schreef in het Engels. Naast 'Hart der duisternis' zijn 'Lord Jim', 'Nostromo' en 'De geheim agent' zijn bekendste werken. 'Hart der duisternis' vormde de basis voor de film 'Apocalypse Now' van Francis Ford Coppola.