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What is admirable about the book?

A great deal is admirable about "Heart of Darkness." Two interwoven points come immediately to mind. First, the writing style. The line by line prose and the many symbols are incredibly rich and evocative. For example, look at this line from early in the work: " Flames glided in the river, small green flames, red flames, white flames, pursuing, overtaking, joining, crossing each other -- then separating slowly or hastily." Man! That's vivid. A second point is the insight into the human psyche: how we each create our own hearts of darkness.

Aside from the beauty of the book, and the depths of the themes and ideas, Conrad himself makes this book remarkable. The man was born in Poland, and did not learn English until he was in his twenties. His command of the English language is stunning regardless, but given this fact, it is even more impressive.