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Journey into a Dark Heart | Introduction

"Journey into a Dark Heart'' was first published in Danish in 1990 in Peter Høeg's Fortællinger om naten, a collection of eight short stories about love that take place on the night of March 19, 1929. This collection, which was translated into English in 1998 as Tales of the Night, set the standard for contemporary Danish writers. Despite this fact, Høeg is mostly known for his novels. His most famous novel, translated into English in 1993, is Smilla's Sense of Snow. Høeg's short fiction displays the same blend of narrative skill and intellectual range that has made his novels so popular. ‘‘Journey into a Dark Heart’’ is saturated with historical references, including as characters two noted men from history: author Joseph Conrad (posing under his real name of Joseph Korzeniowski) and the German World War I veteran Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness, which is referred to several times in the story, draws on his knowledge of the horrors of colonialism, which he witnessed during a voyage up the Congo River. In a similar fashion, Høeg' s "Journey into a Dark Heart'' introduces the character David Rehn, a naïve young mathematician who is obsessed with truth. Through the many conversations with the other two men on their fateful train trip into the Congo, David's Western notions about colonial Africa are challenged. The story can be found in the paperback version of Tales of the Night, which was published by Penguin Books in 1999.

Journey into a Dark Heart Summary

"Journey into a Dark Heart'' begins by introducing David Rehn, a young Dane (citizen of Denmark), who is attending the 1929 dedication of a new railway line. The railway runs from the western coast of Africa in Cabinda through the Belgian Congo and deep into the heart of the continent. The dedication includes many representatives of royalty and international business, and the grand display reinforces David's view that European civilization is indeed great. David has come to this event as a fluke, having acquired a position with a global trading company after he gave up his lifelong pursuit of mathematics. David had always relied on the stability of mathematics to get him through any emotional crisis until one year earlier, when he met Kurt Gödel, a mathematician whose ideas were bound to shake up the world of mathematics. With his passion for mathematics threatened by these new ideas, David abandoned mathematics.

Despite his rejection of mathematics as a career, David is fascinated by the construction of the railway, which he sees in quantitative terms such as the number of workers and length of railroad track. During the dinner, everybody is in joyful spirits over the completion of the railway. This good mood intensifies when the Belgian king announces that, according to an English journalist who will be going on the train trip the next day, European forces have defeated the African rebel bands who have impeded the construction in the past. In addition, Lueni, the feared African leader, has been killed, and his body is to be shipped to Cabinda.

The next afternoon, the various delegates, including David, prepare to take the first train trip ever from Cabinda to Katanga. David ends up in a train car with three others: a distinguished soldier, a black servant girl, and the elderly white man whom she serves. The old man, who is the English journalist who told the Belgian king about the death of Lueni, introduces himself as Joseph Korzeniowski. This is the actual birth name of Joseph Conrad, an author famous for his stories about colonial regions like the Congo, which were largely based on his own travels. Joseph K. hints that he has made the journey into the Congo before, and, by virtue of this experience, declares himself the host of the train car, saying that they should make this trip an open and honest journey. David introduces himself as a mathematician, thus realizing that he has not given up on his passion totally.... » Complete Journey into a Dark Heart Summary