I know there's some backlash against Heart of Darkness, but I loved it. It was one of the few books that I read twice in a row. Absolutely loved the prose, the descent into madness, the recognition of inhumanity. Just a very powerful book.
Chinua Achebe called the book racist. I see this reading of it as well, but still think it's worth going through for its prose and narrative.
Thank you for that link, Rivenblade. I don't really know anything about Joseph Conrad, or any of his other works, so I found it an interesting perspective on the book.