The Heart of Darkness
“Your world is one big game, and because I was never given the chance to play, everything has just been shit. I know I haven’t been in control, but when you filled my head with your explanations you placed an idea in there that all this could have been different. I know for a fact it couldn’t but that notion created a fantasy and now all I feel is a never-ending jealousy for what could have been, and now I’m too old to enjoy it, too bitter. Too jaded. It’s an interesting fantasy but that’s all it could ever be.”
What is reality?
Haunted by darkness, Daniel feels alienated from the rest of the world.
Through conversations with his psychiatrist, he tries to make sense of the world around him and his inability to do so pulls him deeper into the depths of his delusions.
Will Daniel’s pain be healed? Can Daniel fit into the ‘normal’ world or is normal the real illusion?
About
The Heart of Darkness is a study of language, and how in something as important as a therapy session, or psychiatric assessment, the usage of conversation plays such an important role in the understanding of someone’s experience. Although written as a fictional account of a boy named Daniel, it is actually, in part, a bleeding of my complete experience. I think writing it as though it was someone else made it easier to be honest about everything because there was some level of dissociation from the words and my reality. That is why I wrote the narrative in third-person. First person is too initmate. This is how I am observed by others, and I believe that is how the experience of this book should be.
Reviews
Dominic Lyne has written a tremendously powerful and intense read here. One that’s adult content is balanced nicely by a creative presentation and bags of intelligent dialogue.
Daniel is a damaged human being, who engages in sessions with his therapist who believes he can be saved. What follows runs much deeper than a simple back-and-forth about life. There’re so many intelligent concepts, provocative ideas and such a deep character in Daniel (and his therapist) that are so well written, that The Heart of Darkness becomes completely engrossing.
Be forewarned…this is a VERY adult book. There’s content that may disturb and offend some readers, but it remains a powerful (and overlooked) masterpiece that’s made me thankful to have read it. Truly exceptional!
D.C. Wood (author of The Saviour)
Supplementary Material
1: The Heart of Darkness [Audio] – The Red Devil Incident’s third album provides a compelling soundtrack to the novel, and charts Dominic Lyne’s struggle with coming to terms with his mental health.
2: Welcome to the Heart of Darkness – Dominic Lyne introduces The Heart of Darkness on Dennis Cooper’s The Weaklings blog. [Link currently unavailable]
Details
Date of Release:
22 May 2014
ISBN:
978-1-907785-17-7
Format:
Paperback – 180 pages | eBook
Available From:
Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com