Heart of darkness

Conrad writes his story in a similar vein to Kipling's "The man who would be king," with the difference Kurtz didn't go to be a king, whereas Daniel Dravitt did. I did find it hard at times to read but having read other books of the period, this was not a real problem. The character of Kurtz is intriguing, a white man of unknown talents(we are never told his occupation) travels to Africa for some reason we are never told. A white man's search for ivory? Or a man's search for his soul?