
Joseph Conrad by Joseph Conrad
These three works of Conrad's middle years show him at the height of his powers. Each is an adventure story which also explores profound issues of identity and provides ironic insights into the bases of civilization. "Lord Jim" (1900) tells of a young, idealistic Englishman who is disgraced by an act of cowardice in "an Eastern port". Behind the story of ships and the sea is an involving study of a modern tragic hero's greatness and weakness. "Heart of Darkness" (1902) shares the narrator of "Lord Jim" , Marlow, who journeys up the Congo river to meet the remarkable Mr Kurtz. Set in an atmosphere of mystery and menace, the tale appraises the glamour and folly of imperial adventure. "Nostromo" (1904) recreates the perilous history of a Latin American seaboard country through a series of personal stories. Each character is affected by the attempts of the heirs of a silver mine to rescue it from the hands of the latest revolutionary dictator. Conrad is a writer of great subtlety and sophistication; these three works display the technical brilliance and psychological depth which have established him as one of the first English Modernists.
Joseph Conrad, christened Josef Teodor Konrad, Nalecz Korzeniowski, was born on December 3, 1857, in a part of Russia that had once belonged to Poland. His parents were members of the landed gentry, but as ardent Polish patriots, the suffered considerably for their political views. Orphaned at eleven, Conrad attended school for a few years in Cracow, He soon concluded, however, that there was no future for a Pole in occupied Poland, and at sixteen he left his ancestral home forever. The sea was Conrad's love and career for the next twenty years. In the French merchant marine, he sailed to the West. Indies, smuggled guns to Spanish rebels, ran into debt, and bungled a suicide attempt Then in the British merchant navy, he rose to first mate and finally to captain, sailing to Australia and Borneo and surviving at least one shipwreck. In 1890 he contracted to become captain of a Congo River steamer, but the six months he spent in Africa led only to disillusionment and ill health; this episode would become the basis for Conrad's masterpiece, Heart of Darkness. Reluctantly leaving the merchant service, he settled in England and completed his first novel, Almayer's Folly, already begun at sea. Hi subsequent works, many of which drew upon his sea experiences, include The Nigger of the Narcissus (1897), Lord Jim (1900), Heart of Darkness (1902), Youth (1902) Typhoon (1903), Nastromo (1904), The Secret Agent (1907), The Secret Sharer (1910), Under the Western Eyes (1911), and Chance (1913). The man who was twenty-one years old before he spoke a word of English is now regarded as one of the superb English stylists of all time. Conrad died almost literally on his desk in 1924, at the age of sixty-six.
SKU | Unavailable |
ISBN 13 | 9780192823366 |
ISBN 10 | 0192823361 |
Title | Joseph Conrad |
Author | Joseph Conrad |
Series | Oxford Paperbacks |
Condition | Unavailable |
Binding Type | Paperback |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Year published | 1994-07-07 |
Number of pages | 652 |
Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
Note | Unavailable |