Books by Joseph Conrad

Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.The reaches opened before us and closed behind, as if the forest had stepped leisurely across the water to bar the way for our return. We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness.'At the peak of European Imperialism, steamboat captain Charles Marlow travels deep into the African Congo on his way to relieve the elusive Mr Kurtz, an ivory trader renowned for his fearsome reputation. On his journey into the unknown Marlow takes a terrifying trip into his own subconscious, overwhelmed by his menacing, perilous and horrifying surroundings.The landscape and the people he meets force him to reflect on human nature and society, and in turn Conrad writes revealingly about the dangers of imperialism.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIntroduction and Notes by Gene M. Moore, Universiteit van Amsterdam. Generally regarded as the pre-eminent work of Conrad's shorter fiction, Heart of Darkness is a chilling tale of horror which, as the author intended, is capable of many interpretations. Set in the Congo during the period of rapid colonial expansion in the 19th century, the story deals with the highly disturbing effects of economic, social and political exploitation of European and African societies and the cataclysmic behaviour this induced in some individuals. The other two stories in this book – Youth and The End of the Tether – concern the sea and those who sail upon it, a genre in which Conrad reigns supreme.Table of ContentsYouth: A Narrative Heart of Darkness The End of the Tether

Read more less

Book SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by Hugh Epstein, Secretary of the Joseph Conrad Society of Great Britain. 'Then the vision of an enormous town presented itself, of a monstrous town...a cruel devourer of the world's light. There was room enough there to place any story, depth enough for any passion, variety enough there for any setting, darkness enough to bury five millions of lives.' Conrad’s ‘monstrous town’ is London, and his story of espionage and counter-espionage, anarchists and embassies, is a detective story that becomes the story of Winnie Verloc’s tenacity in maintaining her devotion to her peculiar and simple-minded brother, Stevie, as they pursue their very ordinary lives above a rather dubious shop in the back streets of Soho. However, far from offering any sentimental picture, The Secret Agent is Conrad’s funniest novel. Its savagely witty picture of human absurdity and misunderstanding is written in an ironic style that provokes laughter and unease at the same time, and that continues to provide one of the most disturbing visions of aspiration and futility in twentieth century literature.

Read more less

Book SynopsisJoseph Conrad's last completed novel is a masterpiece of narrative tension and psychological insight.

Read more less

Book SynopsisNostromo, published in 1904, is one of Conrad''s finest works. Nostromo -- though one hundred years old -- says as much about today''s Latin America as any of the finest recent accounts of that region''s turbulent political life. Insistently dramatic in its storytelling, spectacular in its recreation of the subtropical landscape, this picture of an insurrectionary society and the opportunities it provides for moral corruption gleams on every page with its author''s dry, undeceived, impeccable intelligence.

Read more less

Book SynopsisJoseph Conrad's enduring portrait of the ugliness of colonialism. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American ReadHeart of Darkness is the thrilling tale of Marlow, a seaman and wanderer recounting his physical and psychological journey in search of the infamous ivory trader Kurtz. Traveling upriver into the heart of the African continent, he gradually becomes obsessed by this enigmatic, wraith-like figure. Marlow's discovery of how Kurtz has gained his position of power over the local people involves him in a radical questioning, not only of his own nature and values, but of those that underpin Western civilization itself. This edition also includes Conrad’s Congo Diary, a glossary, and an introduction discussing the author’s experiences of Africa, critical responses, and the novel’s symbolic complexities.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading p

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis handsome gift edition presents Joseph Conrad''s celebrated work, Heart of Darkness, featuring striking gold-embossed cover designs, gilded page edges and patterned endpapers. The inspiration behind Apocalypse Now, Heart of Darkness tells the story of Charlie Marlowe, who takes a steamboat on a voyage into the heart of Africa. His mission is to relieve an ivory agent named Kurtz, who has been taken ill at a remote trading station. Marlowe''s eyes are opened wide as he witnesses acts of cruelty on his journey and when he meets Kurtz, he is forced to examine his own values and views of humanity. In addition to Heart of Darkness, this volume also includes Tales of Unrest, a series of five short stories in which Conrad explores the nature of the soul and man''s psychological malaise. This elegant pocket-sized gift edition contains the classic and unabridged text, presented with a gold embossed cover design, i

Read more less

Book SynopsisIntroduction and Notes by Susan Jones, St Hilda's College, Oxford. First published in 1900, Lord Jim established Conrad as one of the great storytellers of the twentieth century. Set in the Malay Archipelago, the novel not only provides a gripping account of maritime adventure and romance, but also an exotic tale of the East. Its themes also challenge the conventions of nineteenth-century adventure fiction, confirming Conrad's place in literature as one of the first 'modernists' of English letters. Lord Jim explores the dilemmas of conscience, of moral isolation, of loyalty and betrayal confronting a sensitive individual whose romantic quest for an honourable ideal are tested to the limit. In this novel, Conrad draws on his background as Polish emigré, as well as his first-hand experience as a seaman, to experiment radically with the presentation of human frailty and doubt in the modern world.

Read more less

Book Synopsis''no consideration, no delicacy, no tenderness, no scruples should stand in the way of a woman ... from taking the shortest cut towards securing for herself the easiest possible existence''Chance(1914) was the first of Conrad''s novels to bring him popular success and it holds a unique place among his works. It tells the story of Flora de Barral, a vulnerable and abandoned young girl who is ''like a beggar,without a right to anything but compassion''. After her bankrupt father is imprisoned, she learns the harsh fact that a woman in her position ''has no resources but in herself. Her only means of action is to be what she is.'' Flora''s long struggle to achieve some dignity and happiness makes her Conrad''s most moving female character.Reflecting the contemporary interest in the New Woman and the Suffragette question, Chance also marks the final appearance of Marlow, Conrad''s most effective and wise narrator. This revised edition uses the English first edition text and has a new chron

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis compact novel, completed in 1900, as with so many of the great novels of the time, is at its baseline a book of the sea. An English boy in a simple town has dreams bigger than the outdoors and embarks at an early age into the sailor's life. The waters he travels reward him with the ability to explore the human spirit, while Joseph Conrad launches the story into both an exercise of his technical prowess and a delicately crafted picture of a character who reaches the status of a literary hero.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Read more less

Book SynopsisJoseph Conrad was born in the Ukraine in 1857 and grew up under Tsarist autocracy. In 1874 Conrad travelled to Marseilles, where he served in French merchant vessels before joining a British ship in 1878 as an apprentice. In 1886 he obtained British nationality. Eight years later he left the sea to devote himself to writing, publishing his first novel, Almayer's Folly, in 1895. The following year he settled in Kent, where he produced The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' (1897), Heart of Darkness (1899), Lord Jim (1900) and the political novels Nostromo (1904), The Secret Agent (1907) and Under Western Eyes (1911). He continued to write until his death in 1924.Trade ReviewAs powerful a condemnation of imperialism as has ever been written * Observer *Once experienced, it is hard to let Heart of Darkness go. A masterpiece of surprise, of expression and psychological nuance, of fury at colonial expansion and of how men make the least of life . . . endlessly readable and worthy of rereading * Telegraph *

Read more less

Book SynopsisContains four stories, written between 1900 and 1902. One of them reveals the differences between instinct and intelligence in a partnership vital to human survival; and the other contains 'land-stories' that explore the utter isolation of an East European emigrant in England and in the other, the plight of a woman.Trade Review“My own conviction, sweeping all those reaches of living fiction I know, is that Conrad’s figure stands out from the field like the Alps from the Piedmont plain.” —H. L. Mencken

Read more less

Book Synopsis''Whenever two Russians come together, the shadow of autocracy is with them...haunting the secret of their silences.''First published in 1911, Under Western Eyes traces the experiences of Razumov, a young Russian student of philosophy who is uninvolved in politics or protest. Against his will he finds himself caught up in the aftermath of a terrorist bombing directed against the Tsarist authorities. He is pulled in different directions - by his conscience and his ambitions, by powerful opposed political forces, but most of all by personal emotions he is unable to suppress. Set in St Petersburg and Geneva, the novel is in part a critical response to Dostoevsky''s Crime and Punishment but it is also a startlingly modern book. Viewed through the ''Western eyes'' of Conrad''s English narrator, Razumov''s story forces the reader to confront the same moral issues: the defensibility of terrorist resistance to tyranny, the loss of individual privacy in a surveillance society, and the demands t

Read more less

Book SynopsisJoseph Conrad's enduring portrait of the ugliness of colonialism in a deluxe edition with a gripping cover by Hellboy artist Mike Mignola. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American ReadHeart of Darkness is the thrilling tale of Marlow, a seaman and wanderer recounting his physical and psychological journey in search of the infamous ivory trader Kurtz. Traveling upriver into the heart of the African continent, he gradually becomes obsessed by this enigmatic, wraith-like figure. Marlow's discovery of how Kurtz has gained his position of power over the local people involves him in a radical questioning, not only of his own nature and values, but of those that underpin Western civilization itself.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe most supportive, easy-to-use and focussed literature guides to help your students understand the texts they are studying at GCSE and A LevelTable of Contents Part 1: Introduction Part 2: The Text Part 3: Critical Approaches Part 4: Critical History Part 5: Background Further Reading Literacy Terms

Read more less

Book SynopsisHeart of Darkness is based upon Joseph Conrad’s own experience in the Congo; “it is,” as he remarks in his 1916 author’s note to Youth: A Narrative and Two Other Stories, “experience pushed a little (and only very little) beyond the actual facts.” Unlike many other editions, this new edition of Conrad’s most famous tale focuses on the time in which Conrad was himself in the Congo, while also exploring the differences between his reported experiences and their reshaping in fiction.This edition includes an extensive selection of Conrad’s correspondence and autobiographical writing, as well as contemporary accounts of the Congo from other writers. Contemporary reviews situate Heart of Darkness in its literary contexts.Trade Review“John G. Peters is one of the most authoritative Conrad scholars in the world. This new, scrupulously edited version of Heart of Darkness, with all the invaluable ancillary material Peters includes, will be for the foreseeable future the definitive text of this novel.” — J. Hillis Miller, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, University of California Irvine“As one would expect from John Peters, this is a solid, conscientious, and eminently useful work of textual editing, with the kind of supplementary apparatus one has come to rely on in Broadview editions (including footnotes, chronology, biographical and historical context, and bibliography, all usefully put together for an undergraduate readership). It is a welcome addition to the array of critical editions of Heart of Darkness now available for students.” — Christopher GoGwilt, Fordham University“Peters’ selections do a fine job of situating the text within a series of historical and literary debates, and this is supported by the Introduction, which isolates significant elements or challenges of the text, exploring Conrad’s early life, the political situation in Europe and Africa in light of empire and colonialism, before treating literary and thematic features, such as language, narrative, and women. The text, which follows the first English book edition published by Blackwood’s in 1902 as part of Youth: A Narrative and Two Other Stories, and the accompanying documents are all judiciously annotated, and Peters acts as an authoritative guide to the multifaceted layers of Conrad’s novella and the complex contextual currents that swirl around it.” — Richard Niland, The Joseph Conrad Society UKTable of Contents Appendix A: Maps Appendix B: Correspondence 1. Joseph Conrad to Albert Thys (11 April 1890, district of Kazimierówka) 2. Joseph Conrad to Margeurite Poradowska (15 May 1890, Teneriffe) 3. Joseph Conrad to Karol Zagórski, 22 May 1890 (Freetown, Sierre Leone) 4. Joseph Conrad to Margeurite Poradowska (6 September 1890, Kinshasa) 5. Joseph Conrad to T. Fisher Unwin (22 July 1896) 6. Joseph Conrad to William Blackwood (31 December 1898) 7. Joseph Conrad to Ford Madox Hueffer [Ford] (3 January 1899) 8. Joseph Conrad to R. B. Cunninghame Graham (8 February 1899) 9. William Blackwood to Joseph Conrad (10 March 1899) 10. Joseph Conrad to William Blackwood (31 May 1902) 11. Joseph Conrad to Roger Casement (17 December 1903) 12. Joseph Conrad to Roger Casement (21 December 1903) 13. Joseph Conrad to R. B. Cunninghame Graham (26 December 1903) 14. Joseph Conrad to Ernest Dawson (25 June 1908) Appendix C: Contemporary Reviews 1. Hugh Clifford, “The Art of Mr. Joseph Conrad,” The Spectator (London) 2. [Edward Garnett], “Mr. Conrad’s New Book,” The Academy and Literature (London) 3. “Youth; and Other Stories,” The Graphic (London) 4. “Joseph Conrad,” The Literary World (London) 5. Desmond B. O’Brien [Richard Ashe King], “Letters on Books,” Truth (London) 6. From “Books Worth Reading,” The Times of India (Mumbai) 7. From “Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, and Things of Lesser Moment,” The Evening Telegram (New York) 8. “New Novels,” The Australasian (Melbourne) 9. From “Novels of the Week,” The Commercial Advertiser (New York) 10. Elia W. Peattie, “On Conrad’s Youth and Isham’s Under the Rose,” The Chicago Daily Tribune 11. George Hamlin Fitch, “On the Bookshelves,” The San Francisco Chronicle 12. Frederic Taber Cooper, “Literature, American and English,” The International Year Book 1902 (New York) 13. [Virginia Woolf], “Mr. Conrad’s Youth,” Times Literary Supplement (London) Appendix D: Autobiographical Writings by Conrad 1. From Joseph Conrad, Congo Diary (1890) 2. From Joseph Conrad, A Personal Record (1912) 3. From Joseph Conrad, “Geography and Some Explorers” (1924) Appendix E: Contemporary Accounts of the Congo 1. From George Washington Williams, An Open Letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold II, King of the Belgians and Sovereign of the Independent State of Congo (1890) 2. From Life and Letters of Samuel Norvell Lapsley, Missionary to the Congo Valley, West Africa, 1866–1892 (1893) 3. From Leopold II, “Letter from the King of the Belgians” (1898)

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is the only novel that Conrad set in London, and it communicates a profoundly ironic view of human affairs. The story is woven around an attack on the Greenwich Observatory in 1894. Verloc, (a Russian spy who is also working for the police) is ostensibly a member of an anarchist group in Soho.

Read more less

Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.The reaches opened before us and closed behind, as if the forest had stepped leisurely across the water to bar the way for our return. We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness.'When Charles Marlow agrees to captain a steamer up the Congo in search of the elusive ivory trader Mr Kurtz, it becomes a terrifying journey into both the unknown and his own subconscious. As he travels deeper and deeper into the dense jungle, he begins to sense the presence of this extraordinary and terrible man, and to question the horrifying realities of European imperialism and of human nature itself.Originally published as a three-part story in 1899, Conrad's masterpiece has inspired many further works, including Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, and remains a thought-provoking text to this day.

Read more less

Book SynopsisExam board: Edexcel Level & Subject: AS and A Level English Literature First teaching: September 2015 Next exams: 2025Trade Review“The new Collins Classroom Classic editions are perfect for schools – clear text, bright covers, a good size for pockets and bags, and a great price that makes buying new class or cohort sets very attractive in these budget-conscious times.” de Stafford School

Read more less

Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.The reaches opened before us and closed behind, as if the forest had stepped leisurely across the water to bar the way for our return. We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness.'At the peak of European Imperialism, steamboat captain Charles Marlow travels deep into the African Congo on his way to relieve the elusive Mr Kurtz, an ivory trader renowned for his fearsome reputation. On his journey into the unknown Marlow takes a terrifying trip into his own subconscious, overwhelmed by his menacing, perilous and horrifying surroundings.The landscape and the people he meets force him to reflect on human nature and society, and in turn Conrad writes revealingly about the dangers of imperialism.

Read more less

Book SynopsisSpookily topical' Guardian Read the world's first political thriller.London is under threat. It has become a haven for political exiles and anarchists. Frequent bomb threats and disturbances interrupt the lives of the city''s inhabitants, who live in fear of the terrorists in their midst. One such terrorist is Verloc. He is the secret agent who is given the mission to strike right at the heart of London''s pride by blowing up Greenwich Observatory. But his decision to drag his innocent family into the plot leads to tragic consequences on a more personal than political level. Trade ReviewPerenially fascinating... When Joseph Conrad wrote The Secret Agent he was responding imaginatively to a real botched bomb attack on Greenwich, at a time when there was real panic about anarchist extremism throughout Europe * Guardian *An astonishing book -- Ford Madox FordThis damp, dark thriller dances about on satirical feet, from its opening paragraph to the very last, where it suddenly plunges like Chernobyl's core to our own apocalyptic times, seamed with petit-bourgeois envy and crazed fundamentalist dreams. Whether attacking the former or the latter, Conrad never lets go of his grim, twitchy smile. -- Adam Thorpe * Guardian *One of the two unquestionable classics of the first order that [Conrad] added to the English novel -- F.R. Leavis

Read more less

Book SynopsisWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY TIM BUTCHERThe silence of the jungle is broken only by the ominous sound of drumming. Life on the river is brutal and unknown threats lurk in the darkness. Marlow''s mission to captain a steamer upriver into the dense interior leads him into conflict with the others who haunt the forest. But his decision to hunt down the mysterious Mr Kurtz, an ivory trader who is the subject of sinister rumours, leads him into more than just physical peril.Trade ReviewThis small novel is written with intense clarity - sentence for sentence it is still more unsettling than many unpleasant books that have been written since -- Anne EnrightConrad's narrative arsenal is awesome... Conrad deals in profundities if he deals in anything, but it is just his ability to clip his own wings in midflight, to puncture his ponderously magnificent dirigibles, that make him such an impressive literary performer * Sunday Times *Still the debate rages: is Conrad's novella an incisive critique of colonialism, or does it reinforce the very racist values it claims to unmask? Either way, his shrouded account of Marlow's journey into the "god-forsaken wilderness" of the Congo demands to be read. At its core lies the enigmatic, awesome Kurtz, and civilisation itself. "And this also," said Marlow suddenly, "has been one of the dark places of the earth" * Guardian *Demands to be read * Guardian *Conrad broadened the descriptive range of the English language (his glowing and luxuriant delight in words, the haunting decor of the tropics, all that maritime terminology) more than any of his contemporaries * Independent *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA young and inexperienced sea captain finds that his first command leaves him with a ship stranded in tropical seas and a crew smitten with fever. As he wrestles with his conscience and with the increasing sense of isolation that he experiences, the captain crosses the shadow-line' between youth and adulthood. In many ways an autobiographical narrative, Conrad''s novella was written at the start of the Great War when his son Borys was at the Western Front, and can be seen as an attempt to open humanity's eyes to the qualities needed to face evil and destruction.

Read more less

Book SynopsisPresents a story woven around an attack on the Greenwich Observatory in 1894 masterminded by Verloc, a Russian spy working for the police, and ostensibly a member of an anarchist group in Soho.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Penguin English Library Edition of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad''The mind of man is capable of anything - because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future. What was there after all? Joy, fear, sorrow, devotion, rage - who can tell? - but truth - truth stripped of its cloak of time. Let the fool gape and shudder - the man knows, and can look on without a wink''Marlow, a seaman, tells of a journey up the Congo. His goal is the troubled European and ivory trader Kurtz. Worshipped and feared by invaders as well as natives, Kurtz has become a godlike figure, his presence pervading the jungle like a thick, obscuring mist. As his boat labours further upstream, closer and closer to Kurtz''s extraordinary and terrible domain, so Marlow finds his faith in himself and civilization crumbling. Conrad''s Heart of Darkness has been considered the most important indictment of the evils of imperialism written to date.Th

Read more less

Book Synopsis''It was as if the sea, breaking down the wall protecting all the homes of the town, had sent a wave over her head''One of Conrad''s most powerful, gripping storiesIntroducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin''s 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions.Joseph Conrad (1857-1924). Conrad''s Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, Nostromo, The Secret Agent, The Secret Sharer and Other Stories, Typhoon and Other Stories and Under Western Eyes are available in Penguin Classics.

Read more less

Book SynopsisJoseph Conrad's dark satire on English society In the only novel Conrad set in London, The Secret Agent communicates a profoundly ironic view of human affairs. The story is woven around an attack on the Greenwich Observatory in 1894 masterminded by Verloc, a Russian spy working for the police, and ostensibly a member of an anarchist group in Soho. His masters instruct him to discredit the anarchists in a humiliating fashion, and when his evil plan goes horribly awry, Verloc must deal with the repercussions of his actions. While rooted in the Edwardian period, Conrad's tale remains strikingly contemporary, with its depiction of Londoners gripped by fear of the terrorists living in their midst. This edition of The Secret Agent contains a chronology, further reading, notes and maps of London and Greenwich. In his introduction, Michael Newton discusses London's real-life world of political anarchy, and Conrad's portrayal of the Verlocs' marriage.Trade Review“The Secret Agent is an astonishing book. It is one of the best—and certainly the most significant—detective stories ever written.” —Ford Madox Ford“The Secret Agent is an altogether thrilling ‘crime story’ . . . a political novel of a foreign embassy intrigue and its tragic human outcome.” —Thomas Mann “One of Conrad’s supreme masterpieces.” —F. R. Leavis “[The Secret Agent] was in effect the world’s first political thriller—spies, conspirators, wily policemen, murders, bombings . . . Conrad was also giving artistic expression to his domestic anxieties—his overweight wife and problem child, his lack of money, his inactivity, his discomfort in London, his uneasiness in English society, his sense of exile, of being an alien . . . The novel has the perverse logic and derangement of a dream.”—from the Introduction to the Everyman's Library edition by Paul Theroux

Read more less

Book SynopsisIt was I who removed de P- this morning. With these chilling words Victor Haldin shatters the solitary, industrious existence of Razumov, his fellow student at St Petersburg University. Razumov aims to overcome the denial of his noble birth by a brilliant career in the tsarist bureaucracy created by Peter the Great. But in pre-revolutionary Russia Peter's legacy is autocracy tempered by assassination; and Razumov is soon caught in a tragic web with Haldin's trustful sister Natalia in spy-haunted Geneva. Their fateful story is told by an elderly Englishman who loves Natalia but plays his part of a dense Westerner to the end.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis selection of four relatively neglected stories by Conrad -- 'The End of the Tether', ' The Duel', ' The Return', and 'Amy Foster' --remind readers that he is not just the teller of sea stories and tales of imperialist action, but a writer for an age of global terror and individual trauma.Table of ContentsIntroduction Note on the Text Select Bibliography A Chronology of Joseph Conrad THE END OF THE TETHER THE DUEL THE RETURN AMY FOSTER Explanatory Notes

Read more less

Book SynopsisWord count 19,160

Read more less

Book SynopsisVictory, don''t forget, has come out of my innermost self.Victory was the last of Conrad''s novels to be set in the Malay Archipelago. Sub-titled ''An Island Tale'', it tells the story of Axel Heyst who, damaged by his dead father''s nihilistic philosophy, has retreated from the world of commerce and colonial exploration to live alone on the island of Samburan. But Heyst''s solitary existence ends when he rescues an English girl from her rapacious patron and takes her off to his retreat. She in turn recalls him to love and life, until the world breaks in on them once more with tragic consequences. In this love story Conrad created two of his psychologically most complex and compelling characters in a narrative of great erotic power.This new edition uses the English first edition text and has a new chronology and bibliography. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWritten in 1915, The Shadow-Line is based upon events and experiences from twenty-seven years earlier, to which Conrad returned obsessively in his fiction. A young sea-captain faces a succession of crises on his first command, for which he feels himself responsible. The novel is a work full of 'sudden passions', as well as a penetrating analysis of the nature of manhood.

Read more less

Book SynopsisOne of the most powerful and psychologically compelling novels from Joseph Conrad, author of Lord Jim and Heart of DarknessAxel Heyst, a dreamer and a restless drifter, believes he can avoid suffering by cutting himself off from others. Then he becomes involved in the operation of a coal company on a remote island in the Malay Archipelago, and when it fails he turns his back on humanity once more. But his life alters when he rescues a young English girl, Lena, from Zangiacomo's Ladies' Orchestra and the evil innkeeper Schomberg, taking her to his island retreat. The affair between Heyst and Lena begins with her release, but the relationship shifts as Lena struggles to save Heyst from detachment and isolation.Featuring arguably the most interesting hero created by Conrad, Victory is both a compelling tale of adventure and a perceptive study of the power of love.Trade Review“I am glad that I am alive, if, for no other reason, because of the joy of reading this book.” —Jack London

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisJoseph Conrad''s haunting Modernist masterpiece, now in the beautifully designed Penguin Clothbound Classics seriesHeart of Darkness has been considered for most of this century as a literary classic, and also a powerful indictment of the evils of imperialism. It reflects the savage repressions carried out in the Congo by the Belgians in one of the largest acts of genocide committed up to that time. Conrad''s narrator encounters at the end of the story a man named Kurtz, dying, insane, and guilty of unspeakable atrocities. What he sees on his journey, and his eventual encounter with Kurtz, horrify and perplex him, and call into question the very bases of civilization and human nature.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe masterpiece of Joseph Conrad’s later years, the autobiographical short novel The Shadow-Line depicts a young man at a crossroads in his life, facing a desperate crisis that marks the “shadow-line” between youth and maturity.This brief but intense story is a dramatically fictionalized account of Conrad’s first command as a young sea captain trapped aboard a becalmed, fever-wracked, and seemingly haunted ship. With no wind in sight and his crew disabled by malaria, the narrator discovers that the medicine necessary to save the sick men is missing and its absence has been deliberately concealed. Meanwhile, his increasingly frightened first mate is convinced that the malignant ghost of the previous captain has cursed them. Suspenseful, atmospheric, and deceptively simple, Conrad’s tale of the sea reflects the complex themes of his most famous novels, Lord Jim and Heart of Darkness.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisJoseph Conrad possessed a matchless gift for embodying life as it is lived under extreme physical and psychological pressure. Victory, his last masterpiece, tells the story of Axel Heyst, a radically isolated, philosophically minded soul living apart on a remote Pacific island, who performs two acts of instinctive kindness and thereby embroils himself in storms of greed and vengeance, and of love and mercy.             When Heyst impulsively rescues a young English musician, Lena, from the predations of a lascivious hotel owner named Schomberg, he cannot know that she will be the means of releasing him from the emotional detachment with which he has long barricaded himself. Their affair does not last long, however, once the enraged Schomberg sends agents of revenge to invade Heyst’s island retreat. Out of the maelstrom of violence and tragedy that ensues, Conrad produces a profound, unflinching meditation on hu

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisAlmayer’s Folly, Joseph Conrad’s first novel, is a tale of personal tragedy as well as a broader meditation on the evils of colonialism. Set in the lush jungle of Borneo in the late 1800s, it tells of the Dutch merchant Kaspar Almayer, whose dreams of riches for his beloved daughter, Nina, collapse under the weight of his own greed and prejudice. Nadine Gordimer writes in her Introduction, “Conrad’s writing is lifelong questioning . . . What was ‘Almayer’s Folly’? The pretentious house never lived in? His obsession with gold? His obsessive love for his daughter, whose progenitors, the Malay race, he despised? All three?” Conrad established in Almayer’s Folly the themes of betrayal, isolation, and colonialism that he would explore throughout the rest of his life and work.

Read more less