Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of Maps
- Note on Geographical Names
- Genealogies
- Chronology
- Conrad’s Sea Voyages
- Joseph Conrad A Life
- I In the Shadow of Alien Ghosts: 1857–1874
- II In Marseilles: 1874–1878
- III The Red Ensign: 1878–1886
- IV Master in the British Merchant Marine: 1886–1890
- V To the End of the Night: 1890
- VI The Sail and the Pen: 1891–1894
- VII Work and Romance: 1894–1896
- VIII Strivings, Experiments, Doubts: 1896–1898
- IX Ford, The Pent, and Jim: 1898–1900
- X Difficult Maturity: 1900–1904
- XI Uphill: 1904–1909
- XII Crisis and Success: 1910–1914
- XIII Journey to Poland: 1914
- XIV The War and the Memories: 1914–1919
- XV Hope and Resignation: 1919–1924
- Epilogue
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Bibliographical Note
- Index of Names
- Index of Subjects
- Illustration Credits
- Plate section
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of Maps
- Note on Geographical Names
- Genealogies
- Chronology
- Conrad’s Sea Voyages
- Joseph Conrad A Life
- I In the Shadow of Alien Ghosts: 1857–1874
- II In Marseilles: 1874–1878
- III The Red Ensign: 1878–1886
- IV Master in the British Merchant Marine: 1886–1890
- V To the End of the Night: 1890
- VI The Sail and the Pen: 1891–1894
- VII Work and Romance: 1894–1896
- VIII Strivings, Experiments, Doubts: 1896–1898
- IX Ford, The Pent, and Jim: 1898–1900
- X Difficult Maturity: 1900–1904
- XI Uphill: 1904–1909
- XII Crisis and Success: 1910–1914
- XIII Journey to Poland: 1914
- XIV The War and the Memories: 1914–1919
- XV Hope and Resignation: 1919–1924
- Epilogue
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Bibliographical Note
- Index of Names
- Index of Subjects
- Illustration Credits
- Plate section
Summary
This Book First Appeared in 1981 in Polish. Since then there have been three new editions: English (1983), French (1992), and second Polish (1996), each revised. The present edition, the fifth overall, is the second in English. Needless to say, the text has undergone significant changes (in fact, about one quarter is new). Thanks to other scholars’ research as well as my own, it has been possible to add much hitherto unknown factual material, as for example: further genealogical details of the Korzeniowski family, including the name of Conrad’s long-forgotten paternal aunt—Emilia, to whom Emilia Gould of Nostromo owes her name; Conrad’s father’s importance as a Polish national leader; details concerning Conrad’s service in the French merchant marine and his voyages to Central America; more about Conrad’s service in the British Merchant Service and his early English reading; new theories about the origins of Kurtz (in “Heart of Darkness”); the international context of Conrad’s Congo experiences; Conrad’s early English correspondence (which surfaced only in 1996); new evidence concerning his marriage, plans to settle in France and the change of these plans; more about his collaboration and break with Ford Madox Ford; also more about Conrad’s relations with his wife and elder (wayward) son; the circumstances of writing A Personal Record and correcting Under Western Eyes; Conrad’s friendship with the eminent cultural anthropologist Bronis5aw Malinowski; his problems with the English language, his borrowings from French writers; his attitude toward socialism; his reactions to the reception of his books; his last will; and so on.
These additions, and numerous emendations, have not altered the original aims and premises of the book.
Biographies of writers are read for two main reasons. First, the lives of exceptional men, distinguished by their achievement, experience, and unusual personalities, have always held a fascination for others. Second, readers familiar with the books of a writer want to obtain, through knowledge of the life, additional perspectives on and even keys to the works. They feel they know them as it were from the outside and hope to get an inside view of them, an intimate access to their secrets.
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- Joseph ConradA Life, pp. vii - xiiPublisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2007