Joseph Conrad

 

A few years ago I read “Heart of Darkness” (1899), by Joseph Conrad. It is about Charles Marlow’s journey down the Congo River in Central Africa as an Ivory transporter. Overall I really liked this story, although like most stories of its time, it sometimes, suffered from xenophobia. So I wanted to find out who wrote this story and this is what I found out.

Joseph Conrad was a British Novelist of Polish Birth. His experiences as a sailor enabled him to picture the beauty and mystery of the sea and also write convincingly of romantic adventures in strange lands. Man’s struggle against nature was one of Conrad’s favorite themes. “Typhoon” is a short story giving an unforgettable description of a storm at sea. “The Heart of Darkness” is a longer story set in the steamy jungles of the Congo, while “The Secret Sharer” is a short tale of shipboard life in the Far East. “Lord Jim” (1900) which deals with a young Englishman’s years of atonement for one moment of cowardice, proves Conrad’s ability as a psychological novelist.

Conrad used English only after he was 20, and did no literary work in it until he was nearly 40. He was an accomplished stylist, but his work often has a flavor suggesting that he continued to think in polish. His real name was Teodor Josef Konrad Korzeniowski. He was born in the Polish Ukraine. His father was exiled for several years after joining in an unsuccessful revolution. Later the family settled in Cracow. The elder Korzeniowski was a cultured man and gave his son the essentials of a sound education. Joseph was a restless boy, and at the age of 17 enrolled in the French merchant marine.

His first sea voyages were to the West Indies. He later sailed on British ships to most of the Mediterranean and pacific ports and to Africa and South America. He was given a master mariner’s certificate in the British merchant marine in 1886, and in the same year became a British Subject. While recovering from an attack of jungle fever in 1889, Conrad began to write a novel published as “Almayer’s Folly “ (1895). He left the sea in 1894, was married, and settled down in rural Kent, England. Conrad’s first books were praised by critics but did not sell well. In his discouragement, he had just decided to go to sea when he was granted a small government pension. Success came with ”Chance” (1913). Like “Victory” (1915), this is a novel about a man’s struggle against a tragic flaw of character. A Personal Record (1912) is Conrad’s autobiography.