"Lord Jim" was originally published in the Blackwood's Magazine beginning in October of 1899 and ending in November 1900. It was a written as a serial story. In the book, Jim is a romantic dreamer. As a child he wanted to become a hero on the high seas after reading romances on the subject. But, every attempt at … [Read more...] about Lord Jim
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad was born on December 3rd, 1857 in Kiev, Russia. The son of a man who was all at once a writer, political activist, and translator, Conrad had a lot to live up to from the start. Conrad's father belonged to the "Red" party whose goal was to bring back the past partitions of the boundaries of Poland as well as land reform and the abolition of serfdom. Because of his father's political activism, as a child, Conrad's family moved repeatedly. In 1861, they were exiled to Vologda, 300 miles north of Moscow but two years later Conrad's father's sentence was commuted, and the family was sent to Chernihiv in the Ukraine.
In April of 1865, Conrad's mother Ewa died of tuberculosis. Conrad's father attempted to home school him but died in 1869, leaving Conrad in the care of Ewa's brother, Tadeusz. As a child, Conrad was a poor student, and eventually his uncle sent him away to a cousin who ran a boarding house for orphan boys.
At the age of 16, Conrad was sent away to France to begin a career as a sailor. Though he had no finished school, he was a very intelligent boy who already spoke several languages and was well read in the literature of his time.
In the 1870's, Conrad worked as a merchant marine in France and eventually became a captain. He spent 19 years as a sailor, and most of his stories and characters were derived from this time. Conrad retired from his sea-faring life in 1893 at the age of 35, part of the reason being that he wished to pursue a career in writing.
His first novel, "Almayer's Folly" was published two years later in 1895 and was quickly followed by a string of more successful books going into the 20th century until, at the end of his life, Conrad had published 20 novels in all, as well as more short stories and essays.
In March of 1896, Conrad married a woman by the name of Jessie George, and the couple had two boys, Borys and John. The family lived in many different countries, such as France, England, and the United States throughout the early 1900's.
In August of 1924, Conrad died of a heart attack at his home in Kent, England. His funeral was attended by a large crowd and he was interred at Canterbury Cemetery, Canterbury.
Heart of Darkness
"Heart of Darkness" is a novella written by Joseph Conrad and published in 1899. The story was first published as a three-part serial in Blackwood's Magazine and was later published as part of a book called "Youth: A Narrative, and Two Other Stories," in 1899. Despite the modern success of the novella, during Conrad's … [Read more...] about Heart of Darkness