Department of English

JOSEPH CONRAD’S WORKS

Conrad’s first novel was published at the age of 38, when he gave up his work as a merchant captain, and he married Jessie George, during 1895. His novels, which narrate adventures of the marine life, captivated the English public not only for the innovation of the topic but for the mastery in the story and in the use of the language. His prominent characters are men with hero’s category who face to their condition and human limits, defying the evil or the corruption, in his search of ideal supreme.

His life is marked by the adventure and for the suffering produced by his gout, as well as the paralysis of his wife and the exiguous income that he got of his work.

He wrote 13 novels, two books of memories and 28 short stories also called novellas. His novel Nostromo (1904), is considered by many critics as his masterpiece.

His prose treats about the human condition and the struggle of the individual between the good and evil. Frequently the narrator is a retired sailor – possibly Conrad's alter ego, since some of his novels are considered to be autobiographical; like his first published work, Almayer's folly (1895) and almost they all reflect certain sadness although his style is rich and vigorous.

One of the Conrad's most popular novels is Lord Jim (1900), in which a man spends his life trying to expiate his cowardice during a shipwreck happened in his youth.

The racial discrimination there inspires The Nigger of the "Narcissus", (1897), a complex history on a storm in the Cape of Good Hope and an enigmatic black sailor, and also inspires An Outcast of the Islands, (1896).

Other his works are: Youth (1902), Typhoon (1903), The mirror of the sea (1906), The secret agent (1907), on the London anarchists; Under the look of West (1911), Victoria (1915), settled in the South Seas or The line of shade (1917). The Shadow Line. (1917).The Arrow of Gold (1919).The Rescue (1920).The Nature of a Crime with Ford Madox Ford. (1923)The Rover. (1923)

Heart of Darkness (1902), that reveals the frightening depths of the human corruptibility, is one of Conrad’s best known stories, and on it, Francis Ford Coppola would base his film Apocalypse Now.

Original film poster

This is a reference of his short stories:

"The Idiots" (Conrad's first short story; written during his honeymoon, published in Savo 1896 and collected in Tales of Unrest, 1898).
"The Black Mate" (written, according to Conrad, in 1886; published 1908; posthumously collected in Tales of Hearsay, 1925).
"The Lagoon” (composed 1896; published in Cornhill Magazine 1897; collected in Tales of Unrest, 1898).
"An Outpost of Progress" (written 1896 and named in 1906 by Conrad himself, long after the publication of Lord Jim and Heart of Darkness, as his 'best story'; published in Cosmopolis 1897 and collected in Tales of Unrest 1898; often compared to Heart of Darkness, with which it has numerous thematic affinities).
"The Return" (written circa early 1897; never published in magazine form; collected in Tales of Unrest, 1898; Conrad, presaging the sentiments of most readers, once remarked, "I hate it").
"Karain: A Memory" (written February–April 1897; published Nov. 1897 in Blackwood's and collected in Tales of Unrest, 1898).
"Youth" (written in 1898; collected in Youth, a Narrative and Two Other Stories, 1902)
"Falk" (novella/story, written in early 1901; collected only in Typhoon and Other Stories, 1903).
"Amy Foster" (composed in 1901; published the Illustrated London News, Dec. 1901 and collected in Typhoon and Other Stories, 1903).
"To-morrow" (written early 1902; serialized in Pall Mall Magazine, 1902 and collected in Typhoon and Other Stories, 1903).

"The End of the Tether" (written in 1902; collected in Youth, a Narrative and Two Other Stories, 1902)
"Gaspar Ruiz" (written after "Nostromo" in 1904–05; published in Strand Magazine in 1906 and collected in A Set of Six, 1908 UK/1915 US. This story was the only piece of Conrad's fiction ever adapted by the author for cinema, as Gaspar the Strong Man, 1920).
"An Anarchist" (written in late 1905; serialized in Harper's in 1906; collected in A Set of Six, 1908 UK/1915 US.)
"The Informer" (written before January 1906; published in December 1906 in Harper's and collected in A Set of Six, 1908 UK/1915 US.)
"The Brute" (written in early 1906; published in The Daily Chronicle in December 1906; collected in A Set of Six, 1908 UK/1915 US.)
"The Duel" (aka "The Point of Honor": serialized in the UK in Pall Mall Magazine in early 1908 and in the US periodical Forum later that year; collected in A Set of Six in 1908 and published by Garden City Publishing in 1924. Joseph Fouché makes a cameo appearance)
"Il Conde" (i.e., 'Conte' [count]: appeared in Cassell's [UK] 1908 and Hampton's [US] in 1909; collected in A Set of Six, 1908 UK/1915 US.)
"The Secret Sharer" (written December 1909; published in Harper's and collected in Twixt Land and Sea 1912)
"Prince Roman" (written 1910, published in 1911 in the Oxford and Cambridge Review; based upon the story of Prince Roman Sanguszko of Poland 1800–1881)
"A Smile of Fortune" (a long story, almost a novella, written in mid-1910; published in London Magazine in Feb. 1911; collected in Twixt Land and Sea 1912)
"Freya of the Seven Isles" (another near-novella, written late 1910–early 1911; published in Metropolitan Magazine and London Magazine in early 1912 and July 1912, respectively; collected in Twixt Land and Sea 1912)
"The Partner" (written in 1911; published in Within the Tides, 1915)
"The Inn of the Two Witches" (written in 1913; published in Within the Tides, 1915)
"Because of the Dollars" (written in 1914; published in Within the Tides, 1915)
"The Planter of Malata" (written in 1914; published in Within the Tides, 1915)
"The Warrior's Soul" (written late 1915–early 1916; published in Land and Water, in March 1917; collected in Tales of Hearsay, 1925)
"The Tale" (Conrad's only story about World War I; written 1916 and first published 1917 in Strand Magazine)

Memoirs and essays

The Mirror of the Sea (collection of autobiographical essays first published in various magazines 1904-6 ), 1906
A Personal Record (also published as Some Reminiscences), 1912
Notes on Life and Letters, 1921
Last Essays, 1926