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JOSEPH CONRAD (1857-1924) was one of the most remarkable figures in English literature. Born in Poland, and originally named Josef Teodor Konrad Walecz Korzeniowski, he went to sea at the age of seventeen and eventually joined the crew of an English vessel, becoming a British citizen in the process. He retired from the sea in 1894 and took up the pen, writing all his works in English, a language he had only learned as an adult. Despite this, he was a master stylist, both lush and precise. His outsider's eye gave him special insights into the moral dangers of the great age of European empires. In his prefactory note to this volume, Conrad wrote, "Of the five stories in this volume, 'The Lagoon,' the last in order, is the earliest in date. It is the first short story I ever wrote and marks, in a manner of speaking, the end of my first phase, the Malayan phase with its special subject and its verbal suggestions. Conceived in the same mood which produced 'Almayer's Folly' and 'An Outcast of the Islands,' it is told in the same breath (with what was left of it, that is, after the end of 'An Outcast'), seen with the same vision, rendered in the same method -- if such a thing as method did exist then in my conscious relation to this new adventure of writing for print. I doubt it very much. One does one's work first and theorizes about it afterwards. It is a very amusing and egotistical occupation of no use whatever to any<->one and just as likely as not to lead to false conclusions."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1778976 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-08
• Released on: 2000-08-08
• Binding: Paperback
• 204 pages

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who maintained that his name was Henry Price. However, for some reason or other, the natives down the river had given him the name of Makola, and it stuck to him through all his wanderings about the country. He spoke English and French with a warbling accent, wrote a beautiful hand, understood bookkeeping, and cherished in his innermost heart the worship of evil spirits.

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who maintained that his name was Henry Price. However, for some reason or other, the natives down the river had given him the name of Makola, and it stuck to him through all his wanderings about the country. He spoke English and French with a warbling accent, wrote a beautiful hand, understood bookkeeping, and cherished in his innermost heart the worship of evil spirits.

Customer Reviews

Mental Unrest
In these tales, people are put under heavy mental stress by fatal accidents, hostile environments or insoluble doubts. Their reactions become uncontrollable.
The short stories give a good picture of Conrad's themes, story building with surprising outcomes and view on mankind: `Morality is not a method of happiness'.

In `Karain: a Memory', a Malay war-chief makes an odyssey trying to kill a woman who left her native village with a white man. He becomes haunted by the spirit of his dead brother.
In `The Lagoon', the adduction of a woman turns into a fatal accident. `There is no light and no peace in the world; but there is death - death for many. I left him in the midst of the enemies; but I am going back.'
In `An outpost of Progress', two lonely `progressive' colonialists become haunted by their hostile environment; `a suggestion of things vague, uncontrollable, and repulsive, whose discomposing intrusion tries the civilized nerves.'
In `The Return', a marriage turns sour on the impossible `certitude of love and faith'.
In `The Idiots', a less successful offspring puts a marriage under extreme pressure.

These sometimes furiously written stories with their high evocative power of landscapes, feelings and conflicts should not be missed.

Probing the Murky Waters ot the Soul
his anthology of 216 pages provides an excellent introduction for new readers to Polish-born Joseph Conrad, who deftly paints on an English canvass. Having selected five of his tales the editors present readers with settings in both the exotic tropics of Malaysia and Africa, as well as the chilly social milieus of socialite London and pastoral France. Perhaps the editors chose the word UNREST for their title, because all the protagonists experience psychological malaise from a diversity of causes.

KARAIN. This Malay chieftain feels cursed by his past, so he desperately seekst a new English charm to ward off his fatal stalker.

THE IDIOTS. A simple French peasant couple are cursed by bearing children who are severely mentally retarded.

OUTPOST OF PROGRESS. The title is sheer irony, since a useless African trading station is run by two ineffectual English agents. The men are pursued by their failed pasts, general laziness, incompetence, extreme heat and company indifference.

THE RETURN. A young socialite husband returns home to discover a note from his wife, explaining that she has left him for another man. In this most psychological of the tales, the wronged husband undergoes a series of intense emotions and decisions, ultimately defying the very Society he represents.

THE LAGOON. A native is pre-grieving the death of his beloved wife, unburdening his soul before his only white friend. Although this represents Conrad's first published short story, curiously it concludes this particular anthology. Prepare to explore the murky waters of the human heart and soul.