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Under Western Eyes

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Under Western Eyes

Paperback(Revised)

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Overview

First published in 1911, Under Western Eyes traces the experiences of Razumov, a young Russian student of philosophy who is uninvolved in politics or protest. Against his will he finds himself caught up in the aftermath of a terrorist bombing directed against the Tsarist authorities. He is pulled in different directions -- by his conscience and his ambitions, by powerful opposed political forces, but most of all by personal emotions he is unable to suppress. Set in St Petersburg and Geneva, the novel is in part a critical response to Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, but it is also a startlingly modern book. Viewed through the 'Western eyes' of Conrad's English narrator, Razumov's story forces the reader to confront the same moral issues: the defensibility of terrorist resistance to tyranny, the loss of individual privacy in a surveillance society, and the demands thrown up by the interplay of power and knowledge.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780141441948
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	12/18/2007
Series:	Penguin Classics Series
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	1,060,558
Product dimensions:	5.06(w) x 7.76(h) x 0.93(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

John Peters is Associate Professor of English at the University of North Texas.

Date of Birth:

December 3, 1857

Date of Death:

August 3, 1924

Place of Birth:

Berdiczew, Podolia, Russia

Place of Death:

Bishopsbourne, Kent, England

Education:

Tutored in Switzerland. Self-taught in classical literature. Attended maritime school in Marseilles, France

Read an Excerpt

To begin with I wish to disclaim the possession of those high gifts of imagination and expression which would have enabled my pen to create for the reader the personality of the man who called himself, after the Russian custom, Cyril son of Isidor—Kirylo Sidorovitch—Razumov.
(Continues…)

Excerpted from "Under Western Eyes"
by .
Copyright © 2007 Joseph Conrad.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

	General Editor's Preface	vii
	Acknowledgements	x
	Introduction	xi
	Note on the Text	xxxi
	Select Bibliography	xl
	A Chronology of Joseph Conrad	xlv
	Under Western Eyes	1
	Author's Note	281
	Explanatory Notes	284

Reading Group Guide

1. In 1903 Conrad referred to himself as a "homo duplex," or "double man." The image of the doppelg?nger appears frequently in his work. How does the idea of a "double" apply to this text? Does Razumov ever encounter his own "double"? If so, what purpose does it serve?

2. Consider the role of the professor of languages. What do you think Conrad's intention was in giving the narrator this profession? What is the professor's function in the novel? Is the fact that he is an Englishman significant? If so, what perspective does this provide?

3. Examine the role of women in the text. How have Tekla, Mrs. Haldin, Nathalie, and Sophia affected Razumov? How are their roles similar? Different? In addition, examine the conversations between Razumov and Sophia. What is Conrad saying about the nature of women as compared to the nature of the revolutionary? Is it convincing?

4. Consider Razumov's reaction to the mention of women in his first encounter with the professor of languages. Why do you think he reacts in such an antagonistic manner? What does this reveal about Razumov?

5. Consider the title. How does Conrad use sight and seeing as motifs throughout the novel?

6. Some critics regard the scene where Razumov leaves Councillor Mikulin to be the dramatic climax of the novel. Examine the last lines of their conversation. What is the implication of Mikulin's softly spoken question "Where to?" How does this question set the theme for the rest of the novel? What does it imply?

7. In his Author's Note of 1920, Conrad reflects, "These people are unable to see that all they can effect is merely a change of names. The oppressors and the oppressed are all Russians together." With this in mind, compare Conrad's representation of the revolutionaries as opposed to the czarists. Does he favor one over the other? What is Conrad saying about an individual's free will as opposed to the demands of the state? Can this dichotomy be reconciled? If so, how?

8. Examine Razumov's decision to give up Haldin. How does he come to this decision? How does he justify and personalize this decision? Is he acting for his own safety or for the good of the czarist state? Does one take precedence over the other?

9. Finally, examine Razumov's own decision to confess. What is the catalyst for his decision? Is there more than one? Is this a confrontation with his own morality?

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Editorial Reviews

A century after its publication, Under Western Eyes is as compelling and as relevant to our own age as it was to an earlier age of political terrorism. John Peters’ introduction and ample appendices offer a magisterial guide to the composition of this novel, which Conrad struggled to complete at the cost of his own mental health, and to the revolutionary struggles that were an integral part of the political, social, and intellectual crises of the decade leading up to the First World War. Like other Broadview Editions, which never skimp on the materials that make for a thorough understanding of the text, this edition of Under Western Eyes is the one to read.” — Sanford Schwartz, Pennsylvania State University

“This new edition of Under Western Eyes will significantly enhance our understanding of the novel. Peters’ introduction is lucid, informative, and extremely well written. The appendices are superbly chosen. Together, they clarify why and how Conrad wrote the novel, and why it was such a major challenge for him, artistically, personally, and psychologically. The scholarly apparatus is brilliantly done; it is concise, compelling, well written, and illuminating. Any and all readers of the novel, even those who think they already know it well, will benefit enormously from this edition.” — Stephen Ross, University of Victoria

From the Publisher

Keen and merciless in exposure and meticulously searching in analysis, Under Western Eyes is a psychologic study or remarkable penetration, and, as a novel, is entitled to rank with the best that Mr. Joseph Conrad has given us...The book startles one by its amazing truth and by the intimate knowledge of the human heart that reveals in its varied and masterly characterisation.”

1911 Pall Mall Gazette

A century after its publication, Under Western Eyes is as compelling and as relevant to our own age as it was to an earlier age of political terrorism.”

Pennsylvania State University Sanford Schwartz

The whole is a work which must rank with the masterpieces of English fiction.”

1911 Westminster Gazette

Under Wester Eyes is written with that intensity of vision, that complete adsorption in and by the subject, and that astonishing mastery of the subtleties of languange which have ever distinguished its author’s best work...Mr. Conrad has given us an able and convincing study of a soul in the cruel, remorseless grip of fate. He has never done anything better.”

1911 Morning Post

One does not know what deserves more admiration: the amazing subject, the fitting together, the boldness of so difficult an undertaking, the patience in the development of the story, [or] the complete understanding and exhausting of the subject.”

André Gide

"This new edition of Under Western Eyes will significantly enhance our understanding of the novel. Peters' introduction is lucid, informative, and extremely well written. The appendices are superbly chosen. Together, they clarify why and how Conrad wrote the novel, and why it was such a major challenge for him, artistically, personally, and psychologically. The scholarly apparatus is brilliantly done; it is concise, compelling, well written, and illuminating. Any and all readers of the novel, even those who think they already know it well, will benefit enormously from this edition."

Stephen Ross University of Victoria

"A century after its publication, Under Western Eyes is as compelling and as relevant to our own age as it was to an earlier age of political terrorism. John Peters' introduction and ample appendices offer a magisterial guide to the composition of this novel, which Conrad struggled to complete at the cost of his own mental health, and to the revolutionary struggles that were an integral part of the political, social, and intellectual crises of the decade leading up to the First World War. Like other Broadview Editions, which never skimp on the materials that make for a thorough understanding of the text, this edition of Under Western Eyes is the one to read."

Sanford Schwartz Pennsylvania State University

Under Western Eyes

Under Western Eyes

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