Almayer's folly: A story of an eastern river

by Joseph Conrad

Overview

Almayer's Folly, Joseph Conrad's first novel, is a tale of personal tragedy as well as a broader meditation on the evils of colonialism. Set in the lush jungle of Borneo in the late 1800s, it tells of the Dutch merchant Kaspar Almayer, whose dreams of riches for his beloved daughter, Nina, collapse under the weight of his own greed and prejudice. Nadine Gordimer writes in her Introduction, "Conrad's writing is lifelong questioning . . . What was 'Almayer's Folly'? The pretentious house never lived in? His obsession with gold? His obsessive love for his daughter, whose progenitors, the Malay race, he despised? All three?" Conrad established in Almayer's Folly the themes of betrayal, isolation, and colonialism that he would explore throughout the rest of his life and work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781720469476
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	05/29/2018
Pages:	104
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.22(d)

About the Author

Best known for his novella Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) was a Polish–British author. Although not a native English speaker, Conrad came to be regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English language. He revolutionized the English novel with books such as The Secret Agent, Nostromo, and Typhoon. Before publishing his first novel, Almayer's Folly, in 1895, Joseph Conrad spent almost 20 years working mostly at sea as a merchant sailor.

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