Nostromo

by Joseph Conrad

Overview

In the fictional republic of Costaguana instability and revolution are the norm. When Charles Gould’s silver mine becomes a catalyst for violence, he fears his wealth will be taken by his enemies. Charging Nostromo—said to be incorruptible—with the task of selling the silver offshore, Gould no longer fears for the fate of his wealth; however, as Nostromo’s own desire for power and fame strengthens, corruption seems the inevitable end.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781443403627
Publisher:	HarperCollins Canada
Publication date:	08/20/2013
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	599,900
File size:	927 KB

About the Author

Polish author Joseph Conrad is considered to be one of the greatest English-language novelists, a remarkable achievement considering English was not his first language. Conrad’s literary works often featured a nautical setting, reflecting the influences of his early career in the Merchant Navy, and his depictions of the struggles of the human spirit in a cold, indifferent world are best exemplified in such seminal works as Heart of Darkness, Lord JimM, The Secret Agent, Nostromo, and Typhoon. Regarded as a forerunner of modernist literature, Conrad’s writing style and characters have influenced such distinguished writers as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, William S. Burroughs, Hunter S. Thompson, and George Orwell, among many others. Many of Conrad’s novels have been adapted for film, most notably Heart of Darkness, which served as the inspiration and foundation for Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 film Apocalypse Now.

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

Table of Contents

Introduction
A Note on the Text
Joseph Conrad: A Brief Chronology
Author’s Note

Nostromo

Appendix A: Selected Reviews

1. Letters of Arnold Bennett (25 November 1912)
2. Unsigned review, The Times Literary Supplement (21 October 1904)
3. Unsigned notice, Review of Reviews (1 November 1904)
4. Unsigned notice, Black and White (5 November 1904)
5. Unsigned review, Daily Telegraph (9 November 1904)
6. C.D.O. Barrie, British Weekly (10 November 1904)
7. Unsigned review, Manchester Guardian (2 November 1904)
8. Edward Garnett, Speaker (12 November 1904)
9. John Buchan, Spectator (19 November 1904)
10. Unsigned notice, Illustrated London News (26 November 1904)

Appendix B: Selected Letters

Appendix C: Documents relating to the Panama Canal Treaty of 1903

Appendix D: “Autocracy and War”

Works Cited

Recommended Reading

Editorial Reviews

Ruth Nadelhaft’s new edition of Nostromo is a timely addition to the Broadview Editions series. Without neglecting the traditional critical and biographical approaches, the supplementary materials and lucid introduction place Conrad’s difficult masterpiece fully and clearly within its contemporary contexts (especially the events surrounding the Panama Canal project), and in relation to our own debates about imperialism, colonials, and alleged racism in Conrad’s work. Broadview’s Nostromo, like its companion volumes, is truly a text for the way we teach now.” — David Latané Jr., Virginia Commonwealth University

“Nadelhaft negotiates the impasse between existential and political responses to the book. In reaffirming that the personal is the political, she demonstrates how Nostromo represents the process whereby ‘imperialism transmits the virus of alienation.’ Joined with the historical apparatus so characteristic of Broadview Editions, such theorizing genuinely reopens a book that hasn’t yet received its due.” — Michael Coyle, Colgate University

From the Publisher

Often praised as one of Joseph Conrad’s greatest novels, NOSTROMO tells the tumultuous history of the fictional country Costaguana. Conrad’s “perfectly incorruptible” Nostromo, a heroic symbol within the community, eventually reveals the novel’s dark irony. British actor John Lee approaches his narration with a steady tone and expert attention to the text. What is especially masterful in Lee’s reading is his array of accents for Conrad’s collage of characters—from the English and Italian transplants to the passionate native inhabitants. All are wonderfully portrayed by Lee, especially the polyglot Decoud, a Europeanized Costaguaneran whose accent fluctuates between French and Spanish. Lee takes Conrad’s dense and descriptive language in hand to produce an epic listening experience. D.M.W. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2011 - AudioFile