Tales of Unrest

by Joseph Conrad

Overview

The master writer of introspective tales of adventure returns to his usual haunts in this collection of short stories. The Lagoon, Conrad's first short story, is set in Malaya. An Outpost of Progress takes place in Central Africa. Few writers better create a sense of exotic place and inner struggle.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940000739990
Publisher:	B&R Samizdat Express
Publication date:	09/01/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	402 KB

About the Author

Joseph Conrad [born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski] (1857–1924), was a Polish born mariner and writer who, after a turbulent youth, moved first to France and then Britain. He spent most of his twenties and thirties working on various ships, from wealthy three-masters to rusty steamers, voyaging around the world and rising in rank until he attained a master's certificate in 1886. The same year Conrad took British nationality. His marine career came finally to an end in 1894 due to increasing importance of steam sail, for which Conrad's qualifications were not satisfactory.

He then began his literary career, for he was drafting stories in his spare time even when working at sea. After a slow start, the major success came between 1897 and 1911 with publications of short stories and novels such as 'Youth' (1898), Lord Jim (1899), Heart of Darkness (1899), Typhoon (1902), Nostromo (1904), The Secret Agent (1907), 'The Secret Sharer' (1910) and Under Western Eyes (1911).

Conrad's works were influenced by his sea voyages and adventures, and his novels often revolve around the significance of imperial enterprises and the moral dilemmas they inflict. The echoes of his Polish upbringing in a difficult political time may be traced in the underlining sense of isolation, embattled honour, and political disillusionment prevailing many of his works.

Because of the exotic settings and adventurous plots of Conrad's works on one hand, and the moral complexity of his characters on the other, many of his works became an inspiration for stage and film adaptations.

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

General editors' preface; Acknowledgements; Chronology; Abbreviations and note on editions; Introduction; Tales of Unrest: Author's note; 'Karain: A Memory'; 'The Idiots'; 'An Outpost of Progress'; 'The Return'; 'The Lagoon'; The texts: an essay; Apparatus; Appendices; Explanatory notes.

Editorial Reviews

"This latest instalment in the Cambridge edition of Conrad’s collected works, edited by Allan H. Simmons and J. H. Stape, aims to recover an experience of reading Conrad stripped of the interventions that produced the texts with which we are now familiar … Conrad studies today, much like Conrad’s career then, are in vital, vibrant form."
Andrew Purssell, English Literature in Transition, 1880–1920

From the Publisher