The Secret Agent: "We can never cease to be ourselves."

by Joseph Conrad

Overview

Joseph Conrad was born in 1857 in Poland, Joseph Conrad became a British citizen just before he turned 30. In the intervening years he lost both parents; becoming an orphan at 11 being thereafter raised by an uncle, who at 16 let the boy go to Marseille where he began to work on merchant ships though at times it included stints gun running and the intrigue of political conspiracy. At age 36 his life turned from one of ships to one of literary pursuit. Conrad brought to English Literature both a further layer of style and a deeper examination of the human psyche in a wealth of work. He wrote many novels, rightly regarded today, as some of the finest in English literature. Among their canon are Lord Jim, Nostromo, The Shadow Line and of course Heart Of Darkness. For this volume we dwell on The Secret Agent, the title might seem cliched now but the story is a gem, a classic that has given inspiration to many and remains hugely compelling.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780009414
Publisher:	Copyright Group
Publication date:	10/11/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	189
File size:	228 KB

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

Read an Excerpt

Joseph Conrad was an immigrant from Poland who learned English as a boy and spent many years at sea. The quality and telling of his stories is formidable. The atmosphere, the characters, the narrative are all uniformly excellent.