Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)

Joseph Conrad was the name adopted by Josef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, who was born in a northern region of the Ukraine that was once part of Poland.

The Ukraine, at that time however, was ruled by the Tzar of Russia and Conrad's family had been active in their opposition of the Russian domination. As a consequence of his father's activities, the Korzeniowski family was transported to Volgoda in Siberia when Joseph was just four years old. Due in part to the health effects of the difficult living conditions and the long, hard winters of the region, both parents died of tuberculosis before his thirteenth birthday.

Following the death of his parents, the young Conrad was sent to live with an uncle in Switzerland and, at the age of sixteen, joined the French Merchant Marine as a seaman's apprentice. Four years later, following an incident which left Conrad with a bullet wound in the chest, he was discharged from the French Merchant Marine and then joined the British Merchant Navy.

After a successful career in the British Merchant Navy, during which he rose to the rank of Captain and held a ship's master's license, Conrad was able to leave the sea in 1894 when he inherited a sum of money from the uncle who had sheltered him after the death of his parents. His purpose in leaving his maritime career was to devote his time to the completion of his first novel, Almayer's Folly, which he had begun in 1889 and completed in 1895.

Almayer's Folly (1895)

Joseph Conrad's first novel was begun in 1889. It was six years in the making.

Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad

Size: 371 KB

An Outcast of the Islands (1896)

Joseph Conrad's second novel continues the Malayan adventures of the characters introduced in Almayer's Folly.

An Outcast of the Islands by Joseph Conrad

Size: 325 KB

Tales of Unrest (1898)

A collection of shorter works; all but one of which had previously appeared in magazines. The stories in this collection are:

1. Karain: A Memory
2. The Idiots
3. An Outpost of Progress
4. The Return
5. The Lagoon

Tales of Unrest by Joseph Conrad

Size: 371 KB

Lord Jim (1900)

The story of a young seaman who, in a moment of panic, makes a wrong choice and then must pledge his own life for the opportunity to regain his reputation and self-respect.

Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

Size: 395 KB

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Heart of Darkness (1902)

A story of the Congo during the Dutch colonial period. (Absolute power corrupts absolutely.)

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Size: 119 KB

Typhoon (1903)

A collection of shorter works, including one novella and three short stories. The novella (Typhoon) concerns the voyage of a steamship that is travelling from Singapore to northern China with a cargo hold full of immigrant workers when it steams into a typhoon. (See The Perfect Storm.)

Typhoon by Joseph Conrad

Size: 261 KB

Youth, and Two Other Stories (1903)

A short story and two novellas: Heart of Darkness and The End of the Tether. All of these had appeared earlier in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine; Youth in a single issue, the two novellas as serializations. Heart of Darkness is also available separately from the Itty Bitty Computer Library.

Youth, and Two Other Stories by Joseph Conrad

Size: 341 KB

Nostromo (1904)

Like Lord Jim this tale deals with the long term consequences of a decision made in a crisis situation. (Oh, what a tangled web . . .)

Nostromo by Joseph Conrad

Size: 537 KB

The Mirror of the Sea (1906)

Reminiscences of the seafaring life.

The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad

Size: 190 KB

The Secret Agent (1907)

The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad

Size: 286 KB

A Set of Six (1908)

Six shorter works (four short stories and a couple of short novellas).

A Set of Six by Joseph Conrad

Size: 265 KB

Under Western Eyes (1911)

In Russia before the revolution, a political figure is assassinated by anarchists in St. Petersburg.

Under Western Eyes by Joseph Conrad

Size: 354 KB

`Twixt Land and Sea Tales (1912)

Contains three novellas: A Smile of Fortune, The Secret Sharer, and Freya of the Seven Isles.

`Twixt Land & Sea by Joseph Conrad

Size: 220 KB

Some Reminiscences or A Personal Record (1912)

Some Reminiscences and A Personal Record are two different names for the same autobigraphical reminiscences of Conrad's early career as an author. A Personal Record seems to be the name given to the American edition of the volume that was known elsewhere as Some Reminiscences. Choose the title that you like best.

A Personal Record by Joseph Conrad	Size: 143 KB
Some Reminiscences by Joseph Conrad	Size: 143 KB

Chance (1913)

Joseph Conrad's first bestseller.

Chance by Joseph Conrad

Size: 419 KB

Victory: An Island Tale (1915)

Victory: An Island Tale by Joseph Conrad

Size: 369 KB

Within The Tides (1915)

Contains two short stories (The Partner, The Inn of the Two Witches) and two novellas (The Planter of Malata, Because of the Dollars).

Within The Tides by Joseph Conrad

Size: 189 KB

The Shadow Line (1917)

The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad

Size: 123 KB

The Arrow of Gold (1919)

The Arrow of Gold by Joseph Conrad

Size: 325 KB

The Rescue (1920)

A novel based upon events that occurred in Austria in the period leading to the first world war.

The Rescue by Joseph Conrad

Size: 408 KB

Notes on Life and Letters (1921)

A collection of essays covering topics as varied as the history of central Europe, contemporary authors who influenced Joseph Conrad, and maritime regulation (i.e. the disasters of the Titanic and The Empress of Ireland).

Notes on Life and Letters by Joseph Conrad

Size: 251 KB

See also:

1. Victorian Web

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