Joseph Conrad

A new captain must lead his crew to safety and face his own internal struggles as he works to overcome disrespect, insanity, and coming-of-age all while sailing on an unforgiving sea. There is an invisible line that divides life into a before and after-adolescence and adulthood. The unnamed narrator of The Shadow Line is painfully aware of this, but is unsure where the line lies in his life. He recalls a number of rash decisions he has made, some...

Heart of Darkness is a novella written in 1899 by Anglo-Polish novelist Joseph Conrad. It is about a voyage into the Congo Free State in the heart of Africa, by the story's narrator Marlow, an introspective sailor who takes a job as a riverboat captain with the Company, a Belgian concern organized to trade in the Congo. Marlow, aboard a boat anchored on the River Thames in London, recounts to his friends the story of his assignment to journey up...

All of author Joseph Conrad's works have an air of loneliness and isolation within the plot. This is now thought to be reflective of the author's life as a Polish immigrant living and writing at the height of the British Empire. His prose strikes a chord that resonates deep within the reader, leaving a feeling of immense despondency. Yet with his deep affinity for the melancholy, Conrad was also a highly skilled prose writer. His words allow the reader...

"Typhoon and Other Stories" is a collection of four shorter works by Joseph Conrad. In the title work "Typhoon" we have a classic tale of the sea which describes how Captain MacWhirr sails the Siamese steamer "Nan-Shan" into a typhoon. "Typhoon" excellently depicts sea-faring life at the turn of the 20th century. Also included in this collection is "Amy Foster", the story of a Polish immigrant who on his way to America becomes shipwrecked off the...

In Conrad's haunting title tale, Marlow, a seaman and wanderer, recounts his physical and psychological journey in search of the enigmatic Kurtz. Travelling to the heart of the African continent, he discovers how Kurtz has gained his position of power and influence over the local people. Marlow's struggle to fathom his experience involves him in a radical questioning of not only his own nature and values but the nature and values of his society.

Contains "Heart of Darkness" in which an English trading company sends a sea captain to find a renegade trader who has become mad with greed and power over the natives in the Congo; and includes three short stories, an introduction to author, questions, and suggestions for further reading.