The Mirror of the Sea

Joseph Conrad, Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrads Mirror of the Sea was a compelling read. From love to death, Conrad explains all this, using his life in the sea to match the human condition. The Mirror of the Sea is mainly about the adventures of Joseph Conrad when he was at sea. In the adventures described above, the author discusses the risks, struggles and dangers of sailing for sailors. While he and the crew sailed, they often encounter a great terrible storm. Sailors always run the risk of a storm, and their ship is sinking. The good thing about this book is that it has a lot of personification.

The Nigger of the Narcissus. A Tale of the Sea

Joseph Conrad

The Nigger of the Narcissus was written in 1896 and is loosely based on Conrads own experiences as a sailor; in 1884, Conrad made a voyage on the real Narcissus from Bombay to Dunkirk as a Second Mate, and some of the events described in his novella may be based on adversities Conrad and his fellow-sailers had to contend with. And yet, Conrads third novel is much more than just an accout of adventures at sea partly based on fact and experience. In The Nigger of the Narcissus, Conrad powerfully expresses his emotional leanings towards a seafaring life but he also unfolds a rather pessimistic worldview, maybe an even more pessimistic one than in many of his later works. An absolutely engrossing tale that takes place on board of the Narcissus, a ship bound for England. It explores the microcosm on board of this ship and examines human nature and power relations as more and more strain is put on the crew.

The Planter of Malata

Joseph Conrad

This is both mystery and romance; the latter creates one of the recurring difficulties in Conrad: it preserves the Victorian histrionic element, which sometimes may seem a little attractive. But overall, it is well read and much less burdensome than some of his novels.

The Point of Honor. A Military Tale

Joseph Conrad

Conrad stresses that the narrative clearly shows that the duel really benefited two. Combat competitions made every job and strive a little harder, forced the will to survive and win in a personal fight as seriously as the desire to survive the bloody years of the Napoleonic war. Both are officers in Napoleons army, and both are to the core.

The Rescue. A Romance of the Shallows

Joseph Conrad

Rescue is not just muscular descriptions of a boiling sea or some kind of intrigue or action. Konrad decisively decides things like lengthy / nuanced conversations. But, as in all his books, Rescue is darkly intense, much more happening under the surface than even the characters think. This is not an easy book to concentrate on. Tension, uncertainty about what will happen next, a gloomy atmosphere all this is alive and overwhelming.

The Rover

Joseph Conrad

This is both mystery and romance; the latter creates one of the recurring difficulties in Conrad: it preserves the Victorian histrionic element, which sometimes may seem a little attractive. But overall, it is well read and much less burdensome than some of his novels. The Rover was Conrads last book and probably one of his most accessible stories.

The Secret Agent. A Simple Tale

Joseph Conrad

Mr Verloc, the secret agent, keeps a shop in Londons Soho where he lives with his wife Winnie, her infirm mother, and her idiot brother, Stevie. Verloc is part of a group of anarchists who believe in overthrowing the government and who also function as somewhat ineffective terrorists. The group mainly produces anarchist pamphlets called F.P. (The Future of the Proletariat) and hold private meetings among themselves. The agent is secretly employed by a foreign embassy, probably Russia, to blow up the Greenwich Observatory. The Secret Agent is a a story set earlier (1886) telling an allegory of terrorists and anarchists based in Edwardian England. The complicated plot is masterful, the prose sophisticated, and the characterizations full and engrossing. The death of an innocent is heartrending. Joseph Conrad is often considered the best writer of the 19th century.

The Shadow-Line. A Confession

Joseph Conrad

This book is about a young captain who is hastily given his first command of a ghost ship. Its about a first mate who will lose his mind to madness as the malaria sickness spreads without medicine. This book is about a calm sea with not a sigh of a wind to move the ship. The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad describes that demarcation line in the journey of life that divides the happy, bright, fantastic and irresponsible youth with the darker ages of manhood. Conrad goes on to delineate this vision as being beyond the charm and innocence of illusions. It isnt an elaborate story, but one that explores that moment, that shadow-line between youth and adulthood. It is a story about maturity, wisdom, experience. And, even though Conrad himself tells us this story is not about the supernatural, a curse and the first captain who died before Conrad took command, tells us otherwise.