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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
This is a very interesting and well-structured biography of Joseph Conrad which I enjoyed reading. Using four of his novels as a framework on which to base his life story, the author gives intriguing insights into the many different aspects of Conrad - from his days in the merchant navy to the family man - and shows the ways in which his experiences in different parts of the globe influenced his works. The book shows evidence of thorough research, and at the end I feel like I know Conrad much better, and have a greater respect for him.
Only one negative: having only read 'Heart of Darkness' before reading this book (as part of the James Tait Black Prize, for which it is shortlisted in the biography category), I had to flick through several pages where the author outlines the plot and outcomes of each of the novels as she discusses them. I have all of these other novels yet to read, and didn't want spoilers. I would therefore recommend reading 'The Secret Agent', 'Lord Jim', 'Heart of Darkness', and 'Nostromo' before reading this biography - it will mean much more to you that way. I will re-visit this book once I have done so! For this reason, I give this book 3.5 stars.
All in all, a very good book, and I wish the author well in the James Tait Black Prize.
Only one negative: having only read 'Heart of Darkness' before reading this book (as part of the James Tait Black Prize, for which it is shortlisted in the biography category), I had to flick through several pages where the author outlines the plot and outcomes of each of the novels as she discusses them. I have all of these other novels yet to read, and didn't want spoilers. I would therefore recommend reading 'The Secret Agent', 'Lord Jim', 'Heart of Darkness', and 'Nostromo' before reading this biography - it will mean much more to you that way. I will re-visit this book once I have done so! For this reason, I give this book 3.5 stars.
All in all, a very good book, and I wish the author well in the James Tait Black Prize.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
"History is like therapy for the present: it makes it talk about its parents."
- Maya Jasanoff, The Dawn Watch
I should admit I was attracted to the book, while browsing at Las Vegas' fantastic bookstore Writers Block by four things: 1. the art (done by the Bill Bragg), 2. the le Carré blurb (if you don't know, late le Carré has a heavy Conrad flavor, 3. Conrad himself. I've read about 2/3 of what he has produced and love him more with every word, 4. the concept of Conrad as the dawn watch of globalization, and perhaps even modernity. The book was brisk, interesting, and filled with enough Conrad prose to almost dance. Jasanoff's writing is meant more for the New York Times Magazine crowd than the academic crowd, but if you enjoy Conrad this book will not disappoint. It isn't brilliant history or biography, but she manages to blend the edges of history, biography, and literary analysis and keep all three balls afloat. No easy feat. She is also able to thread the needle between cutting Conrad too much slack and too little for his views. Also, no easy feat.
For me Conrad is one of the great writers of the late 19th, early 20th century. He enchants and haunts at the same time. He is a fascinating character, but more than that, he is a damn fine complicated writer. Jasanoff explores Conrad's world, and in this exploration, she attempts to show us another way to view our own. "In all his writing", says Jasanoff, "Conrad grappled with the ramifications of living in a global world: the moral and material impact of dislocation, the tension and opportunity of multiethnic societies, the disruption wrought by technological change." Conrad understood us before there really was an us. Conrad saw us before the sun had even risen on the 20th and 21st centuries.
- Maya Jasanoff, The Dawn Watch
I should admit I was attracted to the book, while browsing at Las Vegas' fantastic bookstore Writers Block by four things: 1. the art (done by the Bill Bragg), 2. the le Carré blurb (if you don't know, late le Carré has a heavy Conrad flavor, 3. Conrad himself. I've read about 2/3 of what he has produced and love him more with every word, 4. the concept of Conrad as the dawn watch of globalization, and perhaps even modernity. The book was brisk, interesting, and filled with enough Conrad prose to almost dance. Jasanoff's writing is meant more for the New York Times Magazine crowd than the academic crowd, but if you enjoy Conrad this book will not disappoint. It isn't brilliant history or biography, but she manages to blend the edges of history, biography, and literary analysis and keep all three balls afloat. No easy feat. She is also able to thread the needle between cutting Conrad too much slack and too little for his views. Also, no easy feat.
For me Conrad is one of the great writers of the late 19th, early 20th century. He enchants and haunts at the same time. He is a fascinating character, but more than that, he is a damn fine complicated writer. Jasanoff explores Conrad's world, and in this exploration, she attempts to show us another way to view our own. "In all his writing", says Jasanoff, "Conrad grappled with the ramifications of living in a global world: the moral and material impact of dislocation, the tension and opportunity of multiethnic societies, the disruption wrought by technological change." Conrad understood us before there really was an us. Conrad saw us before the sun had even risen on the 20th and 21st centuries.
To be honest, I received this book as a Christmas present, and I was a little confused when I unwrapped it. Somehow, the name Joseph Conrad rang a bell, but I couldn't quite pinpoint who it was. At this point, I had no clue he was an author, a seaman, a personality. Also, I rarely read biographies, so why did someone think to gift me this particular book?
I soon learned who Joseph Conrad was -at least as far as one can know another person through the eyes of a biographer - and I became very intrigued by this Polish emigrant-turned-British captain and celebrated author. Maya Jasanoff manages to display a very rounded picture of this (to me unknown) figure and I enjoyed the adventures to far and foreign corners of the world on which we seemingly embarked with Conrad during the politically and economically tumultuous end of the 19th century.
Frankly, it took me a while to get through this book; it is not an easy-breezy read before bed. But nonetheless, I would definitely recommend this to both someone already interested in Joseph Conrad and someone who - like me - has never as much as heard of him before. I promise you, his legacy is important and impactful until this day: Joseph Conrad is one of these phenomena where as soon as you learn or hear about them, they seem to pop up everywhere you go. I might take a little break in between, but I am already planning to pick up one or two of Conrad's books which Maya Jasanoff made sound tremendously interesting.
I soon learned who Joseph Conrad was -at least as far as one can know another person through the eyes of a biographer - and I became very intrigued by this Polish emigrant-turned-British captain and celebrated author. Maya Jasanoff manages to display a very rounded picture of this (to me unknown) figure and I enjoyed the adventures to far and foreign corners of the world on which we seemingly embarked with Conrad during the politically and economically tumultuous end of the 19th century.
Frankly, it took me a while to get through this book; it is not an easy-breezy read before bed. But nonetheless, I would definitely recommend this to both someone already interested in Joseph Conrad and someone who - like me - has never as much as heard of him before. I promise you, his legacy is important and impactful until this day: Joseph Conrad is one of these phenomena where as soon as you learn or hear about them, they seem to pop up everywhere you go. I might take a little break in between, but I am already planning to pick up one or two of Conrad's books which Maya Jasanoff made sound tremendously interesting.
I'm really digging this style of biography/history that weaves world events, personal history, and literary criticism. I picked this up as an overview to a Joseph Conrad reading group and I'm glad I did.
From BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week:
The story of Joseph Conrad, abridged in five parts by Katrin Williams. He was the author of Heart Of Darkness, Lord Jim, and sailed the seas..
1. After the death of his father, young Conrad is in the care of his Uncle Tadeuz for some years. One day he announces his plans to go to sea, to travel to the great port of Marseilles and find a ship. How will his uncle react?
2. It's 1878 and that teeming metropolis called London excites Conrad. From here he will board ships. And from other ports of the world he will board other ships, including the Vidar, which will fuel his writing life..
3. He meets Marguerite Poradowski and emotional letters follow - for years. Then his trek through the Congo to secure a posting is nightmarish, but the experience will later fuel his fiction.
4. Recollections of the Congo endure, as does his correspondence with Marguerite. He meets Emilie Briquel, yet marries Jessie George. He produces various work at this time, yet those African memories are indelible and Heart Of Darkness will get written.
5. The late 1890's. He is settled with Jessie at Pent Farm, Kent, rubbing shoulders with various literary greats. His sea-faring days are over but the imaginative adventures continue to flourish and the novel Nostromo begins to take shape..
Reader Laurel Lefkow
Producer Duncan Minshull.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09dtdds
The story of Joseph Conrad, abridged in five parts by Katrin Williams. He was the author of Heart Of Darkness, Lord Jim, and sailed the seas..
1. After the death of his father, young Conrad is in the care of his Uncle Tadeuz for some years. One day he announces his plans to go to sea, to travel to the great port of Marseilles and find a ship. How will his uncle react?
2. It's 1878 and that teeming metropolis called London excites Conrad. From here he will board ships. And from other ports of the world he will board other ships, including the Vidar, which will fuel his writing life..
3. He meets Marguerite Poradowski and emotional letters follow - for years. Then his trek through the Congo to secure a posting is nightmarish, but the experience will later fuel his fiction.
4. Recollections of the Congo endure, as does his correspondence with Marguerite. He meets Emilie Briquel, yet marries Jessie George. He produces various work at this time, yet those African memories are indelible and Heart Of Darkness will get written.
5. The late 1890's. He is settled with Jessie at Pent Farm, Kent, rubbing shoulders with various literary greats. His sea-faring days are over but the imaginative adventures continue to flourish and the novel Nostromo begins to take shape..
Reader Laurel Lefkow
Producer Duncan Minshull.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09dtdds
