Polish-British writer Joseph Conrad was born in a Russian-ruled province of Poland (in present-day Ukraine) in 1857. Both his parents were politically active in the Polish independence movement. As a result, the family was exiled to northern Russia in 1863. Conrad was orphaned at 11 and sent to live with his relatives. He joined the French merchant marines at 16. At 21, he joined a British ship and went on to work for the British merchant marines for 10 years. During this stint, he became a naturalized British citizen and travelled to Asia, Africa, Australia, and India. His voyage to the Congo (then a Belgian colony) in 1890 sparked his powerful novella, Heart of Darkness (1899). Conrad’s well-known novels include Nostromo (1904), The Secret Agent (1907), Under Western Eyes (1911), and Victory (1915). He also collaborated on two novels with his friend and fellow writer Ford Madox Ford titled The Inheritors (1901) and Romance (1903). Conrad retired from the marines due to ill health and died of a heart attack in England in 1924.
“Government in general, any government anywhere, is a thing of exquisite comicality to a discerning mind.” Joseph Conrad’s Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard (1904) is set in Costaguana, a fictional South American republic with a troubled past. Both repression and revolution are written into the lives of the residents of Costaguana. When wealthy businessman Charles Gould offers his support to a ruthless Latin American dictator in the hope of advancing his own business interests, his actions trigger more chaos in Costaguana. Gould turns to the incorruptible Nostromo for help. Though Nostromo heroically saves his city from the deadly advances of revolution, a dark secret threatens to destroy his life and reputation forever. Seeped in drama and spectacle, vivid in description, and incisive in terms of social and political commentary, Nostromo is one of Conrad’s most ambitious novels. The winner of both popular and critical acclaim, this novel remains a topical read because of Conrad’s foresight, political acumen, and his gift for crafting a moving, human story set against the churnings of history.
