Conrad is a polish author who lived from 1857 to 1924. He most likely died of a heart attack. He moved a lot as a child living in the Ukraine, Warsaw, north of Moscow and other places.
He was a poor student and was sent to France at 16 for a career at sea. He spent 20 years in the merchant navy and eventually made captain. This was to form the basis for most of his stories and characters. He wrote about what he knew...what he lived.
He started writing at the age of 36. Due to poor health he had to give up his career at sea. He wrote the rest of his life. Like many authors he never achieved measurable financial success but managed to keep afloat.
He was described as "an emotional man subject to fits of depression, self-doubt, and pessimism, disciplined his romantic temperament with an unsparing moral judgement." Interestingly enough he was a contemporary of Henry James who he knew personally.
Heart of Darkness is a story about Charles Marlow and his job on the Congo River as an Ivory transporter. Conrad himself had been the captain of a boat 8 years earlier that sailed up the Congo....I feel an adventure coming on....
Tim
No comments:
Post a Comment