A Smile of Fortune is one of Joseph Conrad's lesser-known long stories. He was essentially a nineteenth century writer who anticipated and then lived into the modernist age of the early twentieth century, helping to shape its spirit of uncertainty, anxiety, and moral ambiguity. Even his own life and works share the contradictions of the era. He is best known as an author of mannish sea tales, yet he only achieved success with a novel set largely on dry land which had a woman as its central character (Flora Barral in Chance). A Smile of FortuneHe is now regarded as a great figure in the...

"An Outcast of the Islands" is my second novel in the absolute sense of the word; second in conception, second in execution, second as it were in its essence. There was no hesitation, half-formed plan, vague idea, or the vaguest reverie of anything else between it and "Almayer's Folly." The only doubt I suffered from, after the publication of "Almayer's Folly," was whether I should write another line for print. Those days, now grown so dim, had their poignant moments. Neither in my mind nor in my heart had I then given up the sea. In truth I was clinging to it desperately, all the more...

Victory (also published as Victory: An Island Tale) is a psychological novel by Joseph Conrad first published in 1915, through which Conrad achieved "popular success." The New York Times, however, called it "an uneven book" and "more open to criticism than most of Mr. Conrad's best work." The novel's "most striking formal characteristic is its shifting narrative and temporal perspective" with the first section from the viewpoint of a sailor, the second from omniscient perspective of Axel Heyst, the third from an interior perspective from Heyst, and the final section. It has been adapted into...

Much of the novel is a commentary on imperialism and gender roles, and is not plot driven. Most of the book takes place on Captain Tom Lingard's brig, Lightning or on other boats at sea around Malaysia, near the Indian Ocean. At the beginning of the novel, Lingard and his crew are traveling to the Malay Archipelago to help a friend take back his land in a fight amongst two Malay tribes. While in the waters his crew hears a loud sound, then sees the water foaming. A few moments later they see a small boat, and then hear a man, Mr. Carter, call out to them and asks to be allowed on board...

Chance is a novel by Joseph Conrad, published in 1913 following serial publication the previous year. Although the novel was not one upon which Conrad's later critical reputation was to depend, it was his greatest commercial success upon initial publication. Chance is narrated by Conrad's regular narrator, Charles Marlow, but is characterised by a complex, nested narrative in which different narrators take up the story at different points. The novel is also unusual among its author's works for its focus on a female character: the heroine, Flora de Barral. The narrators describe and attempt to...

Joseph Conrad: Das Herz der Finsternis Entstanden 1899. Deutsche Ubersetzung von Ernst W. Freissler. S. Fischer, Berlin 1926. Vollstandige Neuausgabe. Herausgegeben von Karl-Maria Guth. Berlin 2015. Umschlaggestaltung von Thomas Schultz-Overhage unter Verwendung des Bildes: Albert Bierstadt, Tropische Landschaft, um 1870. Gesetzt aus Minion Pro, 11 pt."

Joseph Conrad: Lord Jim Erstdruck 1900 im Blackwood's Magazine. Hier in der Ubersetzung von Hedwig Lachmann und Ernst Wolfgang Freissler, S. Fischer, Berlin, 1927. Neuausgabe. Herausgegeben von Karl-Maria Guth. Berlin 2016, 2. Auflage. Umschlaggestaltung von Thomas Schultz-Overhage unter Verwendung des Bildes: Paul Gauguin, Portrait mit Hut, 1893. Gesetzt aus der Minion Pro, 11 pt.

Joseph Conrad: Nostromo. Eine Geschichte von der Meereskuste Nostromo, a Tale of the Seaboard. Erstdruck 1904. Hier in der deutschen Ubersetzung von Ernst Wolfgang Freissler, Berlin, S. Fischer, 1927. Vollstandige Neuausgabe. Herausgegeben von Karl-Maria Guth. Berlin 2016. Umschlaggestaltung von Thomas Schultz-Overhage unter Verwendung des Bildes: George Morland, Schmuggler, 1793. Gesetzt aus der Minion Pro, 11 pt."

Joseph Conrad: Nostromo. Eine Geschichte von der Meereskuste Nostromo, a Tale of the Seaboard. Erstdruck 1904. Hier in der deutschen Ubersetzung von Ernst Wolfgang Freissler, Berlin, S. Fischer, 1927. Vollstandige Neuausgabe. Herausgegeben von Karl-Maria Guth. Berlin 2016. Umschlaggestaltung von Thomas Schultz-Overhage unter Verwendung des Bildes: George Morland, Schmuggler, 1793. Gesetzt aus der Minion Pro, 11 pt."

Joseph Conrad ve svém románu nastoluje stale aktuální otázky rasismu, soucitu, solidarity a smyslu lidského života vůbec.

Černoch z lodi Narcissus, Námořní příběh patří mezi nejpodařenější Conradovy rané práce. Současně jde o přelom v jeho tvorbě, jelikož právě touto knihou začíná jeho zralé období. Předmluva ke knize, kterou Conrad sám napsal, je pak považována za manifest literárního impresionismu a řadí se k jeho nejvýznamnějším nebeletristickým textům.

Titulní postava knihy, západoindický černý námořník James Wait, se...