Heart of Darkness is an 1899 novella by Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad in which the sailor Charles Marlow tells his listeners the story of his assignment as steamer captain for a Belgian company in the African interior. The novel is widely regarded as a critique of European colonial rule in Africa, whilst also examining the themes of power dynamics and morality. Although Conrad does not name the river on which most of the narrative takes place, at the time of writing, the Congo Free State—the location of the large and economically important Congo River—was a private colony of Belgium's King Leopold II. Marlow is given a text by Kurtz, an ivory trader working on a trading station far up the river, who has "gone native" and is the object of Marlow's expedition.
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-British novelist and story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language and, although he did not speak English fluently until his twenties, he became a master prose stylist who brought a non-English sensibility into English literature. He wrote novels and stories, many in nautical settings, that depict crises of human individuality in the midst of what he saw as an indifferent, inscrutable, and amoral world.
Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 1908. Republican Party nominee William Howard Taft defeated threetime Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan. Incumbent President Theodore Roosevelt honored his promise not to seek a third term, and persuaded his close friend, Taft, to become his successor. With Roosevelt's support, Taft won the presidential nomination at the 1908 Republican National Convention on the first ballot. The Democratic Party nominated Bryan, who had been defeated twice previously, in 1896 and 1900, by Republican William McKinley.
Ford Madox Ford was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals The English Review and The Transatlantic Review were important in the development of early 20th-century English and American literature.
The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale is an anarchist spy fiction novel by Polish-British author Joseph Conrad, first published in 1907. The story is set in London in 1886 and deals with Mr. Adolf Verloc and his work as a spy for an unnamed country. The Secret Agent is one of Conrad's later political novels in which he moved away from his former tales of seafaring. The novel is dedicated to H. G. Wells and deals broadly with anarchism, espionage, and terrorism. It also deals with exploitation of the vulnerable in Verloc's relationship with his brother-in-law Stevie, who has an intellectual disability. Conrad’s gloomy portrait of London depicted in the novel was influenced by Charles Dickens’ Bleak House.
Lord Jim is a novel by Joseph Conrad originally published as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine from October 1899 to November 1900. An early and primary event in the story is the abandonment of a passenger ship in distress by its crew, including a young British seaman named Jim. He is publicly censured for this action and the novel follows his later attempts at coming to terms with himself and his past and seeking redemption and acceptance.
The Shadow-Line is a short novel based at sea by Joseph Conrad; it is one of his later works, being written from February to December 1915. It was first published in 1916 as a serial in New York's Metropolitan Magazine (September—October) in the English Review and published in book form in 1917 in the UK (March) and America (April). The novella depicts the development of a young man upon taking a captaincy in the Orient, with the shadow line of the title representing the threshold of this development.
The works of Joseph Conrad encompass novels, short stories, nonfiction, and memoirs. Although he was born in Ukraine and spoke Polish and French fluently from childhood, he wrote in English, which he did not learn until his twenties. Philosopher Wincenty Lutosławski recalled Conrad explaining this, saying "I value our beautiful Polish literature too much to bring into it my clumsy efforts. But for the English my gifts are sufficient and secure my daily bread."
Rafaela Ottiano was an Italian-American actress. She was best known for her role as Suzette in Grand Hotel (1932) and as Russian Rita in She Done Him Wrong (1933).
Victory is a surviving 1919 American action film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Jack Holt, Seena Owen, Lon Chaney, Wallace Beery and Bull Montana. The film is an adaptation of the 1915 eponymous novel by Joseph Conrad. The screenplay was written by Jules Furthman and Ben Carré was the art director.
Richard Curle (1883–1968) was a Scottish author, critic, and journalist. He was a friend of the novelist Joseph Conrad, who was also the subject of several of his critical works.
Victory is a 1996 French-German drama suspense film written and directed by Mark Peploe and starring Willem Dafoe, Irène Jacob, Sam Neill and Rufus Sewell. It is based on the 1915 novel of the same name by Joseph Conrad.
Victory is a 1940 American adventure film directed by John Cromwell and starring Fredric March, Cedric Hardwicke and Betty Field. It was based on the popular 1915 novel by Joseph Conrad. On the eve of the American entry into World War II, Conrad's story of a hermit on an island invaded by thugs was refashioned into a call for intervention in the war in Europe at the height of American isolationism.
Tropical Nights is a 1931 American German language drama film directed by Leo Mittler and starring Dita Parlo, Robert Thoeren and Fritz Greiner. The film was one of five multi-language versions of the American film Dangerous Paradise (1930) made by Paramount at the Joinville Studios in Paris. These were made in the years following the introduction of sound film, before the practice of dubbing became widespread. The film, like the original American production, is based on Joseph Conrad's 1915 novel Victory.
Dangerous Paradise is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Nancy Carroll, Richard Arlen and Warner Oland.
The Nature of a Crime is a collaborative novel written and published in 1909 by authors Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford. The text did not acquire acclaim until after Conrad's death in 1924, when Ford brought the text to light in his essay "Joseph Conrad: A Personal Remembrance". The Nature of a Crime is the last of three books written by Conrad and Ford.
"The Idiots" is a short story by Joseph Conrad, his first to be published. It first appeared in The Savoy in 1896. The story was included in the Conrad collection Tales of Unrest, published in 1898.
Robert Gavin Hampson FEA FRSA is a British poet and academic. Hampson was born and raised in Liverpool, studied in London and Toronto and settled in London. He is currently Professor Emeritus at Royal Holloway. He was Visiting Professor at the University of Northumbria (2018-21) and Research Fellow at the Institute for English Studies, University of London (2019-23). He is a member of the Poetics Research Centre and the Centre for GeoHumanities at Royal Holloway. He is well known for his contributions to contemporary innovative poetry and the international study of Joseph Conrad.
The Secret Agent is a three-part British espionage television drama serial based on the 1907 novel The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad. The show stars Toby Jones, Vicky McClure, Stephen Graham, David Dawson and Ian Hart. The three-part series began airing on BBC One on 17 July 2016. It is the fourth BBC adaptation of the novel, others having previously been made in 1967, 1972 and 1992.
Dangerous Paradise is a 1931 drama film directed by Rune Carlsten and starring Elisabeth Frisk and Ragnar Arvedson. It is now considered a lost film. It was produced and distributed by the Swedish subsidiary of Paramount Pictures at the company's Joinville Studios. It was one of a large number of multiple-language versions shot at Joinville during the early years of the sound era. It is a Swedish-language remake of the Hollywood film Dangerous Paradise based on the 1915 novel Victory by Joseph Conrad.
