Joseph Conrad
Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, Nostromo
A Polish sailor who became one of the greatest English prose stylists — in his third language. Heart of Darkness compressed the moral horror of colonialism into a single river journey; Nostromo is the most ambitious political novel in English; Lord Jim probes the nature of courage and shame with relentless subtlety.
Key works
- Heart of Darkness1899— The horror — imperialism's soul laid bare
- Nostromo1904— An entire South American republic — invented and destroyed
- Lord Jim1900— One act of cowardice — a lifetime of atonement