Showing results by author "Joseph Conrad" in All Categories

A Signature Performance: Kenneth Branagh plays this like a campfire ghost story, told by a haunted, slightly insane Marlow.

Polish-born author and mariner Joseph Conrad is widely regarded as one of the greatest English novelists. His 16 years in the merchant navy profoundly shaped his fiction, giving him transformative experiences of adventure and exotic places, and a unique insight into the human psyche. Included here are adaptations of six of his best works, brought together for the first time and collected in chronological order, plus one fascinating bonus programmes exploring his life and art.

Joseph Conrad's searing tale of one of the strangest and most memorable journeys ever taken. Quite simply the scariest book ever written, this is a searing tale of one of the strangest and most memorable journeys ever undertaken - to the heart of a geographical and psychological wilderness from which no-one returns unscarred. For this isn't simply a journey up an uncharted river into a geographical wilderness; rather, it's a trip deep into our collective subconscious.

Drawn to the little seaport of Colebrook by an anonymous letter, elderly and eccentric Captain Hagberd settles down to build a home ready for the day when his son, Harry, who ran away to sea many years ago, finally returns. As the years pass, the old man convinces himself that Harry will come back on some never-realized "to-morrow", and Bessie, the lonely and unhappy daughter of the Captain's neighbor, comes to share in the Captain's desperate hope....

Although Heart of Darkness was one of the first literary texts to provide a critical view of European imperial activities, it was initially read by critics as anything but controversial. While the book was generally admired, it was typically seen either as a condemnation of a certain type of adventurer who could easily take advantage of imperialism’s opportunities, or else as a sentimental novel reinforcing domestic values: Kurtz’s Intended, who appears at the novella’s conclusion, was roundly praised by turn-of-the-century reviewers for her maturity and sentimental appeal. A classic.

Marlow—the narrator of Lord Jim and Heart of Darkness—tells the story of his first voyage to the exotic, romantic East, as a 20-year-old second officer of the ancient barque Judea. It is a story of almost comical disaster—and of the resilience of youthful hope and enthusiasm. 

Heart of Darkness tells of the conflicting drives of two men—Charles Marlow, the captain of a steamboat, and Mr. Kurtz, a mysterious figure who oversees a trading post in Africa. After an arduous journey, Marlow finally encounters Kurtz, and the men come to grips with their differences—and their similarities. 

Jim versucht, seiner Vergangenheit zu entkommen. Als Erster Offizier auf einem Pilgerschiff beging er einen schrecklichen Fehler, der ihn Ruf und Laufbahn kostete. Nach langen Reisen erreicht er die entlegene Insel Patusan im Indischen Ozean, wo er sich das Vertrauen der Einheimischen erwirbt. Als Friedensstifter wird er hoch verehrt, aus Jim wird Lord Jim. Doch dann tauchen Piraten auf, und sie scheinen zu wissen, wer er wirklich ist.

An eclectic compendium of the finest short fiction of the last 150 years, featuring works by Paul Theroux, Joseph Conrad, James Ellroy, Ambrose Bierce, Charlotte Perkins Gillman, Aldous Huxley, Philip Roth, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

FNH Audio presents an unabridged reading of this classic tale. Charles Marlow sits with is friends upon the Thames and tells the story of his time when he followed a similar watercourse up into the depths of Africa. That trip was intended for the relief of the mysterious Mr Kurtz, a man powerful and frightening. In the dark jungle the truth of mankind’s depravity is to be discovered, the very heart of darkness.

"Un socio" reúne una buena parte de las características de la obra de Joseph Conrad, si bien en esta ocasión el escenario no es una gran aventura. Se trata de un relato construido en diferentes planos y escrito con un estilo ágil, de gran originalidad. 

Un hombre de dudosa condición moral embauca a su honrado e ingenuo socio para hundir un barco de su propiedad y así poder cobrar la prima del seguro. Lo central en esta historia es el juego de tensiones psicológicas, desarrollado con maestría y rematado con un final de acción trepidante.

Forty-two years old Marlow is drinking with four other Englishmen. They have known each other since the beginning of their working lives. Some of them have other jobs now, but they still gather to recall the good old days. Marlow tells his friends a story of his early life, when he travelled to the East as a young man in search of adventure. He shares his experience and impressions of the different cultures he came across with the four men.

The trading ship Narcissus is sailing towards London, but long the way the ship and its crew pick up a West Indian black sailor, James, who shortly after falls ill. To prevent contamination aboard the ship, James must stay in his cabin.

In this 1901 short story inspired by Ford Maddox Ford’s "The Cinque Ports", Conrad works on the theme of alienation. It centers on a young man, Yanko, the sole survivor of a shipwreck off the coast of Kent. The locals, not knowing that a boat has sunk, shun him as he washes up on their shores. But he is taken in by an eccentric local, and little by little, Yanko learns some English and falls in love with the servant girl, Amy Foster. But he has not come to the end of his troubles yet and the community keeps him at arm’s length, terrified of his very difference.

"The Mirror of the Sea" (1906) is a collection of autobiographical essays first published in various magazines between 1904 and 1906. Joseph Conrad lived an exciting and eventful life as a seaman, and as a writer he possessed a unique insight into human psychology, which is clearly reflected in his fictional works as well as in his essays.

One of seven of these 'unmade movies' available on audio, Victory is a dark, morally complex drama set in the Dutch East Indies in 1900. It tells the story of Baron Heyst, a mysterious Swedish recluse living alone on a deserted island whose life is changed forever when he visits a neighbouring island and falls in love with young English violinist Lena. Pursued by predatory older men, Lena is drawn to Heyst and escapes with him to his island retreat....  

Flora de Barral, the daughter of a bankrupt businessman and swindler, must find her own way in the world when her father is convicted of financial speculation. Unfortunately, this is no easy thing for a single and vulnerable young woman in turn-of-the-century London. 

The steamship Nan-Shan, en route through the China seas to the port of Fu-chau during the season of tropical storms, with 200 returning Chinese workers aboard, encounters an ominous fall in the barometer. Phlegmatic and unimaginative Captain MacWhirr, unable to comprehend the awesome natural forces ahead of him, refuses to alter his course, pitting his ship and his own indomitable will against the fury of the storm.

Peter Willems is the outcast of the islands, in this, Joseph Conrad’s second novel published in 1896, inspired by his experience as ship’s mate on the trading vessel Vidar. Willems is confidential clerk to Hudig, a powerful merchant trading out of Macassar, in the Dutch East Indies, on the island of Sulawesi. But very soon Willems is on the run from a scandal and finds himself up-river at Almayer’s remote trading post. An all-consuming liaison ensues between Willems and Aissa, the local chief’s daughter.