The Mirror of the Sea

by Joseph Conrad

Overview

Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist. His success is even more amazing since he did not learn to speak English until he was in his 20's. Conrad's narrative style places him at the beginning of the Modernist period of literature. This work of non-fiction describes Conrad's life of twenty years and his relationship with the sea. He talks of ships and their captains, storms, oceans and all aspects of a life at sea. This autobiography is a good beginning for an in depth study of Conrad's works and their relationship to his life in Poland and his love of the sea.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781605016665
Publisher:	MobileReference
Publication date:	01/01/2010
Series:	Mobi Classics
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	329,024
File size:	257 KB

About the Author

Joseph Conrad (1857 - 1924) was a Polish-British writer regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English language. He joined the British merchant marine in 1878, and was granted British citizenship in 1886. Though he did not speak English fluently until his twenties, he was a master prose stylist who brought a non-English sensibility into English literature. He wrote stories and novels, many with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit in the midst of an impassive, inscrutable universe.

Conrad is considered an early modernist, though his works still contain elements of 19th-century realism. His narrative style and anti-heroic characters have influenced numerous authors and many films have been adapted from, or inspired by, his works.

Writing in the heyday of the British Empire, Conrad drew on his native Poland's national experiences and his own experiences in the French and British merchant navies, to create short stories and novels that reflect aspects of a European-dominated world-including imperialism and colonialism-and that profoundly explore the human psyche.

Date of Birth:

December 3, 1857

Date of Death:

August 3, 1924

Place of Birth:

Berdiczew, Podolia, Russia

Place of Death:

Bishopsbourne, Kent, England

Education:

Tutored in Switzerland. Self-taught in classical literature. Attended maritime school in Marseilles, France