Additional information
by Joseph Conrad (Author), J. H. Stape (Editor), J. H. Stape (Introduction by)
A Penguin Classics edition of "Typhoon," "Amy Foster," "Falk," and "Tomorrow"
In these four stories, written between 1900 and 1902, Joseph Conrad bid gradual farewell to his adventurous life at sea and began to confront the more daunting complexities of life on land in the twentieth century. In 'Typhoon' Conrad reveals, in the steadfast courage of an undemonstrative captain and the imaginative readiness of his young first mate, the differences between instinct and intelligence in a partnership vital to human survival. 'Falk', the companion sea-story, contrasts, as Conrad once put it, 'common sentimentalism with the frank standpoint of a more or less primitive man', a man with a conscience, however, about the girl he desires. In one of the 'land-stories' Conrad explores the utter isolation of an East European emigrant in England; in the other, the plight of a woman ironically trapped by the unwitting alliance of two retired widowers - each blind in his own way. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.Front Jacket
Four classic stories of the sea by Joseph Conrad: "Typhoon," "Amy Foster," "Falk," and "Tomorrow"
These powerful stories, as Conrad critic Paul Kirschner has observed, present "a chiaroscuro of sea and land life in an alternating rhythm of hope and despair." In "Typhoon," a storm upends a captain's complacency, hurling him and his crew into a terrifying battle with nature. "Amy Foster" tells the story of an Eastern European immigrant shipwrecked off the coast of England, and his ultimately doomed love affair with the dim-witted Amy Foster. In "Falk," the protagonist harbors a terrible secret that inhibits his ability to confront the woman he loves and find the wife he longs for. And in "Tomorrow," the son of a retired sea captain, who has been waiting years for his boy to come home, finally returns, but only because he is destitute and needs money.
Author Biography
Joseph Conrad (originally Józef Teodor Konrad Nalecz Korzeniowski) was born in the Ukraine in 1857 and grew up under Tsarist autocracy. In 1896 he settled in Kent, where he produced within fifteen years such modern classics as Youth, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, Typhoon, Nostromo, The Secret Agent and Under Western Eyes. He continued to write until his death in 1924. Today Conrad is generally regarded as one of the greatest writers of fiction in English--his third language.
