A Personal Record: Some Reminiscences - Softcover

Conrad, Joseph

Softcover

ISBN 10: 057124355X ISBN 13: 9780571243556

Publisher: Faber and Faber, 2011

Synopsis

Together with The Mirror of the Sea, Joseph Conrad's A Personal Record (1911) is one of his two openly autobiographical books. A short volume of reminiscences, it was written originally for an ambitious literary periodical. Conrad was born in Poland, moving to live in France in 1874. He subsequently joined the British merchant navy, and did not begin writing novels until he was nearly forty. In this book he describes his cultural heritage, and the central motives in his life as a seaman and a writer separated from the country where he was born. Events of his life are shown in sudden flashes of reflection, sometimes playful, but more often serious and definitive. This is a captivating and moving book, which gives us illuminating insights into Joseph Conrad's real past; his family and national background, and his persistent quest to impose on his life a meaning consistent with the exacting demands of the moral principles he had formulated and in which he strongly believed. 'Those who read me know my conviction that the world, the temporal world, rests on a few very simple ideas; so simple that they must be as old as the hills. It rests notably, amongst others, on the idea of Fidelity.' (from A Personal Record)

About this title

Book Description:

This volume provides an accurate text of Joseph Conrad's most important autobiographical work A Personal Record. The work is accompanied by an authoritative introduction, by notes that explain geographical, historical, and literary references, by genealogical charts and maps, and by textual matter that documents the evolution of the text.

From the Publisher:

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About this edition

• Publisher: Faber and Faber
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 057124355X
• ISBN 13: 9780571243556
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272