Nostromo (Everyman's Library (Cloth))

Book Description

Conrad's foresight and his ability to pluck the human adventure from complex historical circumstances were such that his greatest novel, Nostromo -- though nearly one hundred years old -- says as much about today's Latin America as any of the finest recent accounts of that region's turbulent political life. Insistently dramatic in its storytelling, spectacular in its recreation of the subtropical landscape, this picture of an insurrectionary society and the opportunities it provides for moral corruption gleams on every page with its author's dry, undeceived, impeccable intelligence.

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In his evocation of the republic of Costaguana, set amid the exotic and grandiose scenery of South America, Conrad reveals not only the lives and fates of his characters but also the physical and political composition of a whole country.

Customer Reviews:

Lord Jim Meets the Heart of Darkness [47].......2007-08-05

Protagonist Nostromo experiences the life which the author seeks for the reader to envy - or does he or she?

Living amid the fictional South American country torn with civil war and military coup's strife, Nostromo works for foreign miners whose ill begotten gain is admonished by the countrypeople and the leaders of the coup. Eventually, even the loyal and most helpful to the English Nostromo must concede that his purpose should be more than aiding the rich to extract his country's riches for their personal financial gain.

Conrad is a master of telling great stories in incredible detail. And "Nostromo" is his only novel set on land - although a great amount involves a boat pulling off shore to an island not far away from the site of the majority of the novel. And, quite candidly, the boat parts of this book are the most gripping in detail and style.

Conrad's other great novels have dealt with great characters of the sea: the almost perfection of man with "Lord Jim" ; or the eery recantations of the life in the third world where people would kill another for nickels and dimes in "Heart of Darkness." This novel mixes the greatness of "Lord Jim" in the character of Nostromo and encircles him in a world of relative anarchy as the warring coups' leaders and the old government involve serious and severe physical harm to all.

The major theme of the story is about the cache of silver derived from the foreign man's efforts in the town in which Nostromo lives. Those involved must ask: Let the military leaders come in an take the silver or save it for the old rule or for those who mined it? Not previously involved in the politics of his own country which are grotesquely intertwined and muddied by foreign money or manipulation, Nostromo becomes very much involved in politics with his handling of the hiding of the silver ingots. People are subsequently tortured to death for information about the silver. But, only one man knows what happened to it and where it lies. Is this good? Conrad described Nostromo as "The slave of the San Tome silver [who] felt the weight of the chains upon his limbs. . . " He was fettered by the knowledge and being involved with the hiding of the silver. Before he became involved, life was good. After the hiding, life remained good - until he suffers an unfortunate disruption with a woman scorned.

Like a Greek tragedy, this novel laments the hero for his humanity and human weaknesses. Unlike a Greek tragedy, this is a long and drawn out struggle involving a great amount of reading.

Conrad learned English after the age of 21, and when he wrote, he wished to convey to the reader his knowledge of the vocabulary of the English language. In short, Conrad writes in a style that is neither quick paced nor easily absorbed as many uncommon words are shoehorned into certain sentences for what can commonly be proclaimed as affectation or even grandiloquence. Regardless of this truism, this book should be read.

Hold On...It Gets Better...And Really Good in the End..........2007-05-28

Don't give up on this book, especially if you are reading it for fun. If you are reading it as an assignment, you don't have that choice, but either way, don't give up on the book. The first 126 or so pages can be hard and difficult to follow, but when a character named Decoud comes in, the whole plot, the characters and the thrust of the book come together. Seemingly little things and small characters in the first 100 pages take on epic proportion for the remaining pages. Once Decoud is in the story, it takes off, to a surprising and unexpected conclusion. How we react to that conclusion tells us, the reader, how we view ourselves and the world around us. Good book.

The story takes place in a Latin American country torn by revolution and counterrevolution. It is not about war and revolution, however. It is about the people who live through those revolutions, what kind of lives they have, what kind of lives they seek, what kind of lives have meaning for them.

It is about the corruptibility and incorruptibility of man, even good men. Every man has his price, even in pursuit of good causes. What do we value, what do we care for, to what extent would even the best of us use others to further our own ends, interests, ambitions and values.

Follow Nostromo's venture as he found out about the good and bad in his country,the people he trusted and cared about. It is a good and fascinating story. But it does take some time, 100 or so pages, to get there.

A memorable thought from the book, from Donna Gould at the end of Chapter 11, Part III, The Lighthouse: "For Life to be large and full, it must contain the care of the past and of the future in every passing moment of the present. Our daily work must be done to the glory of the dead, and for the good of those that come after..."

The question becomes: "What part of the past is worth honoring; what part of the future is worth having?"

Conrad's Greatest Novel.......2006-07-19

Nostromo is simultaneously a great political novel and a great psychological novel. A large part of Conrad's achievement is his fusion of these 2 elements into one seamless narrative. Nostromo describes the penetration of a Latin American country by European/North American capitalism and the ensuing revolution. All the characters in Nostromo are engaged in the intensely political acts carrying the plot forward. Conrad based his narrative on a considerable amount of research on contemporary Latin America and the articulation of the plot elements is elegantly realistic and gripping. The psychological elements concern characters' motivations for their acts. A recurrent ironic theme is that important characters are driven to act by motivations that have nothing to do with political objectives or economic gain per se. Unlike most of his other novels which offer a psychological portrait primarily of a single character, Nostromo features several characters whose motivations and actions are explored by Conrad. The focus shifts from character to character is a way that consistently advances the plot, a brilliant piece of formal construction. Finally, Nostromo features some of Conrad's best descriptive writing. Because of the complexity of the plot and characterization, Nostromo is not the easiest of Conrad's novels to read. Nostromo is ultimately well worth the effort expended.

A Tough Slog.......2006-06-25

"Nostromo" takes too long to get started, never really gels into anything worthwhile, and sputters out like a Roman candle in mud. Other than that, I guess I liked it.

Near the western coast of the Latin American country of Costaguana is a vast silver mine owned by one Charles Gould, an English expatriate who enjoys near-kingly powers over the nearby port town of Sulaco. When revolution threatens Gould's empire, "Don Carlos" gets his doughty employee Nostromo to spirit away his silver reserves. That help comes at a price, though, to Gould, to Nostromo, and all who covet the silver.

Many call "Nostromo" Conrad's masterpiece, saying it challenges readers to accept a bleak vision of a world where all are damned by greed or apathy. I agree it's challenging; it took me long enough to read through it. But it doesn't instill the same kind of awe in me Conrad classics like "Lord Jim" and "Heart of Darkness" did.

I think the problem lies in part with a plot that is all over the place, starting with a lengthy inventory of the topography around Sulaco, then an opening episode which occurs about 30% into the story, which Conrad presents at length before rewinding the plot spool to the actual beginning. Time shifts are Conrad's thing, he uses them effectively in "Lord Jim" and they are one of his principal contributions to the post-modern literary vocabulary. But as he does this over and over, the mind swims for no good reason, looking in vain for some chronology to sink its teeth into.

The other problem is the message of the book. Judging from its many champions, "Nostromo" is about the evils of colonialism. But I wonder how much of that mindset is being imported from the less ambiguous "Heart Of Darkness."

We do see how the mine is being used to enrich a distant North American tycoon, and one of our earliest images of Nostromo shows him pulling local peasantry out of their humble huts to work at the mine. But are the peasants really being exploited any more than if they were working a mine in Kentucky? They think enough of Gould to rally around him when his empire is threatened, and one of the few non-European characters we hear from calls him "a just man." The revolution Gould and his cronies snuff out is a bloody farce, and the people of Costaguana, nearly mute in Conrad's narrative, seem to deserve no better than they get.

"Stratagems, providing they did not fail, were honorable; the easy massacre of an unsuspecting enemy evoked no feelings but those of gladness, pride, and admiration," Conrad writes by way of explaining the endless parade of revolutions that rowel Costaguana. (The country's name is about the only tinge of humor in the book.)

Conrad does score better in presenting the human condition as a thing of wretched glory, of transitory pleasures and interludes of seeming value trickling restlessly toward pointlessness. If he was a rock band, Conrad would have been Pink Floyd. He's always lifting the veils of appearances to expose people's base selves.

Even love is phony: "She was incapable of sustained emotion. She was sincere in what she said, but she slept placidly at night...For her soul was light and tender with a pagan sincerity in its impulses."

There's also Dr. Monygham, a sardonic character who sees through everything with his bitter, gimlet eye. His relationship with Nostromo is the closest the book gets to a synthesis of ideas, of the value of living entirely through thought or action. But like everything else in "Nostromo," this never quite gels.

I admire Conrad, and see in "Nostromo" a book that advanced the conception of the novel, with its wide scope, multiple story arcs, time shifts, and resolute presentation of happiness as an illusion. But those same strengths keep the book from being as comprehensible or enjoyable as it could be.

accelerating to disappointment.......2006-03-02

Joseph Conrad is one of my favourite writers - so often his philosophies, his points of view become my own. Why is it then that this novel was such hard going for me? I have just finished the novel - I had tried at least twice previously and failed to get to the end - an unusual occurrence for me. Perhaps, because it was Conrad I wouldn't go on as I lost concentration, failed to have any sense of direction. Perhaps I had to put it aside to attack it again with renewed vigour at a later time. Another author I might have put aside altogether.

Certainly the start of 'Nostromo' is very slow - and for much of it - where is Nostromo; that man with so many names? Perhaps the languid mood of the story - despite the underlying threats - created the feeling Conrad wanted for this tropical colonial setting with all those immigrant peoples (again, I think - as I have noted before - Conrad misses the indigenous locals, almost as if they don't exist).

Gradually themes emerged for me - lines of thought that gave me a sense of direction. And Conrad is such a master at weaving these together - threads of time, threads of location, threads of the unfolding (and closing) of lives. But the novel is very bleak, with hardly a positive outcome anywhere. The best we see is dogged resolve. Can life be so bad? Can even the best of us be corrupted by a hoard of silver, so corrupted as to lose the greatest reward that was available? Conrad, does take the breath away with surprising but ever-so-logical sequences of events.

I'm glad I completed 'Nostromo' and suspect I will read it again - perhaps with outcomes already in mind, it may go better for me. But if I was to recommend a Conrad novel to a Conrad novice it wouldn't be 'Nostromo'.

other recommendations:
Joseph Conrad - 'Chance'
Joseph Conrad - 'Victory'
Joseph Conrad - 'Lord Jim'
Ivan Turgenev - 'Torrents of Spring'

Nostromo (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (Barnes & Noble Classics)

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"Costaguana will always be run by butchers and tyrants."

Nostromo (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (Barnes & Noble Classics)
Joseph Conrad
Manufacturer: Barnes & Noble Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1593081936

Book Description

One of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, Joseph Conrad’s Nostromo is an immensely exciting tale of love, revolution, and politics set in the mythical South American country of Costaguana during the 1890s.

Ten years after his father is murdered by a brutal dictator, Englishman Charles Gould arrives in Costaguana to reopen the family silver mine. But instead of ushering in a shining era of prosperity and progress, the return of the silver engenders a new cycle of violence as Costaguana erupts in civil war, initiated by rival warlords determined to seize the mine and its riches. In desperation, Gould turns to the only man who can save the mine’s treasure—Nostromo, the incorruptible head of the local dockworkers, who protects the silver from rebel forces by taking it out to sea. But disaster strikes, burdening Nostromo with a terrible secret that forever alters the fate of everyone involved with the mine.

A stunning monument to futility, Nostromo reveals how honor, idealism, and loyalty are inadequate defenses against the inexorable assault of corruption and evil.

Customer Reviews:

"Costaguana will always be run by butchers and tyrants.".......2005-09-20

Often regarded as Conrad's masterwork, Nostromo is also Conrad's darkest novel, filled with betrayals at all levels and offering little hope for man's redemption. A novel of huge scope and political intrigue, it is also a novel in which no character actually wins. All must accept the ironies which fate has dealt them. Setting the novel in the imaginary South American country of Costaguana, the story centers around a silver mine in the mountains outside of the capital, Sulaco, vividly depicting its allure and the price each character pays for its success.

When Charles Gould, returns from England to claim and reopen the rich silver mine he has inherited from his father, he has good intentions-- to provide jobs for the peasants and contribute to the economy of the town at the same time that he also profits. Soon, however, he becomes obsessed with wealth and power, and as the political climate gets hotter, he must pay off government officials, bandits, the church, and various armed revolutionaries to be able to work. Each of these groups is vividly depicted as working for its own ends and not for the good of the people, and with their goals focused on the real world, these characters have no self-awareness, nor do they develop it during the novel.

In contrast to these "unrealized" humans, Conrad presents several characters who develop some self-awareness through their experiences. Nostromo, a local legend, is a man of principle who has always kept his word. Martin Decoud, a newspaper man, is a nihilist who has editorialized against the revolution, though he has yet to test himself. Dr. Monygham, captured during a past revolution, broke under torture, and is now seeking absolution by fighting against this revolution. And the good and long-suffering wife of Charles Gould, Dona Emilia, spends her time helping others.

When Nostromo agrees to protect a load of silver from revolutionaries by taking it out to sea, Conrad provides a bleak commentary on idealism and human nature. The conclusion, which includes a love story that feels tacked on, reveals Conrad's darkest self and offers little hope of change and even less hope for man's redemption. Rich in atmosphere, vibrant in description, filled with characters representing all walks of life and philosophy, and set in a country where revolution is a way of life, the novel is full of dark portents and bleak political outcomes. Mary Whipple

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"Costaguana will always be run by butchers and tyrants."

Nostromo (Everyman's Library Classics)
Joseph Conrad
Manufacturer: Everyman's Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Victory (Penguin Classics)

ASIN: 1857150880

Customer Reviews:

"Costaguana will always be run by butchers and tyrants.".......2005-01-10

Often regarded as Conrad's masterwork, Nostromo is also Conrad's darkest novel, filled with betrayals at all levels and offering little hope for man's redemption. A novel of huge scope and political intrigue, it is also a novel in which no character actually wins. All must accept the ironies which fate has dealt them. Setting the novel in the imaginary South American country of Costaguana, the story centers around a silver mine in the mountains outside of the capital, Sulaco, vividly depicting its allure and the price each character pays for its success.

When Charles Gould, returns from England to claim and reopen the rich silver mine he has inherited from his father, he has good intentions-- to provide jobs for the peasants and contribute to the economy of the town at the same time that he also profits. Soon, however, he becomes obsessed with wealth and power, and as the political climate gets hotter, he must pay off government officials, bandits, the church, and various armed revolutionaries to be able to work. Each of these groups is vividly depicted as working for its own ends and not for the good of the people, and with their goals focused on the real world, these characters have no self-awareness, nor do they develop it during the novel.

In contrast to these "unrealized" humans, Conrad presents several characters who develop some self-awareness through their experiences. Nostromo, a local legend, is a man of principle who has always kept his word. Martin Decoud, a newspaper man, is a nihilist who has editorialized against the revolution, though he has yet to test himself. Dr. Monygham, captured during a past revolution, broke under torture, and is now seeking absolution by fighting against this revolution. And the good and long-suffering wife of Charles Gould, Dona Emilia spends her time helping others.

When Nostromo agrees to protect a load of silver from revolutionaries by taking it out to sea, Conrad provides a bleak commentary on idealism and human nature. The conclusion, which includes a love story that feels tacked on, reveals Conrad's darkest self and offers little hope of change and even less hope for man's redemption. Rich in atmosphere, vibrant in description, filled with characters representing all walks of life and philosophy, and set in a country where revolution is a way of life, the novel is full of dark portents and bleak political outcomes. Mary Whipple

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EXCELLENT!!

Lord Jim & Nostromo (Modern Library)
Joseph Conrad
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Under Western Eyes (Penguin Classics)

ASIN: 037575489X
Release Date: 2000-04-18

Book Description

WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY ROBERT D. KAPLAN
COMMENTARY BY VIRGINIA WOOLF, HAROLD BLOOM, EDWARD SAID,
F. R. LEAVIS, AND ROBERT PENN WARREN

"        Never were Mr. Conrad's felicity of phrase and charm of atmosphere more obvious. . . . A book of the rare literary quality of Lord Jim is something to receive with gratitude and joy."--The New York Times

Originally published in 1900, Lord Jim is one of Joseph Conrad's most complex literary masterpieces. The story of a young sailor whose moment of cowardice haunts him for the rest of his life, Lord Jim explores Conrad's lifelong obsessions with the nature of guilt and the possibility of redemption.
        Nostromo is considered by many to be Conrad's supreme achievement, and Conrad himself referred to Nostromo as his "widest canvas." Set in the fictitious South American republic of Costaguana, Nostromo reveals the effects that misguided idealism, unparalleled greed, and imperialist interests can have on a fledging nation. V. S. Pritchett wrote: "Nostromo is the most strikingly modern of Conrad's novels. It is pervaded by a profound, even morbid sense of insecurity which is the very spirit of our age."
        Robert D. Kaplan's Introduction explains why the two novels together form Conrad's darkest glimpse into the flawed nature of humankind.

JOSEPH CONRAD (1857-1924) grew up amid political unrest in Russian-occupied Poland. After twenty years at sea in the French and British merchant navies, he settled in England in 1894. Over the next three decades, he revolutionized the English novel with works such as Youth (1902), Heart of Darkness (1902), Typhoon (1903), The Secret Agent (1907), Under Western Eyes (1911), Chance (1913), and Victory (1915).

ROBERT D. KAPLAN is a correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly and the author of seven books of travel and foreign affairs that have been translated into a dozen languages, including Balkan Ghosts, The Ends of the Earth, and An Empire Wilderness, all bestsellers, and a collection of essays, The Coming Anarchy. He lectures frequently to the U.S. military.

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Originally published in 1900, Lord Jim is one of Joseph Conrad's most complex literary masterpieces. The story of a young sailor whose moment of cowardice haunts him for the rest of his life, Lord Jim explores Conrad's lifelong obsessions with the nature of guilt and the possibility of redemption.

Customer Reviews:

EXCELLENT!!.......2002-11-14

This is a truly excellent edition (and compilation). It may seem like a small point, but I really love the typeset used. And the prefatory material, especially that of Robert Kaplan, is particularly good. The selection of Lord Jim and Nostromo was also well done, for it juxtaposes two of Conrad's best and, perhaps, most representative works. On the one hand, there's Lord Jim, largely psychological and personal, in which the title character struggles with, and constantly returns to, a trying moment in which he acted questionably. On the other, while no less psychological, there's Nostromo, which enters the realm of politics, revolution, and ideology--a more mature Conrad and certainly much more complex, stylistically and thematically. The works themselves, of course, deserve five stars, but so, too, does this stunning Modern Library edition.

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"There is no credulity so eager and blind as the credulity of covetness."

Nostromo
Joseph Conrad
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521313651

Book Description

This textbook series is ambitious in scope. It provides concise and lucid introductions to major works of world literature from classical antiquity to the twentieth century. It is not confined to any single literary tradition or genre, and will cumulatively form a substantial literary masterpieces.

Customer Reviews:

"There is no credulity so eager and blind as the credulity of covetness.".......2006-06-17

Often regarded as Conrad's masterwork, Nostromo is also Conrad's darkest novel, filled with betrayals at all levels and offering little hope for man's redemption. A novel of huge scope and political intrigue, it is also a novel in which no character actually wins. All must accept the ironies which fate has dealt them. Setting the novel in the imaginary South American country of Costaguana, the story centers around a silver mine in the mountains outside of the capital, Sulaco, vividly depicting its allure and the price each character pays for its success.

When Charles Gould, returns from England to claim and reopen the rich silver mine he has inherited from his father, he has good intentions-- to provide jobs for the peasants and contribute to the economy of the town at the same time that he also profits. Soon, however, he becomes obsessed with wealth and power, and as the political climate gets hotter, he must pay off government officials, bandits, the church, and various armed revolutionaries to be able to work. Each of these groups is vividly depicted as working for its own ends and not for the good of the people, and with their goals focused on the real world, these characters have no self-awareness, nor do they develop it during the novel.

In contrast to these "unrealized" humans, Conrad presents several characters who develop some self-awareness through their experiences. Nostromo, a local legend, is a man of principle who has always kept his word. Martin Decoud, a newspaper man, is a nihilist who has editorialized against the revolution, though he has yet to test himself. Dr. Monygham, captured during a past revolution, broke under torture, and is now seeking absolution by fighting against this revolution. And the good and long-suffering wife of Charles Gould, Dona Emilia spends her time helping others.

When Nostromo agrees to protect a load of silver from revolutionaries by taking it out to sea, Conrad provides a bleak commentary on idealism and human nature. The conclusion, which includes a love story that feels tacked on, reveals Conrad's darkest self and offers little hope of change and even less hope for man's redemption. Rich in atmosphere, vibrant in description, filled with characters representing all walks of life and philosophy, and set in a country where revolution is a way of life, the novel is full of dark portents and bleak political outcomes. Mary Whipple

Lord Jim : The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' : Typhoon : Nostromo : The Secret agent

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Lord Jim : The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' : Typhoon : Nostromo : The Secret agent
Joseph Conrad
Manufacturer: Octopus/Heinemann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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"Costaguana will always be run by butchers and tyrants."

Nostromo
Joseph Conrad
Manufacturer: Wildside Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0809599287

Book Description

NOSTROMO is the most anxiously meditated of the longer novels which belong to the period following upon the publication of the TYPHOON volume of short stories. I don't mean to say that I became then conscious of any impending change in my mentality and in my attitude towards the tasks of my writing life. And perhaps there was never any change, except in that mysterious, extraneous thing which has nothing to do with the theories of art; a subtle change in the nature of the inspiration; a phenomenon for which I can not in any way be held responsible. What, however, did cause me some concern was that after finishing the last story of the TYPHOON volume it seemed somehow that there was nothing more in the world to write about. This so strangely negative but disturbing mood lasted some little time; and then, as with many of my longer stories, the first hint for NOSTROMO came to me in the shape of a vagrant anecdote completely destitute of valuable details. . . . -- Joseph Conrad

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"Costaguana will always be run by butchers and tyrants.".......2005-09-14

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Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard
Joseph Conrad
Manufacturer: Doubleday, Page & Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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nostromo
joseph conrad
Manufacturer: the modern library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Selected works of Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad
Manufacturer: Barnes & Noble Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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