Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Before he published his first novel in 1895, Joseph Conrad spent twenty years in the merchant navy, eventually obtaining his master's ticket and commanding the barque Otago, in which he sailed a notable passage from Sydney to Mauritius. This book traces his sea-career, and shows how Captain Jozef Konrad Korzeniowski, master mariner, became Joseph Conrad, master novelist. Conrad was injured on the Highland Forest, burned out of the Palestine, falsely censured for professional misconduct by the master of the Riversdale, survived a brief and dangerous posting as a river-boat captain on the Congo?and finally served as first officer on the famous Torrens, a passenger ship sailing between Adelaide and Great Britain. Alan Villiers, world-renowned author and master mariner under sail, was uniquely qualified to comment on Conrad's life at sea, and his study of the great novelist has now been completed by his son Peter. In addition to a new analysis of Conrad as mariner, the book contains a w
Synopsis
Conrad scholars have known for years that this study by master mariner and distinguished sea writer Alan Villiers was in the works but not finished. When Villiers died in 1982, it lay dormant for many years until his son Peter took up the task of finishing it. This elegantly designed and illustrated volume is the result of his efforts and will be of interest to Conrad scholars, maritime historians, and readers of sea literature alike. Everyone will enjoy the reproductions of Mark Meyers s paintings of the twelve ships that form the core of Conrad's sea experience. My concern about who was writing, father Alan or son Peter, disappeared as the difference in their styles emerged. Alan Villiers' distinctive style is both easygoing and full of vitality because he avoids sea jargon, explains only what he has to be explained, and captures the essence of ships, men and experience at sea with fresh memorable phrases. The context of deteriorating conditions in commercial sail or accepted practice in handling square rigged ships appears casually as needed, never in blocks that interrupt the narrative flow. (...) the blend of narrative and explanation is seamless because the simple but effective structure of the book tells the story of Conrad s involvement with the dozen ships during his twenty year sea career. The book's focus falls on Conrad the seaman (Konrad Korzeniowski) rather than Conrad the novelist, so both Alan and Peter Villiers adopt the strategy of dealing with this Polish identity throughout, bridging frequently to Joseph Conrad as the sea experience resurfaces in fictional form. Beyond Conrad's fans, anyone interested in understanding life at sea in the larger decades of commercial sail trade will appreciate the father insight and the son's unobtrusive but helpful additions.
Synopsis
Format 8" x 10 1/4" Illus. 12 Color paintings ??? Beautifully illustrated in full color, with twelve paintings of Conrad's ships by the marine artist Mark Myers ??? who himself sailed in tall ships with Alan Villiers. ??? 2007 will be the 150th anniversary of Joseph Conrad's birth.