Synopses & Reviews
Joseph Conrad's friendship with R. B. Cunninghame Graham was stimulating and in many ways paradoxical. Cunninghame Graham was a remarkable figure - a Scottish aristocrat who lived variously as a South American cowboy, a fencing master, a socialist Member of Parliament and a highly respected writer of travel, histories and short stories. His political beliefs, to which he was deeply and passionately committed, contrasted sharply with Conrad's pessimistic conservatism. They became friends in 1897, when Cunninghame Graham first wrote a letter of admiration to Conrad, and they remained friends until Conrad's death in 1924. The letters to Cunninghame Graham are the most illuminating sequence of letters from Conrad to any of his correspondents. He struggles to define his philosophical and political beliefs in relation to Graham's radical and provocative opinions. The letters also provide comments on Conrad's work, notably The Nigger of the 'Narcissus', Heart of Darkness, Nostromo and The Secret Agent, and show how Graham became a central figure in Conrad's life and helped to sustain him in some of his most strenuous literary struggles.
Synopsis
Joseph Conrad's friendship with R. B. Cunninghame Graham was stimulating, and in many ways paradoxical. These letters to Cunninghame Graham are the most illuminating sequence of letters from Conrad to any of his correspondents. He struggles to define his philosophical and political beliefs in relation to Graham's radical and provocative opinions. The majority of the letters were written between 1897 and 1904, during which time Conrad reached full maturity as a novelist. The letters also provide comments on Conrad's work, and show how Graham helped to sustain him in some of his most strenuous literary struggles. Of the eighty-one letters in Dr Watts' edition, which was originally published in 1969, twenty-five had never been published before, and some of the remainder had appeared in incomplete or inaccurate versions. Conrad's spelling and punctuation are retained and his own alterations indicated. There is a biographical and critical introduction, and explanatory footnotes.
Synopsis
An illuminating sequence of letters between Conrad and his provocative correspondent and friend R. B. Cunninghame Graham, published in 1969.
Synopsis
The letters to Cunninghame Graham are the most illuminating sequence of letters from Conrad to any of his correspondents. He struggles to define his philosophical and political beliefs in relation to Graham's radical and provocative opinions. The letters also provide comments on Conrad's work.
Table of Contents
Introduction; Conrad and Cunninghame Graham; A note on the background to Nostromo; The letters; Appendices 1-5; Index.