Joseph Conrad

Aaron writes;
Joseph Conrad is not your typical American author.  He was not born here, nor was English his first language.  Conrad became famous for the novel that I am reading for my independent reading project: Heart of Darkness.  This story questions the evil side of a human, hence the title.  As for the author, he was born in Ukraine on December 3, 1857.  Both of his parents were Nationalists and shortly after he was born, Joseph and his family were sent to a Russian province.  The fact that both of parents died shortly after may have been an influence on his writing.  As he began to grow up, Conrad realized that he wanted more adventure and the best way to find that would be at sea.  He begged his uncle to let him go to Africa, and his uncle eventually gave in.  After several years traveling at sea around Africa he became a British citizen and learned English.  Following the diary he took with him on his voyages in “the dark continent”, he wrote the Heart of Darkness.  During his lengthy career, Conrad wrote such works as Almayer’s Folly and Under Western Eyes. He died in 1924 of a heart attack while relaxing in his home. I have only read a small portion of the book, but so far it seems to be filled with dense descriptions and a deep outlook what the author thinks life is about.  I look forward to reading the rest of this novel, as it will hopefully enable me to enjoy the good parts of life, while realizing there will be bad times; that’s what being human is all about.