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FromwhomdidConradwrite?
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acceptthestory,whichtilltheendofitsauthor’sliferemainedhisleastlikedpiece.
ItisobviousthatConradknewverylittlebothaboutpeopleliketheprotagonistsof
“TheReturn”aswellasaboutthestory’spotentialreaders.Onlyfifteenyearslaterhe
wouldsuccessfullyaimhisChanceatwomen,whoconstitutedthemajorityofthe
readersofnovels.
Writingthesethematicallyandartisticallyvaryingstories,asIhavesaid:experi-
mentinginfourdiverseways,Conradworkedatthesametimeonanovelwhich
representedanattemptofastilldifferentkind.TheNiggerofthe“Narcissus”,amas-
terpieceofmaritimefiction,wasalsoConrad’sfirstthematicallyEnglishwork.True,
thecrewoftheclipperisonlypartlyBritish(inthereal“Narcissus”itwasmainly
foreign)andtheactionstartsinBombayandtakesplaceatsea,buttheshipisonher
waytoEnglandandthemotifsofgoing“home”andofthelinkwiththehomecoun-
tryarerepeatedlystressed.Forthesubjectunderthediscussionnolessimportantis
thefact,immediatelynotedbyreviewers,thatitisdifficulttodecidewhatisthenar-
rativepointofviewinthenovel.Itisimpossibletosaywhotellsusthewholestory:
animpersonalandomniscientnarrator,oroneoftheseameninthe“Narcissus”crew,
orelsesomebodyrepresentingthewholecrew.Weencounteralternatelythethirdand
firstpersonsingularandthefirstpersonplural.Inthenameoftheauthorspeakat
leastthreedifferentsubjects;inotherwords,theauthoraddresseshisreadersinthree
differentways.ItallpointstoConrad’suncertaintyastowhomhewishedtoaddress?
Thisisaquestiondeservingaseparateinvestigation.
TilltheendofhislifeConradneverceasedtoraisethemesnewtohimselfandto
searchfornovelwaysofhandlinghissubjects.Nostromo,TheSecretAgent,and
UnderWesternEyesareallthreeimportantpoliticalnovels;eachisquitedifferentin
theplaceofaction,centraltopicandnarrativetechnique.Thesameapplies,e.g.,to
thevolumeASetofSix,whichwasinfactcriticizedforbeingabagoftextsputto-
getheratrandom.However,afterthepublicationin1900,ofhisfirstmaturenovel,
LordJim,Conrad’ssearchfornoveltylosesthecharacterofexperimentswithan
uncertainresult;insteadheappearstoembarkondeliberatecampaigns,usuallyvic-
torious,withconsciousvariedaimsandwithvaryingequipment.Andalthoughalso
laterhisreaders’reactionswouldsurpriseanddisappointConrad–thiswasespe-
ciallytrueinthecasesofNostromoandTheSecretAgent–thepivotalperiodinhis
reachingauthorialself-confidenceturnedouttobethefive-years’timeofcooperation
withtheeminentEdinburghmonthlyBlackwood’sMagazine(1897–1902).There
ConradpublishedLordJimand“TheEndoftheTether”,andalsothestories“Karain”,
“Youth”,and“HeartofDarkness”,andthusthefivepiecesamongwhichtwo,Lord
Jimand“HeartofDarkness”,belongamonghisgreatestachievements.Themonthly
hadanimpressivecirculation:about49000copies,severaltimesmorethantheaver-
agesizeofbookeditionsofthenovelsofConradandother“serious”contemporary
