Customer Reviews

Almayer's Folly.

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4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
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Loosely based on the life of a Dutch merchant, setting up a trading post along a river in the interior of Borneo, Conrad's novel 'Almayer's Folly' is actually about man's alienation from his environment and eventually himself.

Written during the heyday of western imperialism, when the great powers of Europe subjected the tropics to their rule, the tale of Almayer explores how the tropics actually devoured the individual westerner.

The main character of the book is a man obsessed. Chasing a dream, he completely loses touch with reality. Although on the surface it may seem that he is a white man gone native, Almayer hasn't got a clue what he is dealing with. He is blind to the schemings of his Malay wife and equally oblivious to the fact that his daughter is drifting away from him.

Admittedly, the book has 'orientalist' overtones but, then, Joseph Conrad is both a man of his time and a master of poweful prose, not a politically-correct scholar. The stereotypical mystique of Asia and the inscrutable oriental are exploited as a literary means to descend into the deeper levels of man's psyche. Just like the 'true heart' of Borneo and its inhabitants is hidden under layer upon layer of deceiving images, so is the core of each and every individual. The scariest place to travel is not the interior of an Indonesian Island, but the inner reaches of our own soul.

Almayer's Folly is one of the best novels ever written. Not only because of the author's masterful portrayals of character, but also due his astounding command of English. It is hard to believe that Conrad's first and second language were Polish and French: he only learned English as an adult. It is this combination of psychological understanding and extraordinary use of language that make him into a literary genius.

This was Conrad's first novel, and I think it's an underappreciated jewel. It's written with a typical Victorian plotline, and one part of it has a romantic couple seeking their own happy ending, but don't be mistaken - it's real Conrad, so there's the glorious Conradian gloom, fear and descent into madness, too. It's a tale about a Dutchman in a business-gone-bad stranded in the Indonesian boondocks with his witch-like Malay wife who wishes him all the ill in the world. His only hope in life anymore is for his beautiful daughter and he dreams constantly of getting her educated and married off back in Amsterdam so he can wash his hands of his island nightmare and go back to normal life in Europe. But she grows up, grows distant to him, and he's clueless about the reality that she's adopted the local style and wants to be there. A handsome Balinese prince seeks her hand and the plot cranks into motion, spinning to a thrilling climax. It's an interesting study of problems of interracial, intercultural interaction, as valid today as it was in the late 19th century. The visual picture it paints of the old Dutch East Indies - the rivers, the tangled jungle flowers and the wildlife is another of its finest points.

I was surprised to find out this was Conrad's first book. I expected an awkwardness of a writer refining his skill, but what I found was a captivating, accessible and satisfying story. It has suspense and romance as well as the tragedy that Conrad is known for. I think the young characters and themes make this book far more accessible to a young person than the standard required Conrad novel--Heart of Darkness. Almayer's Folly is an excellent introduction to Conrad's work.

Almayer's folly is a powerful beginning to Conrad's second profession, writing. Since the story was written so close to Conrad's adventurous youth (the spring for his most powerful works), it provides the rawest expression of Conrad's views. Almayer, the prototype of Tuan Jim, takes the "leap" when he marries the Malay captive for promised wealth. This transgression drops his character into contact with the cold truths of nature; truths which dispel any artificial illusions or meanings. For Almayer, these illusions entailed sucess and fame in Europe, a place that he had never visited but only heard about from his mother. Superficially, this journey towards inner truth involves a journey into the wilds of Borneo, but,like in future Conrad works, we quickly realize that the journey is inward into the pysche of Almayer. Overall, an excellent introduction to Conrad.

Almayer's tragedy is that he has become mired in an enterprise which has not paid off. His supply station just doesn't make him rich as he had hoped. In the meantime he has taken a wife, a Malay, and they have a daughter. So Almayer is mired in Malaysia in more ways than one. Almayer dreams of Europe but it is unlikely he will ever return. His fate is to rot in the tropics. Conrads tale of a hopeless colonial exploiter is interesting for its unsentimental, unidealized view of the whole colonial enterprise. It is seen as being a losing situation for both sides. Both cultures suffer. The most tragic figures are those whose heritage is divided between both cultures, exploiter and exploited. (This is something this years Nobel Laureate 2001 V.S. Naipaul, who is often compared to Conrad, writes about.) Conrads book has an appealing exotic side to it as well though. The descriptive writing of the winding rivers and foliage and the entire tropical setting is tempting as it attracts interesting types and seems to offer a life of indolence and easy riches and forbidden pleasures but of course there is a backlash. The plot itself is a winding river with many turns. Not a perfect book but an interesting book to read after having read many of Conrads later books. Conrad in his autobiographical A Personal Record describes his meeting with the character who inspired the fictive Almayer as being the beginning of his writing career. The whole colonial enterprise seemed to be embodied in the attitude and fate of that one isolated figure for him. I guess for that reason we can thank Almayer for existing.

I refer to the Wordsworth Classics printing that contains the short stories 'Tales of Unrest'. 'Almayer's Folly' is an engaging novel that kept my interest despite being read in a haphazard way during travel. My favourite quote from the novel is: 'But a man busy contemplating the wreckage of his past in the dawn of new hopes cannot be hungry whenever his rice is ready.' I enjoy the convoluted paragraphs that Conrad constructs that are surprisingly transparent for the reader - an extraordinary achievement for a man with English as his second language. He really does show the power of the language to richly counterpoint ideas of place and people. What, I wonder, was Conrad's skill with his native language? 'The Return' is a story of such mundane environment that I wondered if I was reading Conrad, but the unfolding of the narrative soon restores my impression. is there some Anna Kavan here? (or is Conrad in Kavan?).

Although not to be compared with his major works, this is nonetheless a most impressive first novel. Perhaps because he was already well into his thirties when he wrote and published it, the book contains all the major themes that one associates with Conrad. If one has not read any Conrad at all, I would recommend going to his great masterpieces first (VICTORY, NOSTROMO, THE SECRET AGENT, UNDER WESTERN EYES, HEART OF DARKNESS, THE NIGGER OF THE 'NARCISSUS', or LORD JIM). But for anyone who enjoys the work of Joseph Conrad, this book can hardly fail to fascinate.

As this is Conrad's first novel, it is not fair to expect the sort of power that illuminates his later works. However, Almayer's Folly is a good, solid novel which shows the potential for Conrad's later greatness. A love story at its heart, Almayer's Folly also provides a last look at classical imperialism and the crossroads of multiple cultures. A short novel, I would heartily recommend it.

Though overshadowed by his later work, Joseph Conrad's Almayer's Folly is one of the most impressive debut novels - excellent in itself and fascinating to fans and scholars in how it has in embryo so much of his later greatness. When we consider that he lacked literary training and did not learn English until his twenties, the accomplishment is near-unbelievable. All fans will of course want this, and its relative straight-forwardness makes it a good place for neophytes to start.

Like most Conrad, the book can be thoroughly enjoyed on a very simple level as an adventure tale in an exotic locale. This story of nineteenth-century Borneo has much exciting drama: smuggling, international political intrigue, internecine rivalry and fighting, and much more. There is even a very moving and somewhat unconventional love story as well as a focus on domestic matters to which Conrad rarely returned. His depictions of the little-known landscape are also lush and memorable; he truly seems to bring to life a world very few Westerners know anything of even now with all its excitement and danger. These are the elements that initially got most attention, much to Conrad's chagrin because they were not his real point. However, they are still notable, and we can now enjoy all elements in proportion.

The others are indeed noteworthy; it is truly nothing less than remarkable how much food for proverbial thought Conrad injects into this early work and how many themes later dealt with in more detail were already here. He would of course write many more stories featuring the sea and out-of-the-way locations, but these are only trappings for his tried and true themes, the most immediate being colonialism as well as the clash between Eastern and Western cultures, racism, and other ensuing factors. The story is set at a time when the Dutch and English both had interest in Borneo, dramatizing their profound and often destructive effect on the indigenous culture with stirring realism. The colonialism condemnation is not as overt as in later Conrad, but he spares no detail in depicting the havoc it wreaked. This debut novel interestingly focuses more on the native perspective than later works, giving a nuanced view and earning considerable sympathy for the oppressed culture. Indeed, in a true blow to Western ego, non-whites eventually triumph, and their constant cries against the "infidel" and benedictions of Allah's merciful Providence ring true.

More important, though, is the tragic vision that all this symbolizes. Few writers - nay, few human beings - have been as pessimistic as Conrad, and he began at least as darkly as he ended. The appropriately named novel focuses mostly on its tragic title hero, who is not without admirable qualities but is simply unable to overcome his flaws. His dreams are big, but self-delusion, prejudice, greed, and narrow-mindedness ensure continuing failure and miserable destruction. The novel is a grand vista of individual tragedy; loathsome as Almayer is in many ways, he is arguably more sinned against than sinning. His truly wretched fate arouses much pathos, as does the emotion-drenched book generally. It paints a very grim picture of human ambition and the efficacy of communication - a truly moving tragedy to which many can unfortunately relate.

As always with Conrad, the prose itself is also of great note. At about 130 pages, the story is very concise, and the prose is extremely precise yet highly evocative; Conrad's vocabulary is simply incredible, and his descriptions are profoundly memorable and often affecting whether about landscapes, love, or blighted hope. There are more signs of not being a native speaker than later, as he had yet to master the language, which will fascinate fans and scholars, but he already had a greater command than nearly all natives in the areas that make great literature.

All told, while this does not make Conrad's very top tier, it is tantalizingly close; it is not only an incredible debut but would be nothing less than most writers' masterpiece, which is probably all that need be said.

As for this edition, it is important to realize that, like others in the Dover Thrift series, it is bare bones - only a short headnote other than the text. Anyone wanting extra will need to look elsewhere, but the work more than stands on its own.

Though overshadowed by his later work, Joseph Conrad's Almayer's Folly is one of the most impressive debut novels - excellent in itself and fascinating to fans and scholars in how it has in embryo so much of his later greatness. When we consider that he lacked literary training and did not learn English until his twenties, the accomplishment is near-unbelievable. All fans will of course want this, and its relative straight-forwardness makes it a good place for neophytes to start.

Like most Conrad, the book can be thoroughly enjoyed on a very simple level as an adventure tale in an exotic locale. This story of nineteenth-century Borneo has much exciting drama: smuggling, international political intrigue, internecine rivalry and fighting, and much more. There is even a very moving and somewhat unconventional love story as well as a focus on domestic matters to which Conrad rarely returned. His depictions of the little-known landscape are also lush and memorable; he truly seems to bring to life a world very few Westerners know anything of even now with all its excitement and danger. These are the elements that initially got most attention, much to Conrad's chagrin because they were not his real point. However, they are still notable, and we can now enjoy all elements in proportion.

The others are indeed noteworthy; it is truly nothing less than remarkable how much food for proverbial thought Conrad injects into this early work and how many themes later dealt with in more detail were already here. He would of course write many more stories featuring the sea and out-of-the-way locations, but these are only trappings for his tried and true themes, the most immediate being colonialism as well as the clash between Eastern and Western cultures, racism, and other ensuing factors. The story is set at a time when the Dutch and English both had interest in Borneo, dramatizing their profound and often destructive effect on the indigenous culture with stirring realism. The colonialism condemnation is not as overt as in later Conrad, but he spares no detail in depicting the havoc it wreaked. This debut novel interestingly focuses more on the native perspective than later works, giving a nuanced view and earning considerable sympathy for the oppressed culture. Indeed, in a true blow to Western ego, non-whites eventually triumph, and their constant cries against the "infidel" and benedictions of Allah's merciful Providence ring true.

More important, though, is the tragic vision that all this symbolizes. Few writers - nay, few human beings - have been as pessimistic as Conrad, and he began at least as darkly as he ended. The appropriately named novel focuses mostly on its tragic title hero, who is not without admirable qualities but is simply unable to overcome his flaws. His dreams are big, but self-delusion, prejudice, greed, and narrow-mindedness ensure continuing failure and miserable destruction. The novel is a grand vista of individual tragedy; loathsome as Almayer is in many ways, he is arguably more sinned against than sinning. His truly wretched fate arouses much pathos, as does the emotion-drenched book generally. It paints a very grim picture of human ambition and the efficacy of communication - a truly moving tragedy to which many can unfortunately relate.

As always with Conrad, the prose itself is also of great note. At about 130 pages, the story is very concise, and the prose is extremely precise yet highly evocative; Conrad's vocabulary is simply incredible, and his descriptions are profoundly memorable and often affecting whether about landscapes, love, or blighted hope. There are more signs of not being a native speaker than later, as he had yet to master the language, which will fascinate fans and scholars, but he already had a greater command than nearly all natives in the areas that make great literature.

All told, while this does not make Conrad's very top tier, it is tantalizingly close; it is not only an incredible debut but would be nothing less than most writers' masterpiece, which is probably all that need be said.