Short Fiction

Joseph Conrad, the Polish-born writer who published exclusively in English, is known as much for his short fiction as for his novels. Almost all of his stories were first serialized in periodicals such as The Pall Mall Magazine, Harper’s Magazine, and Blackwood’s Magazine. They were later republished in seven collections: Tales of Unrest, Youth: A Narrative and Two Other Stories, Typhoon and Other Stories, A Set of Six, ’Twixt Land and Sea, Within the Tides, and Tales of Hearsay. Many of his stories deal with the sea and exotic locales (the Malay Archipelago, Central Africa, South America), while others reflect his wider interests, such as his fascination with the Napoleonic era.

Conrad’s most famous novella contained in this collection, “Heart of Darkness,” was originally published serially as a three-part story. It is a short but thematically complex novella exploring colonialism, humanity, and what constitutes a savage society. Set in the Congo in Central Africa, the tale is told in the frame of the recollections of one Charles Marlow, a captain of an ivory steamer. Marlow’s search for the mysterious and powerful “first-class agent” Kurtz gives way to a nuanced and powerful commentary on the horrors of colonialism, called by some the most analyzed work at university-level instruction.

Other notable works include “An Outpost of Progress,” a precursor to “Heart of Darkness,” “Youth,” based on Conrad’s own maritime experiences, “Typhoon,” in which a stubborn captain takes on a force of nature, “The Duel,” later filmed by Ridley Scott as “The Duellists,” and “The Secret Sharer,” in which a captain harbors a fugitive. This collection comprises all the short stories and novellas from Conrad’s seven short fiction collections, plus “The Sisters,” an unfinished short story published posthumously. They’re arranged in order of first publication, which in most cases means their magazine serialization.