A Personal Record

Joseph Conrad spoke only a few words of English when he came to Lowescroft, England at twenty-one years old, but he became one of the great masters of the language. Conrad was born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski in Ukraine to Polish parents. He served the British merchant navy for sixteen years and worked aboard many other ships, the voyages providing the material for many of his novels and short stories. He began writing his first major novel, Almayer's Folly, at the age of 32, and continued with such classic works of the sea as Lord Jim, Nostromo, and his most famous work, the novella Heart of Darkness.