Conrad's Western World

Book excerpt: Conrad's Western World traces the sources of Heart of Darkness, Nostromo, The Secret Agent and some of the short stories related to these novels. As in his highly acclaimed Conrad's Eastern World, Professor Sherry provides an interesting blend of biographical reconstruction and investigation into the originals of the main incidents and characters - Kurtz, Nostromo, Verloc and many of the minor figures as well. It has been possible to show in the study of Conrad's source material a movement away from analyses of personal experience or the narrated experiences of others to a manipulation of material entirely outside the bounds of his own experience. This change reveals also a movement in interest from personal and private dilemmas to wider and more public concerns, and shows Conrad developing a progressive sense of the frightening underside of human society. Finally, Professor Sherry considers the play of Conrad's mind over his source material and traces the development of individual works from the given sources to the completed fiction. This reconstruction of Conrad's original materials and the tracing of their development into literary works of great distinction gives us a unique insight into Conrad's preoccupations and art.