Not a Barrel of Laughs

Spectator, The; London (April 21, 2007)

Author: Leith, Sam

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JOSEPH CONRAD by Zdzislaw Najder Boydell & Brewer, £25, pp. 808, ISBN 9789571133472 . £20 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655

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Not a Barrel of Laughs

JOSEPH CONRAD by Zdzislaw Najder Boydell & Brewer, £25, pp. 808, ISBN 9789571133472 . £20 (plus £2.45 p&p) 0870 429 6655

What a peculiar life it was: born in Poland, exiled to Russia, orphaned at 11, and sent to sea at 16. A decade and a half of salt water and solitude in the merchant marine. Then the rest of it spent as an English gent, writing literary novels in his third language (English) under the strong influence of the writer...

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