Almayer's Folly

Almayers Folly Joseph Conrads first novel is a tale of personal tragedy as well as a broader meditation on the evils of colonialism. Set in the lush jungle of Borneo in the late 1800s it tells of the Dutch merchant Kaspar Almayer whose dreams of riches for his beloved daughter Nina collapse under the weight of his own greed and prejudice. Nadine Gordimer writes in her Introduction Conrads writing is lifelong questioning . . . What was Almayers Folly? The pretentious house never lived in? His obsession with gold? His obsessive love for his daughter whose progenitors the Malay race he despised? All three? Conrad established in Almayers Folly the themes of betrayal isolation and colonialism that he would explore throughout the rest of his life and work.