Joseph Conrad

Determined not to write a biography about his friend Joseph Conrad (18571924) in the usual dry style Ford Madox Ford (18731939) instead produced a novel. As a result some biographical facts are given less emphasis than others in particular the acrimony which later blighted relations between the two men. But the work is distinguished by its liveliness and by a wealth of vivid detail. Ford describes Conrad''s remarkably long-eared horse his haphazard use of adverbs and their fraught collaboration over their second joint novel Romance during which Ford''s carefully unexciting style provoked the adventure-loving Conrad to depression. Ford''s impressionistic portrayal of Conrad as an elegant likeable swindler and ''beautiful genius'' strikes a far richer chord than a purely historical account. First published in 1924 just after Conrad''s death this work remains a striking example of creative non-fiction instructive for scholars and students of English literature.