Nostromo (Oxford World's Classics) Summary and Reviews

Nostromo (Oxford World's Classics)
by Joseph Conrad

Nostromo (Oxford World's Classics)
List Price: $13.95
Our Price: $0.01
You Save: $13.94 (100%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Joseph Conrad
Editor: Jacques Berthoud
Editor: Mara Kalnins
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-08-06
ISBN: 0192801546
Number of pages: 544
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Book Reviews of Nostromo (Oxford World's Classics)

Book Review: A Tale of All Directions
Summary: 5 Stars

Nostromo is one of Joseph Conrad's longer novels, and one in which he doesn't make use of his typical "undependable narrator." Instead, the tale is told by an omniscient narrator. That is, I think, a source of weakness. The narrator wants to tell too much, wants to analyze too much, describes too much. In other words, the book is too long and too diffuse. It has too many themes: notions of human behavior and motivation, insights into the nature of political brutality and corruption, counter-insights into the virtues of simple working people and their loyalties, a flaming love story, a burned-out love story, and a tale of the temptation and 'fall' of the everyman Nostromo. Conrad expounds the ideals of the "blancos" - the upper-class globalizing developers - who are the central characters of the novel with complete sympathy, and yet he also tosses in the rhetoric of the rebels, called 'liberals' although in normal economic terms the blancos are the liberals. The n-word is thrown at these peasants and poor folk rather freely, but underneath Conrad's commitment to the interests of his 'blanco' hero, one can detect a strong taint of revolutionary sympathy for the underdogs. I wish it were clear that Conrad was deliberately undercutting the 'victory' of the progressive classes by revealing the injustices and exploitations they commit to the working classes, but it's not so clear. One has to suspect Conrad of wanting to have it both ways, to "have his cake and eat it too."

Nonetheless, I can't imagine NOT enjoying such a vivid, picturesque, risk-taking novel. It's full of lusty humor and sardonic wit. It has glorious descriptions of the tropical sights and sounds of the imaginary Latin American country where the story happens. It has a cast of powerful and believable characters. I can't conceive of giving any Conrad novels less than five stars when police thrillers and Avon romances get rave reviews. Nostromo is not close to Conrad's best novel, but even Conrad's weakest novels are rich concoctions of ideas and action. If you've read "Under Western Eyes" - Conrad's finest social/political novel - you might well want to read Nostromo in particular, in that it expands and complicates Conrad's perceptions of the abuse of authority.

This edition is more compact and has better extras - introductory essay, notes, etc. - than the edition I reviewed a few days ago. Be sure to compare prices, both new and "used".

Classics Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Classics Books
Native son ImageNative son
by Richard Wright
Perennial Library; Published: 1987; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.75
Native Son: And How Bigger Was Born ImageNative Son: And How Bigger Was Born
by Richard Wright
Perennial; Published: 1993-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $26.80
Raphael and the Noble Task ImageRaphael and the Noble Task
by Catherine Salton
Harper; Published: 2000-10-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.49
Price in other shops: $20.00
Island (Perennial Classics) ImageIsland (Perennial Classics)
by Aldous Huxley
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2002-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $14.99
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn ImageA Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Betty Smith
Harper; Published: 2001-11-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.86
Price in other shops: $23.99
The Great Divorce CD ImageThe Great Divorce CD
by C. S. Lewis
HarperAudio; Published: 2003-11-25; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $12.64
Price in other shops: $22.00
Great Expectations ImageGreat Expectations
by Charles Dickens
Macmillan Pub Co; Published: 1979-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops: $12.10
This Side of Paradise ImageThis Side of Paradise
by Fitzgerald
Scribner Paper Fiction; Published: 1988-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops: $6.95
Black Coffee (Poirot) ImageBlack Coffee (Poirot)
by Agatha Christie
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2002-12-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $68.32
Slouching Towards Bethlehem (1960s) ImageSlouching Towards Bethlehem (1960s)
by Joan Didion
Flamingo; Published: 2001-04-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $22.25
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
International Marketing ImageInternational Marketing
by Philip Cateora, Mary Gilly, John Graham
McGraw-Hill/Irwin; Published: 2010-09-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $135.00
Armageddon Averted: The Soviet Collapse, 1970-2000 ImageArmageddon Averted: The Soviet Collapse, 1970-2000
by Stephen Kotkin
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2008-12-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops: $16.95
The Scientific Revolution (science.culture) ImageThe Scientific Revolution (science.culture)
by Steven Shapin
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 1998; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops: $15.00
Heart of Darkness and Other Tales (Oxford World's Classics) ImageHeart of Darkness and Other Tales (Oxford World's Classics)
by Joseph Conrad
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2008-06-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.25
Price in other shops: $8.95
Absalom, Absalom! The Corrected Text ImageAbsalom, Absalom! The Corrected Text
by William Faulkner
Vintage; Published: 1990-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.20
Price in other shops: $15.00
The Conquest of New Spain (Penguin Classics) ImageThe Conquest of New Spain (Penguin Classics)
by Bernal Diaz del Castillo
Penguin Group USA; Penguin Books; Published: 1963-08-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.63
Price in other shops: $17.00
The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution ImageThe Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution
by C.L.R. James
Vintage; Published: 1989-10-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.98
Price in other shops: $16.00
Under Western Eyes (Dover Thrift Editions) ImageUnder Western Eyes (Dover Thrift Editions)
by Joseph Conrad
Dover Publications; Published: 2003-11-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.47
Price in other shops: $3.00
The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Oxford World's Classics) ImageThe Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Oxford World's Classics)
by Joseph Conrad
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2008-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops: $10.95
Lord Jim (Oxford World's Classics) ImageLord Jim (Oxford World's Classics)
by Joseph Conrad
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2008-06-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.64
Price in other shops: $6.95