The more I read Conrad, the less impressed I am with his writing. But I mean “writing” here strictly in the sense of his command of English. It’s not completely fluent and too often it is heavily dependent on his knowledge of French (a language he was fluent in). Don’t misunderstand: I think his abilities in English—his fourth language, after all—are impressive. But I find his plotting, his themes, his ideas more than make up for his stilted English. The plot revolves around the protagonist who “betrays” an acquaintance who committed a political murder in Russia. The story focuses on his actions afterward, primarily his psychological state as he deals with what he has done. Conrad is reported to have said that “...in this book I am concerned with nothing but ideas, to the exclusion of everything else.” I wouldn’t disagree. But although it’s generally acknowledged one of Conrad’s great books, I found its cynicism and its preaching a bit too much to make it enjoyable. ( )

Finally finished my Joseph Conrad list. This and Nostromo were the last two. Need another author to read through now. ( )

Very much in the style of Dostoevsky (not my favorite Russian author) but intriguing look at a young man caught between revolutionaries and self-interest. The double meanings of much of the text are marvelously done. This Conrad novel, from 1911, is quite different from his most famous "Heart of Darkness". ( )

wow! Now critics might say "not much happens" but this is a novel of ideas, of character, of guilt - not action, though there is some dramatic action at both the beginning and end. There's some similarity with Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment and Conrad's Lord Jim. It's definitely a good idea not to read the Introduction before reading the book, as not knowing the denoument means you enjoy the great tension in this book. The main character (Razumov) has a similar name as well. In the author's note, Conrad coins the term "banality" in a way similar to Arendt - had Arendt read this novel?

Conrad's family background is relevant, being an ethnic Pole who was born in Ukraine and whose father was a Polish nationalist at ta time when Poland (or Ukraine) did not exist. His father was imprisoned and then exiled, dying of TB when Joseph was still young. His mother also died of TB at this time. But rather than follow in his father's footsteps Joseph Conraad chose to go to Marseille and go to see - eventually joining the British Merchant Navy - and the rest is history. However, there is no sign of the sea here but I think this is one of Conrad's best. ( )

The slippery entry and exit from the variety of characters in Under Western Eyes distinguishes the novel in their number, not in the employment of the formal device itself, which Conrad frequently employed. For here, not only does Conrad dwell among a nest of revolutionaries and expats turned out from their homeland, Russia, but in particular on the psychology of the two key characters, Natalia, the sister of a revolutionary who himself was caught and executed because of the betrayal by Kyrilo, a fellow student of the victim. Forced into exile himself, Kyrilo comes face to face with Natalia and her mother in Geneva. It is there that all the barriers to guilt fall away and Kyrilo and Natalia come to terms with themselves.

Of the host of plotters, schemers, and poseurs that populate the novel's pages, only Natalia seems to emerge intact, sure of her mission in life and duty to others. The rest prove to be nothing more than psychotics whose damage runs from the severe in, yes, Kyrilo and Nicotin to the recoverable in Sophia and Peter.

One note about Natalia. Her role as a mediator of sorts, a heart that unites the workers of the hand with the workers of the mind would be taken up later, with the figure of Maria, in Fritz Lang's film, Metropolis. In that case, the leader of yet another totalitarian ideology would find it an appealing metaphor around which to organize society in Germany during the 1930s. ( )