Chapter 10 - The decline of the decline: notes on Conrad's reputation

Summary

There is a schism among the lovers of Conrad. It is, roughly, between those who find two opposed periods in his work, the good early and the bad late, and those who see his work from beginning to end as varying in quality, but as constituting nonetheless a good unified whole. This division of opinion is a common feature in criticism, with Wordsworth as a celebrated example. In the present case we will begin by looking briefly at Conrad's own opinion of the matter; then we'll go on to a brief review of the thoughts both of his contemporaries, and then of some later literary and critical historians of Conrad's works; and finally we will venture some not very resounding conclusions.

First, two obvious facts: there was no decline in the amount Conrad produced, or in its financial rewards. Seven novels were published between Almayer's Folly in 1895 and The Secret Agent, in 1907, and seven novels between Under Western Eyes in 1911 and The Rover in 1923: in each twelve year period Conrad completed an average of just under one major fiction in two years; there was only one major gap, of four years, between The Secret Agent and Under Western Eyes. As for Conrad's financial fortunes, after the successive disasters of the very poor showings of Nostromo, The Secret Agent and Under Western Eyes, Conrad's sales went up very fast, and until his death.