Hailed as one of Joseph Conrad's finest literary achievements, Under Western Eyes tells the story of a young man unwittingly caught in the political turmoil of pre-Revolutionary czarist Russia. It begins with a bomb that kills its intended target, a hated Russian minister of police, along with several innocent bystanders. A young student named Razumov hides the perpetrator, who questions his moral strength and integrity.
Set in St. Petersburg amid intrigue and espionage, this novel hauntingly speaks to the broader, timeless question of human responsibility and honor. Conrad said that his intent was to render "the psychology of Russia," a country being driven to anarchy by misguided revolutionaries. This masterwork, published six years before the Russian Revolution, is a chillingly accurate prophecy of what was to come.
Joseph Conrad (Józef Teodor Konrad Nalecz Korzeniowski) (1857-1924) was born in the Ukraine. He was raised by an uncle after his parents, ardent Polish patriots, died following their exile for anti-Russian activities. As a boy he educated himself by reading widely in Polish and French. At 21 he began serving on French merchant vessels, and for twenty years, he sailed the seven seas. He went to London for a rest and began writing. The romance and adventure of Conrad's own life form the basis for his incomparable sea novels. Today Conrad is generally regarded as one of the greatest writers of fiction in English, his third language. He once described his task as "by the power of the written word . . . to make you see."
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