Plot
line: The setting is Costaguana, it's a fictitious South American nation on par
with Columbia, over the years the nation is riddled with revolution and secular
warfare - much of the unrest is driven by politics, imperialism and the urge to
self destruct.
The fundamental quest is to continue to mine for silver in
Sulaco, under the corporation proprietor Charles Gould, his relationships with
European markets and international partners increasingly wavers (hands tied by
American capitalists) - Nostromo known as 'our man' in Latin regions;
endeavours in providing route options - whether it's boundless heroism or
idiocy; global capitalism is scorched on Costaguana's terrain and populous.
Will it break Nostromo? Written under the loosely termed period of early
modernism; the novel inveigle the likes of Ezra Pound and James Joyce to embark
on their modernism trope.
Being
16% through the twenty-first century, I wondered if the English speaking world
was ready for a 'Nostromo' renaissance, the Joseph Conrad's book was written
over an eighteen month period between 1902 to 1904; this was when new world
orders started to grind towards a political realm and alert the plebiscites to
follow a particular route. Appearing outwards, it's uncanny how the paradigm
recycles into something altogether familiar. 'Nostromo' obviously failed at the
beginning of the twentieth century, when humanity flunk to recognise what
stared back at them in the mirror of capitalistic reality; on analysis Conrad
penned a warning shot of what derives from working sacrifices, imperialism, and
social injustices... perhaps now, the West is ready to compute and shanghai
Conrad's foresightedness via collective meanings en mass. Avarice shouldn't be
encouraged, let alone supersede humanities morals and values; altogether we're
too accepting to the ills of inequality - time for a few Joseph Conrads to
ascend from the scorched earth and relay century old parables of human
sacrifice... too divergent? Well the moon is a very placid place, consider
emigrating; be totalitarian to dust cordillera.
My
default position rarely expects a novelist to write a narrative I'll warm to;
purely of the view I don't know what story-line would satisfy me
wholeheartedly; I doubt there is one... so why would an author have the answer?
The next stage is to expect the author to indulge me with his / her art form -
this is where Conrad excels. If the author manages to pay witness to immense
love... the love of writing... I'm truly hooked. Why I confess I've only read a
handful of manufactured authorship; for they're the sluts of literature - once
read, easily forgotten. 'Nostromo' is a plethora of moons away from the brothel
of indecorous literature, for immense prose / visions marinated Conrad's mind
for half a lifetime before the novel was penned, he earnestly felt Nostromo had
to be Italian, from the outset you rapidly derive the classic scholar's
depictions namely Marcus Aurelius and his book 'Meditations' the inner workings
of a righteous ruler.
On top of that, Conrad had personal, second hand
experience of learning in the late 1870s in the Gulf of Mexico, of an
individual absconding off with a whole lighter full of silver on the Tierra
Firme seaboard whilst a revolution descended. Indeed, Portfirio Diaz
overthroned President Lerdo; the history books claim it was 1876, but due to
poor documentation I suspect it was a year later... the revolt embarked in
December 1876. Diaz had set up base camp in Brownsville, Texas and there he
devised a famous strategy: 'Plan de Tuxtepec.' As stated in John Mason Hart's
non-fictional book: 'Revolutionary Mexico' (1935); Hart puts meat to the bone
to Joseph Conrad's early revolutionary nostalgia.
Conrad's
character portrayals are friends to the author; one being; Don Jose
Avellanos... he was the fictional Minister of the Courts of England and Spain
for Costaguana wrote a manuscript: 'History of Fifty years of Misrule.' A dear friend of the Goulds (silver mine
proprietors) who created a fictional history; notably, his prose had grandiose
occupational insight for moving forward, to getting back to the nation's roots.
It was known Conrad met such a character in reality, duly of the premise,
Conrad absorbed and transmitted the
content to his creative memory as if he wanted to pollinate the detail in the
land and the people of Costaguana; imitating the ideology - (in the heat and
clash of conflicting emotions; not forgetting the clandestine purpose of their
hearts revealed in the bitter necessities of the time). Conrad claimed that few
historical allusions were never dragged in for the sake of a story - 'each
adaption is closely related to actuality, either throwing light on the nature
of current events or systematically affecting those who I speak of;' reference:
Author's Note.
In retrospect the American continent festered relentless
curiosity to European authors a fair few never journeyed yet wrote candidly
about the continent with meticulous detail, Conrad was no different, he had
glimpses of Central America alas the imperialist seed was creatively sown by
his counterparts; Franz Kafka was a prolific imperialist; and rich in tortured
resources was George Frederick Masterman's book 'Seven Eventful Years in
Paraguay' (1869) inwardly, they're an integral component for cultural and
character exploration both are profoundly apt for today's current affairs. The
whimiscal rhetoric of an expanding Europe caused mutterings and pondering on
what it will do to foreign commercial exploits. Trepidation resides within a
changing world, for it gifts a reason to revolt, panders to injustices and
prejudices; rewrites history... invigorates social disease, and spurs on
Republics; the nation of Costaguana is a deterrent, not a reverie of utopia.
I
bought into the analogy Conrad became the characters as he wrote them, I read he
even acted chapters out via vocals to grasp real life conversational dialogue;
why the script is elevated off the page, like a magician's assistant.
Discombobulate to those unfamiliar with the author's style, leaving the
readership adrift or bemused, purely because of the immediate jump from
third-person omniscient narrator to first person narrator; scholars who're
worth their mustard would identify the writing process as an author's
relationship to impersonal historical forces.'
James Joyce's last chapter in
'Ulysses' was a continuous stream of conscience, without grammar; Conrad,
allowed fictional character a platform amidst chaos. Possibly the only sure
means an author can confidently convey real life scenarios within a fictional
structure is via endorsing 'personality' from the author's memory bank - I'm
certain Conrad had these archetypal conversations in his native town of Kraków.
Why Conrad made 'Nostromo' a formulaic journey of nostalgia, i.e. recalling the
man steeling silver during the revolution in the Gulf of Mexico, who'd of known
that silver avarice was the seed for a literature masterclass; that allegedly
paved the way for modernism's genesis.
Conrad's modernistic approach is to emulate the confusion of warfare and
the tumult of disembodied converse in a cataclysmic environ. There's lighter,
tender moments too, Nostromo's admiration for the younger members of the
Goulds. Thank Gould for that, this is why 'Nostromo' the book has a extra
snippet of commercial value compared to sullen and soul destroying, 'The Heart
of Darkness.'
The
Heart of Frankness
My
publication doesn't have any illustrative regions of Costaguana, unlike Thomas
Paine's 'Utopia.' Not exactly a negative from me, although could aid those
who're deficient of visualizing elucidation. as the reports of skirmishes
emulate a revolution, I fear a map could graphically fall into the trap of being
too 'Dad's Army;' nothing against the comic genius writing combo of Perry and
Croft. However, worth checking out Alastair Reid's Directorship of 'Nostromo' -
the adaptation was made in 1997; if the revolutionary and historical ideology
strokes your curiosity; and if the idea of reading a Joseph Conrad book leaves
you cold. Not surprising really, for the author brings out the inner
philosopher within all, (that worries people). He flicks the switch on about
politics, imperialism, totalitarianism and international capitalism; yes,
Nostromo the Italian, experiences the grandiose chasms of every human
emotion... Conrad in all his wisdom and writing prowess. You got to admire his
dexterity in tailoring subtleties, his comprehension of humanity's will, the complexity
of ephemeral policy and the disturbing issues of turning nefarious rhetoric
into reality.
In
our state of uncertainty, 'little Britain' is a reality, as with George Orwell
in the 1980s and 2000s it's time for a Joseph Conrad renaissance to inform future
generations of the ills of global isolation; let's call it 'Narcissist
Nostromo' - remember to pout when you take a 'selfie.'
Highly
recommended.
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