Notes on Life and Letters


Read by Peter Dann

Conrad described the twenty-six essays collected here as a "one-man show" comprising "Conrad literary, Conrad political, Conrad reminiscent, Conrad controversial", but never Conrad "with his boots off". He is particularly passionate when writing on Russian autocracy, on Poland's under-appreciated past and its hopes for the future, and on the self-serving blather of promoters loudly proclaiming that the sinking of the Titanic held no lessons for anyone but that the vessel should have had fewer lifeboats, and that her captain should have aimed to strike any iceberg head on. There are quieter, more tender recollections here too, including Conrad's appreciation of Stephen Crane, whom Conrad knew personally and liked very much, and a moving account of his return to Poland after a long absence at the very moment the Great War was breaking out. (Summary by Peter Dann) (8 hr 13 min)

Chapters

Author's Note 7:22 Read by Peter Dann
Books — 1905 14:30 Read by Peter Dann
Henry James — An Appreciation — 1905 17:14 Read by Peter Dann
Alphonse Daudet — 1905 9:50 Read by Peter Dann
Guy de Maupassant — 1904 14:02 Read by Peter Dann
Anatole France — 1904 25:06 Read by Peter Dann
Turgenev — 1917 6:57 Read by Peter Dann
Stephen Crane — A Note Without Dates — 1919 6:26 Read by Peter Dann
Tales of the Sea — 1898 8:38 Read by Peter Dann
An Observer In Malaya — 1898 5:45 Read by Peter Dann
A Happy Wanderer — 1910 8:15 Read by Peter Dann
The Life Beyond — 1910 8:50 Read by Peter Dann
The Ascending Effort — 1910 8:44 Read by Peter Dann
The Censor of Plays — An Appreciation — 1907 9:57 Read by Peter Dann
Autocracy and War — 1905 1:02:51 Read by Peter Dann
The Crime of Partition — 1919 36:23 Read by Peter Dann
A Note on the Polish Problem — 1916 12:49 Read by Peter Dann
Poland Revisited — 1915 1:03:38 Read by Peter Dann
First News — 1918 9:34 Read by Peter Dann
Well Done — 1918 29:08 Read by Peter Dann
Tradition — 1918 13:59 Read by Peter Dann
Confidence — 1919 13:01 Read by Peter Dann
Flight — 1917 6:51 Read by Peter Dann
Some Reflections on the Loss of the Titanic — 1912 30:33 Read by Peter Dann
Certain Aspects of the Admirable Inquiry into the Loss of the Titanic — 1912 37:18 Read by Peter Dann
Protection of Ocean Liners — 1914 20:09 Read by Peter Dann
A Friendly Place — 1914 5:49 Read by Peter Dann