“约瑟夫·康拉德，”熟悉他的保罗·梵乐希写道，“说法语带有纯粹的普罗旺斯口音，但说英语的口音却很糟糕，使我感到非常好笑。成为一位英语大作家却把英语说得这么难听，这是少有的，也是十分新鲜的。”然而你仔细研究一下康拉德的经历，样样事情都令人吃惊。他得到特别关心形式的敏感的作家钦佩，像法国的梵乐希和纪德，英国的弗吉尼亚·沃尔芙和戴斯蒙德·麦卡锡，具有阳刚气质的诗人如保罗·克劳岱尔和一大群读者，相比之下，对他的赞赏也毫不逊色。他说波兰语像一个地道的波兰人，说法语像一个从童年时代起就开始学这种语言，并且青年时代是在马赛度过的人。他接触英语要晚得多，但他着手用英语写作。他不仅为这一他的移居地语言“增添异彩”，甚或比别的文人把某种盎格罗——萨克逊理想表现得更好。
在我们这里试图破译的一批“预言”①中，康拉德所发出的信息显得是英国实干家的一种斯多噶哲学的最率直的表达。这个异邦人证明他自己甚至是英吉利民族魂中最好的东西的阐释者，甚至比吉卜林表达得更为准确。吉卜林的作品常充斥东方的神，邪恶的精灵，在丛林中，在印度城市的城门边，在绅士老爷们营帐的周围，桥梁建筑者的车间旁徘徊。在康拉德的作品中，人是孤独地面对宇宙的；他的最优秀的小说描写的是人跟海洋的搏斗，也就是说，形成最鲜明的英国民族特色的那种长期以来的斗争。
康拉德不仅是一个歌颂海洋的诗人，他还宣扬由海洋产生的美德。他提出的一条生活规律是积极的悲观主义。跟契河夫的看法近似，但或许更为浪漫，因为医生总是比水手更为现实。我们将试图阐明的正是这种哲学。但我们首先要介绍引导我们去理解作品的作者生平。
Loosely based on the life of a Dutch merchant, setting up a trading post along a river in the interior of Borneo, Conrad's novel 'Almayer's Folly' is actually about man's alienation from his environment and eventually himself.
Written during the heyday of western imperialism, when the great powers of Europe subjected the tropics to their rule, the tale of Almayer explores how the tropics actually devoured the individual westerner.
The main character of the book is a man obsessed. Chasing a dream, he completely loses touch with reality. Although on the surface it may seem that he is a white man gone native, Almayer hasn't got a clue what he is dealing with. He is blind to the schemings of his Malay wife and equally oblivious to the fact that his daughter is drifting away from him.
Admittedly, the book has 'orientalist' overtones but, then, Joseph Conrad is both a man of his time and a master of poweful prose, not a politically-correct scholar. The stereotypical mystique of Asia and the inscrutable oriental are exploited as a literary means to descend into the deeper levels of man's psyche. Just like the 'true heart' of Borneo and its inhabitants is hidden under layer upon layer of deceiving images, so is the core of each and every individual. The scariest place to travel is not the interior of an Indonesian Island, but the inner reaches of our own soul.
Almayer's Folly is one of the best novels ever written. Not only because of the author's masterful portrayals of character, but also due his astounding command of English. It is hard to believe that Conrad's first and second language were Polish and French: he only learned English as an adult. It is this combination of psychological understanding and extraordinary use of language that make him into a literary genius.
