Almayer's Folly

Almayer's Folly, published in 1895, is Joseph Conrad's first novel. Set in the late 19th century, it centers on the life of the Dutch trader Kaspar Almayer in the Borneo jungle and his relationship to his half-caste daughter Nina.

Plot

Kaspar Almayer is a young Dutch trader taken under the wing of the wealthy Captain Lingard. Hoping to inherit Lingard's wealth, Almayer agrees to a loveless marriage to Lingard's adopted Malay child and to running his trading post in Sambir in the Borneo jungle. Lingard loses much of his fortune searching for a hidden treasure. Meanwhile Almayer's ventures constantly fail, most notably an expensive trading house, the "Almayer's Folly," that no one trades in.

A daughter named Nina was born to Almayer and his wife. The rest of the novel concerns Almayer's conflicting desires: his love for Nina, his effort at keeping her from her mother's Malay influence, and his desire for money and self-redemption.

Dain, a Malay prince, arrives at Sambir. Almayer tries to enlist Dain's help to find the treasure long sought by Lingard. Instead, Dain marries Nina and leaves Sambir with her, against Almayer's wishes. The loss of Nina and any prospect of wealth stuns Almayer. He spends the rest of his days in the empty trading house as his sanity slips away.

Criticism

As Conrad's earliest novel, Almayer's Folly is often seen by critics as inferior to the author's later work because of its repetitive and at times awkward language. However, recent critics have paid more attention to Conrad's depiction of Nina as a self-determined female non-European character along with Aissa from Joseph Conrad's second novel, An Outcast of the Islands.

Film

Main article: Almayer's Folly (film)

Filming started in November 2010 for a French-Belgian adaptation by Chantal Akerman.

Sources

Joseph Conrad, Almayer's Folly: A Story of an Eastern River, Random House, 1996.

External links

• Almayer's Folly at Project Gutenberg
• Almayer's Folly, available as a printer-ready PDF from Ria Press.