Talk:Joseph Conrad's career at sea

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Why he testified?

"Six months later, as one of 176 witnesses, he testified before the Board of Trade's Departmental Committee on the Manning of Merchant Ships."

It is not clear why he testified before this committee. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 113.210.63.103 (talk) 07:07, 10 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Najder

'Conrad's first biographer, Georges Jean-Aubry, built on this allusion a tale about Cervoni and Conrad smuggling arms to a Central American republic. Najder is skeptical about the story...'

Najder has not been mentioned up to now. We need to know who he was and where he is positioned among Conrad's other biographers. Valetude (talk) 10:07, 2 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. I've added: "The pre-eminent Conrad chronicler and scholar Zdzisław Najder (born 1930)..." I've also given Jean-Aubrey's years: "(1882–1950)". Nihil novi (talk) 18:57, 2 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

'...lost desire for long-distance voyages'?

You say 'Having evidently lost desire for long-distance voyages...' after signing-off from the 'Duke of Sutherland' in 1879. Where is the evidence for this? He would later volunteer for several more voyages to the East. Valetude (talk) 10:13, 2 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Najder writes (Joseph Conrad: A Life, p. 78): "despite previous statements and plans he disembarked, having evidently lost all desire for long-distance voyages." I've modified the article's sentence to read: "Having evidently for the moment lost desire for long-distance voyages,..." Nihil novi (talk) 19:10, 2 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

'Youth' as autobiography

You say 'a number of things are creations of Conrad's imagination' and 'there are other, more striking discrepancies'. But this was a work of fiction, so we expect 'creations of imagination' and one can't talk in terms of 'discrepancies', unless the author actually declared that it was directly autobiographical. But at that rate, he need not have bothered turning it into fiction at all. Valetude (talk) 10:22, 2 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Najder writes (Joseph Conrad: A Life, p. 90): "he was later to call [Youth] 'a feat of memory' and 'a record of experience.' Although he preserved the names of the captain and first officer, and the general course of events and many details correspond with the facts, as usual a number of things are creations of the author's imagination...." Najder is trying to show where Conrad's fictional narrative (his ostensible "record of experience") strayed from his actual experience. In the interest of conciseness, the article skips Najder's references to Conrad's suggestion of exactness (as it is, an impatient editor set up as a separate article, "Joseph Conrad's career at sea", what was originally an integral part of the "Joseph Conrad" article). If you think it appropriate, please feel free to restore Conrad's stipulations. Nihil novi (talk) 19:44, 2 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I've gone ahead and added Conrad's remarks. Thank you. Nihil novi (talk) 21:05, 2 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]