Reading Order
Nostromo Reading Order
Joseph Conrad's Nostromo (1904) is a standalone novel — there is no series and no sequel. The fictional South American republic of Costaguana, its silver mine, and the man called Nostromo who becomes responsible for its fortune. Conrad's most ambitious novel and one of the great novels of political fiction in English.
Where to start
Nostromo
Complete Nostromo Book List
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Nostromo
Joseph Conrad·1904·Standalone novel — Charles Gould, the silver mine, and the 'incorruptible' Nostromo in the fictional Costaguana; approximately 450 pages; Conrad's most structurally complex novel, told in a deliberately disorienting non-chronological order; the silver mine is one of Conrad's great symbols: the 'material interests' that corrupt everything they touch - Buy
Lord Jim
OptionalJoseph Conrad·1900·Jim's jump from the Patna and his attempt at redemption in Patusan — the most accessible of Conrad's major novels and the best starting point for new readers; where Nostromo is about political corruption and collective failure, Lord Jim is about individual guilt and the possibility of redemption - Buy
The Secret Agent
OptionalJoseph Conrad·1907·Mr. Verloc, a double agent for a foreign embassy, and the Greenwich bombing — Conrad's most satirical novel, set in London rather than an exotic location; the closest to a thriller of his major novels and the most directly political; written in the three years after Nostromo, it shares that novel's pessimism about political idealism - Buy
Heart of Darkness
OptionalJoseph Conrad·1899·Marlow's journey up the Congo to find Kurtz — Conrad's most famous work and the best introduction to his concerns; novella-length (under 100 pages); the examination of what European civilization does to those who act in its name in African contexts prefigures Nostromo's examination of what 'material interests' do to a South American republic
Nostromo — Frequently Asked Questions
Is Nostromo hard to read?
Nostromo is genuinely difficult — it is widely considered one of the most structurally demanding of Conrad's novels, and Conrad himself acknowledged that the non-chronological narrative could be confusing. The novel begins in the middle of events, moves backward and forward in time, and introduces a large cast of characters without the kind of exposition that eases entry into a fictional world. Many readers find the first hundred pages the hardest, after which the novel opens up into something magnificent. If you are new to Conrad, Lord Jim or Heart of Darkness is a better starting point; Nostromo rewards readers who already know and trust Conrad's method.
What is Nostromo about, really?
On one level, Nostromo is about the politics of a fictional South American country and the role that a silver mine plays in those politics. On a deeper level, it is about the corrupting effect of 'material interests' — the silver — on everything and everyone it touches: Charles Gould, who starts as an idealist and is hollowed out by his obsession with the mine; the Gould family; the republic itself; and finally Nostromo, who is introduced as 'incorruptible' — the man on whom the whole community depends — and who is corrupted by the silver he is trusted to hide. Conrad's argument is that the silver does not corrupt only bad men; it corrupts the best men available.
What does Nostromo (the character) represent?
Nostromo — Gian' Battista Fidanza, called Nostromo ('our man') by the Italian community — represents the idea of the man of pure action: he has no ideology, no political interest, no reflective inner life; he acts, and he is reliable, and he is the man on whom everyone depends. But his reliability is based on his reputation, and his reputation becomes the thing most precious to him. When he hides the silver and survives, his incorruptibility is threatened by the knowledge of what he has done and the possibility that he might now help himself to the treasure — and from this crack in his identity, his corruption follows. Conrad's point is that even the man who seems to stand outside ideology is not immune to the silver.
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