Joseph Conrad

Under Western Eyes Joseph Conrad

Hailed as one of Joseph Conrads finest literary achievements, Under Western Eyes tells the story of a young man unwittingly caught in the political turmoil of pre-Revolutionary czarist Russia. It begins with a bomb that kills a hated Russian minister of police (its intended target), along with several innocent bystanders. A young student named Razumov hides the perpetrator, who questions his moral strength and integrity. Set in St. Petersburg amid intrigue and espionage, this novel hauntingly speaks to the broader, timeless question of human responsibility and honor. Conrad said that his intent was to render the psychology of Russia, a country being driven to anarchy by misguided revolutionaries. This masterwork, published six years before the Russian Revolution, is a chillingly accurate prophecy of what was to come. [Conrad] sees once and he sees forever. His novels are full of moments of vision. He could not write badly, one feels, to save his life. Virginia Woolf