LORD JIM CONRADA I JOSEPH CONRAD W KRYTYCE
EMINENT NOVEL LORD JIM AND JOSEPH CONRAD IN CRITICS

Summary/Abstract: As a recapitulation of Joseph Conrad’s Anniversary (2007), two pieces in print one really may heighten: an article by Michael Gorra in “The Times Literary Supplement” (February 2008) and a book: “Lord Jim” in Critics and Media (“Lord Jim” w krytyce i w mediach) edited by Stefan Zabierowski, Culture Studies Institute, Silesian University, Katowice 2008. Several new books on Conrad are the main subject of Michael Gorra’s article. It means: The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad, vol. 6–9 – Critical edition of Joseph Conrad. Notes on Life and Letters by John Stape and by the same scholar his ambitious biography The Several Lives of Joseph Conrad. As a comparison with the very well known Conrad’s biography by Zdzisław Najder, Mr. Gorra, reviewer firmly exposes Najder’s Chronicle as an unique book on real understanding of “Conrad’s Polish World”. With reference to the anthology Conrad in the Twenty-First Century edited by professor Carola Kaplan, Mr. Gorra recommends and emphasizes the need of Conrad’s close reading (“with no peace and rest”) as the preventive measure to avoid “extrinsic criticism”. Mentioned above Stefan Zabierowski’s book on Conrad’s critics contains two very important articles: “Lord Jim” in Anglo-Saxon Critics (“Lord Jim” w krytyce anglosaskiej) by Agnieszka Adamowicz-Pośpiech, an expert on this subject. She analyzes carefully with rare objectivism and without polemics, rather complicated problems. The same good method we may acknowledge in Stefan Zabierowski’s very rich discussion, connected with many “right and wrong” views in Poland on Conrad’s work and biography. Absorbing addition in Stefan Zabierowski’s book make also the other two articles on Conrad in media, written by Alina Sordyl and Tadeusz Miczka. The whole Zabierowski’s book is, without doubt, worth reading.

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