I think I know what one of my summer projects will be....to read (and reread) more of Conrad's novels. This week I read his first novel, Almayer's Folly. I wish that I had been able to find a picture of one of the covers, but I couldn't find one that was the right size. The picture above is from the Earth Hope Action Network's site and shows one of the rivers that run through the island of Borneo. Below is a map as well to show you where it is.
Here is a map of the island itself from Orangutantrop, another conservation site.
I think that I have probably included enough about the setting of Almayer's Folly.
This novel is the story of Almayer, a Dutchman who has lived all of his life in the colonies. (He was born in Java, a part of Indonesia, which was then a Dutch colony.) At the time the story begins, he is a middle-aged merchant whose ambitions have always gone astray. In fact, he had married his wife in the hope that he would inherit her foster father's considerable wealth. (He does not.) He is waiting for a younger man, the son of the sultan from Bali, to return from an expedition. This expedition, he hopes, will give him enough money to leave Borneo for the Netherlands. He fantasizes that he and his beautiful daughter, Nina, will enjoy Europe...and that he can leave his wife behind in the colonies. Dain Maroola, the younger man he is waiting for, on the other hand, has fallen in love with Nina and wants to bring her with him to Bali. Nina loves him madly, and her mother is more than happy to spoil Almayer's schemes.
Below is a blogger's photograph of a Balinese wedding:
In some ways, Almayer's Folly is a very modern novel, especially if you are used to reading 19th century British novels like Jane Eyre or Pride & Prejudice or David Copperfield. Almayer has failed at life, and the narrator makes it clear that his neighbors laugh at him, take advantage of him, or both. His wife, a Filipino, is clearly contemptous of him even as he looks down at her in a passive aggressive way. Nina is much more sympathetic towards her father, but she has chosen to align herself with her mother, in part because of the way she was treated as a young girl by Europeans. Nina is also very resilient, and I really like the way that Conrad depicts her as skillfully rowing here and there as she needs to.
In 2004, there were plans for a film version of Almayer's Folly. It hasn't made it to imdb.com, but here are some links to stories about this production:
http://www.balifilm.com/almayer.htm
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/Columns/2454977/index.pda
http://www.lebrocquyfraser.com/index/film.php?id=8&status=4
Apparently it is still in development!
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