Robin Truth Goodman draws together in persuasive thematic mode materials from science, literature and environmental journalism to illuminate the work of Conrad, Vargas Llosa and Carpentier. Beyond the gift of careful readings of texts, this book offers ways to read cultural representations of the body, lesbianism, and reproduction. We see how our current preoccupations are rooted in basic concepts like Darwinian science and ancient constructions of gender in our own and other cultures. I'll never look at Conrad again without thinking of Goodman's "barren bodies," and at the same time when I contemplate "saving the rainforest" I will now have critical thinking tools to recognize narrative control and class struggle inherent in well-meant hopes for environmental activism. goodman's work is helpful for a range of disciplines, from courses on empire in the British lit offerings to studies of global issues in the women's and gender studies program. Most important of all is the way Goodman shows how to think across the constricting divides that limit our ability to hear, see, and act in the world.

"Infertility's: exploring fictions of barren bodies" by Robin Truth Goodman is a compelling read. It points to the role of lesbian representation and reproductive politics in ongoing critiques of globalism. It is a book that can be used as a companion reader to those interested in queer studies, feminist and postcolonial theories.

It is a book that explores how global market ideas about family, femininity, and reproduction are traded on as if they were a currency. Goodman takes Darwin's studies on sterility between species as her starting point, exploring evolutionary science as the intersection of a colonial worldview based on class struggle while pathologizing female identities that fall outside reproductive normalcy. She also examines Joseph Conrad constructs a vision of femininity as a product of miscegenation. She discusses how ecological devastation of the Brazilian Amazon is envisioned through failed Indian marriages.

This book is an example of how natives are mistreated. It also show what happens to people put in certain environments and around certain people. It was not as exiting as I had been told and I found it hard to understand, but it is a good book.

How can an author who did not begin to learn english until he was twenty have such control over the language? Like Joyce, and other masters of the English language, Conrad can at times be difficult to read, and confusing to follow, but underneath the complex exterior is a powerful tale that has the potential to give you a deeper appreciation for literature and maybe even for life.

Although the book has been called both racist and sexist, I do not believe that this is the case. I believe Conrad illustrates the feelings and "the horror" of the time as only a master artist could. If you read the novel, do not do so looking to label it as racist or sexist, but rather look at it as an attempt to bring light upon the oppresion of both non whites and women that was taking place at the time. Is the "heart of darkness" really the African jungle and its people as one might naturally assume, or did Conrad want to ironicly portray the colonist, the white europeans, to be the true savages, the true heart of darkness? There are many questions in this book, and it would be impossible to read the novel without finding yourself moved.

How can an author who did not begin to learn english until he was twenty have such control over the language? Like Joyce, and other masters of the English language, Conrad can at times be difficult to read, and confusing to follow, but underneath the complex exterior is a powerful tale that has the potential to give you a deeper appreciation for literature and maybe even for life. Although the book has been called both racist and sexist, I do not believe that this is the case. I believe Conrad illustrates the feelings and "the horror" of the time as only a master artist could. If you read the novel, do not do so looking to label it as racist or sexist, but rather look at it as an attempt to bring light upon the oppresion of both non whites and women that was taking place at the time. Is the "heart of darkness" really the African jungle and its people as one might naturally assume, or did Conrad want to ironicly portray the colonist, the white europeans, to be the true savages, the true heart of darkness? There are many questions in this book, and it would be impossible to read the novel without finding yourself moved.

This is a great book. The publisher does a great job explaining the metaphors that would be impossible otherwise. but, if you are the kind of reader that reads only words, not comprehending them and reading between the lines, like trying to see what marlow was trying to say, then this book is too advanced for you and you will not enjoy it or learn from it. Be sure you can understand hard books or else the meaning and the time you took to read this will be useless and wasted.

"Almayer's Folly" adequately introduces the theme of culture conflict, an angle that is expressed more fully in Conrad's later works. I would certainly recommend this to anyone familiar with Conrad's body of work, which is not to say that readers new to his work should avoid this novel.

This tale, set in the colonial-era East Indies, narrates the brief rise and slow descent of a man's search for fortune and adventure. Quite simply, the treasure never appears and Almayer is left to ponder what could have been. His woes are intensified by the departure of his daughter, one of his few links to "civilised Europe." Classic symbolism occurs late in the novel, as Almayer erases the footprints of his daughter the day of their parting. While "Almayer's Folly" doesn't reach the heights of Conrad's longer (read: better) works, this effort still captures the romantic essence of the Far East in the classic Conrad style.

Although not to be compared with his major works, this is nonetheless a most impressive first novel. Perhaps because he was already well into his thirties when he wrote and published it, the book contains all the major themes that one associates with Conrad. If one has not read any Conrad at all, I would recommend going to his great masterpieces first (VICTORY, NOSTROMO, THE SECRET AGENT, UNDER WESTERN EYES, HEART OF DARKNESS, THE NIGGER OF THE 'NARCISSUS', or LORD JIM). But for anyone who enjoys the work of Joseph Conrad, this book can hardly fail to fascinate.

As you can see from the caption I've offered above, I was disappointed by this one. I'm fascinated by adventure and exotic locales and this, a fictionalized real-life portrayal of one of Conrad's youthful experiences while sailing about on the high seas, promised a very bracing adventure indeed. It's the author's recollection of the difficult events surrounding the first time he took command of a vessel of his own -- reluctantly as he tells us, being almost forced into it by events and people around him. It proves an ill-fated step, as well, since the vessel he is asked to reclaim is laid up in a Southeast Asian harbor minus its captain, who has mysteriously given up the ghost, and with a crew that is ill from some undisclosed fever. The narrator gets slowly into the tale and then bogs down with the slow moving current as the ship of ailing men gets underway only to become trapped in a becalmed sea, unable to make headway to its port of call in Singapore, even as its crewmen grow increasingly ill and the on-board medication gives out. The narrator, our youthful first-time captain, struggles to keep the ship moving and at the ready for the first break in the uncanny weather they are experiencing while the first mate hallucinates over the ghostly machinations of the recently departed prior captain who, he suspects, is operating from beyond the grave to bring his former ship and crewmen down. Our young, first-time captain berates himself roundly for his supposed blunders including failing to check the medicine supply fully before shipping out and, though it remains unsaid, for possibly acting too precipitously to get underway, before ascertaining that the worst of the fever had passed among the crew. The ship's steward, a bold and knowledgeable seahand suffers from a bad heart which causes him to avoid any kind of hard effort though he manages to rise to the occasion when the need is finally there. Basically, this true life tale had the makings of a rousing adventure but Conrad doesn't ever allow it to become that, either because of his fidelity to the facts or because of his own inimitably verbose and abstract writing style. But, whatever the cause, I was disappointed in the book and put it down at last, barely moved. Ah well!

SWM

And I thought I WAS a die-hard Conrad fan! He's one of those writers by whom I must read a book every two or three years -- but this one I did not like at all. Despite the usual brilliant prose, much of it as good as anything Conrad has done, "Tether" is a let-down -- astoundingly depressing! Most Conrad work posits a world that is inimical and uncaring, yet holds out hope that courage and integrity will serve to help us endure it all; "Tether" holds out no such hope. It concerns a captain who continues to pilot his ship even though he is legally blind, doing so in order to provide for his family. Nothing turns out okay, and no one ends up happy. I don't ask for a lot of hope from the books I read -- but at least a little!

I basically have no idea what the author was writing about throughout the whole entire story. Conrad confused me...obviously he was very confused when he wrote it, too! Also, if he was trying to convey a story about a couple of fruity people in Typhoon, it worked!!!

Basically that is what I was asking myself through the entire book. What is going ON? I dunno, something abt a typhoon and these two gay guys on a ship I think ... Conrad needed a therapist. I think he was confused.

For the other reviewers, I can't believe that the only things you gathered from the book was that it was about 2 gay men and a typhoon. The book is about how people react in times of crisis, and how sometimes you can't run away from your problems; you have to face them head-on. We have MacWhirr, who is innocent, calm, and quiet, yet unwaivering and unknowingly bold during the time of disaster. Then there's Jukes, who jabbers constantly, passes judgement on people, and during time of crisis he freezes, is mostly pessimistic, and practically daydreams. And finally, there's the second mate, who is an all around sneaky and immoral person, who during bad times often "jumps ship" and declares defeat before it's even begun. MacWhirr says many times throughout the story that you have to face things, and you don't know if somethings really bad unless you have been right in the middle of it. It's a story about a man who's had his normal, peaceful life turned upside-down by an unrelenting and, in the end, revealing storm.