Record Number: 18581

---

Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'I am reading Maupassant with delight. I have just finished "Le Lys rouge" by Anatole France. it means nothing to me. I can do no serious reading. I have just begun to write -only the day before yesterday.["The Two Vagabonds" subsequently to become "An Outcast of the Islands"(1896)]

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

Between 8 Aug 1894 and 18 Aug 1894

Country:

Switzerland

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Geneva
specific address: 'La Roseraie'. Champel

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

---

Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Joseph Conrad

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

3 Dec 1857

Socio-Economic Group:

Gentry
'Szlachta', or Polish landed gentry/nobility

Occupation:

Master mariner

Religion:

Roman Catholic

Country of Origin:

Poland

Country of Experience:

Switzerland

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

---

Text Being Read:

Author:

Guy de Maupassant

Title:

unknown

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book, see additional comments

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

---

Source Information:

Record ID:

18581

Source:

Print

Author:

Joseph Conrad

Editor:

Frederick R. Karl (and Laurence Davies)

Title:

The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad Volume 1, 1861-1897

Place of Publication:

Cambridge

Date of Publication:

1983

Vol:

1

Page:

171

Additional Comments:

Letter in French to Marguerite Poradowska, probably 18 August 1894, Geneva

Citation:

Joseph Conrad, Frederick R. Karl (and Laurence Davies) (ed.), The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad Volume 1, 1861-1897, (Cambridge, 1983), 1, p. 171, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=18581, accessed: 25 April 2024

---

Additional Comments:

Conrad read a number of Maupassant's works during this period. According to Yves Hervouet in 'The French Face of Joseph Conrad' (Cambridge, 1990) pp.23-31, 'An Outcast of The Islands' shows strong evidence of influences from 'Bel-Ami' (1883), 'Une Vie' (1883) 'Fou?' (1884) and 'Yvette' (1884). All were first published in book form rather than in serials.