The Idiots by Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad

Yesterday we went over The Idiots by Joseph Conrad. We had a mixed review about the story. Half of us thought it was depressing since Jean-Pierre Bacadou and his wife Susan died, and their four disabled children, the idiots, end up being put into the background so they can be out of society and forgotten. On the other side, a few of us loved the story. Yes, we feel it is depressing with a horrible ending, but the writing by Joseph Conrad is brilliant. Each sentence is written so well and the actions and settings are clear as day. Plus, it is written with such creativity that we feel Joseph Conrad is a artist, a writing artist. Here is an example: "Autumn came. The cloudy sky descended low upon the black contours of the hills; and the dead leaves danced in spiral whirls under naked trees, till the wind, sighing profoundly, laid them to rest in hollows of baron trees." Interestingly, he wrote The Idiots on his honeymoon in 1896. One of his books I recommend is, The Heart of Darkness. On Friday, we will read Why I Write, a two page journal written by Terry Tempest Williams and receive next week's short story.