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Joseph Conrad: A Personal Remembrance
Book by Ford, Ford Madox
276 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1965
About the author
Ford Madox Ford
500 books394 followersFord Madox Ford was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals The English Review and The Transatlantic Review were important in the development of early 20th-century English and American literature.
Ford is now remembered for his novels The Good Soldier (1915), the Parade's End tetralogy (1924–1928) and The Fifth Queen trilogy (1906–1908). The Good Soldier is frequently included among the great literature of the 20th century, including the Modern Library 100 Best Novels, The Observer′s "100 Greatest Novels of All Time", and The Guardian′s "1000 novels everyone must read".
Ford is now remembered for his novels The Good Soldier (1915), the Parade's End tetralogy (1924–1928) and The Fifth Queen trilogy (1906–1908). The Good Soldier is frequently included among the great literature of the 20th century, including the Modern Library 100 Best Novels, The Observer′s "100 Greatest Novels of All Time", and The Guardian′s "1000 novels everyone must read".
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 13, 2016
If you're into Conrad, this is a must. Yeah, with Ford, there's bullshitery galore, but it didn't bother me. This is as close as I've ever felt to the great writer. Ford provides the essence of the man in the first paragraph:
He was small rather than large in height; very broad in the shoulder and long in the arm; dark in complexion with black hair and a clipped black beard. He had the gestures of a Frenchman who shrugs his shoulders frequently. When you had really secured his attention he would insert a monocle into his right eye and scrutinise your face from very near as a watchmaker looks into the works of a watch. He entered a room with his head held high, rather stiffly and with a haughty manner, moving his head once semicircularly. In this one movement he had expressed to himself the room and its contents; his haughtiness was due to his determination to master that room, not to dominate its occupants, his chief passion being the realisation of aspects to himself.
What follows, in Ford's usual discursive way, is an account of the two writers hashing out the bad novel collaboration of Romance. There would be others. It appears they were both trying to make some money, with art being somewhat secondary. Oh, both Conrad and Ford took writing very seriously, but these were projects (there was a sci-fi novel!) that they entered into with a twinkle in their eyes. (They were impressed with what H.G. Wells (a neighbor) did with The Invisible Man.) Whether you believe Ford's accounts, which are coming through an obvious literary filter, is up to you. I believe most of them, and I do believe they must have been friends. Good ones. The book is divided up into four sections. The first two are the best. At one point Ford gets into breaking down the pieces of the novel, which is both impressive and depressing. Structure, image selection, rhythm (his concerns are nearly poetic), he knew his stuff, but such explanations, for me at least, remove the magic.
He was small rather than large in height; very broad in the shoulder and long in the arm; dark in complexion with black hair and a clipped black beard. He had the gestures of a Frenchman who shrugs his shoulders frequently. When you had really secured his attention he would insert a monocle into his right eye and scrutinise your face from very near as a watchmaker looks into the works of a watch. He entered a room with his head held high, rather stiffly and with a haughty manner, moving his head once semicircularly. In this one movement he had expressed to himself the room and its contents; his haughtiness was due to his determination to master that room, not to dominate its occupants, his chief passion being the realisation of aspects to himself.
What follows, in Ford's usual discursive way, is an account of the two writers hashing out the bad novel collaboration of Romance. There would be others. It appears they were both trying to make some money, with art being somewhat secondary. Oh, both Conrad and Ford took writing very seriously, but these were projects (there was a sci-fi novel!) that they entered into with a twinkle in their eyes. (They were impressed with what H.G. Wells (a neighbor) did with The Invisible Man.) Whether you believe Ford's accounts, which are coming through an obvious literary filter, is up to you. I believe most of them, and I do believe they must have been friends. Good ones. The book is divided up into four sections. The first two are the best. At one point Ford gets into breaking down the pieces of the novel, which is both impressive and depressing. Structure, image selection, rhythm (his concerns are nearly poetic), he knew his stuff, but such explanations, for me at least, remove the magic.
October 28, 2019
Ford Madox Ford, who calls himself the writer, through this book gives his impression of and anecdotes about Joseph Conrad. There is also quite a bit about writing, language and style in the book. Some gallicisms and an afterword entirely in French lowered my score.
June 22, 2025
A loving and deeply respectful recounting by Ford Madox Ford of his long friendship with Joseph Conrad. Ford is loose with facts but generous with impressions of Conrad's mannerisms, his passions, and his writing style, creating an indelible portrait of a unique character and a beloved friend.
June 29, 2011
I read this immediately after finishing a biography of Conrad, so it was easier to tell what was true in Ford's account and what not. If his distortions weren't so annoying it would be easier to appreciate the formal sophistication of this book. It should be a critical text in any discussion of the use of fictional techniques in the writing of history, or in the adoption of poetic license in biographical/historical narrative, especially since Ford was quite unable to distinguish his own fantasies from events. Nevertheless the book contains wonderful insights into the process of making fiction as practiced by the two writers, separately and in collaboration.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews