Resumen
Resumen de La locura de Almayer
Para quién es
For readers who love sea and jungle fiction, character studies, and the early work of a major novelist, with themes of ambition, forbidden love, and families divided by competing dreams.
De qué trata este libro
Almayer's Folly is the first novel of Joseph Conrad, published in 1895. Conrad was a Polish-born sailor who had served on ships in the Malay seas, and he wrote the book in English, his third language. It is set in a trading post called Sambir, far up a river in Borneo, where a Dutch trader named Kaspar Almayer waits for a fortune that never comes.
You follow one man's slow ruin and the daughter who is the center of his hopes. The book gives you a failing trader, a hot and crowded river settlement, rival traders and schemers, and a young woman caught between two worlds. It is short and strange, and it shows Conrad's later themes in their first form: dreams that rot, the pull of money, and people who cannot understand each other. Let us start with the dream itself, and with the man who cannot stop chasing it.
En este resumen
- 1A dreamer waits at the river's endFree
- 2One bargain shaped his whole life
- 3Nina returns from a European school
- 4Rivals gather around the trading post
- 5Dreams, money, and the wall between peoples
- 6A first novel told in a restless way
Idea clave 1 de 6
A dreamer waits at the river's end
The story opens in Sambir, a small settlement on the Pantai river in Borneo. Kaspar Almayer stands on the veranda of his house, thinking of the wealth he is sure is coming. He is a Dutchman, a trader, and a man who has never quite made his way. His mind lives in the future, in a rich life far from the heat and mud around him.
His house is the sign of his trouble. It is a large new building that he had built in hope of a grand future, but it stands empty and half finished. People in the settlement call it Almayer's Folly, and the name fits the way he lives, with great plans and little to show. The house rots slowly in the damp while he looks past it.
Almayer's dream rests on gold. He believes there is gold in the interior, and that a secret known to his patron will lead him to it. Once he has it, he means to leave the river, take his daughter to Europe, and live as a rich man. The dream is so strong that it blinds him to the people around him and to the real state of his affairs.
Conrad shows him as pitiable and also a little foolish. He is proud, bitter, and lonely, and he has no real friends among the Malays, Arabs, and Chinese who share the river. His one comfort is his daughter. Everything he does is for her, or so he tells himself, and that is the first thread you should hold as the story begins.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Kaspar Almayer
- A Dutch trader in Sambir, he dreams of wealth and a European future for his daughter Nina.
- Nina Almayer
- Almayer's daughter returns from schooling in Singapore, caught between her father's expectations and her mother's people.
- Captain Tom Lingard
- An English sea captain and trader, he is Almayer's patron and Mrs Almayer's adoptive father.
- Mrs Almayer
- Almayer's Malay wife resents her husband and wants their daughter Nina to remain among her own people.
- Dain Maroola
- A young trader of noble birth from Bali, he comes to Almayer's settlement on dangerous business.
- Babalatchi
- A former pirate, he serves Rajah Lakamba as chief adviser and works to protect his master's power.
- Abdulla
- An Arab trader and rival of Lingard, he seeks control of the trade around Almayer's settlement.
- Taminah
- A young enslaved girl in Sambir, she observes Almayer's circle while nurturing hopes of her own.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 64,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 4 h 15 min
- Listening time7 h 5 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 11 other languages
Questions about La locura de Almayer
What is Almayer's Folly about?
It is about Kaspar Almayer, a Dutch trader in a remote Borneo settlement, who dreams of gold and a rich European life for his daughter Nina. Rivals, a bitter marriage, and Nina's own wishes work against him.
What does the title Almayer's Folly mean?
It is the name given to the large, unfinished house Almayer built in the hope of future wealth. The house stands empty and decaying, and it stands for his foolish dreams as a whole.
Is Almayer's Folly a true story?
It is fiction, published in 1895, but Conrad drew on his own years as a sailor in the Malay seas. Almayer was inspired by a trader he knew, though the plot is invented.
Who are the main characters in Almayer's Folly?
The story centers on Kaspar Almayer, a Dutch trader in Sambir, and his daughter Nina. Around them are his patron Captain Lingard, Almayer's wife, the ruler Lakamba and his adviser Babalatchi, the Arab trader Abdulla, the young Balinese trader Dain Maroola, and the slave girl Taminah.
Is Almayer's Folly the first Joseph Conrad novel?
Yes. It was Conrad's first published novel, and it began the series of Malay stories that continued with An Outcast of the Islands. Its themes of illusion and isolation recur in his later work.