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The Library
of Alexandria
Los herederos, the cover of this edition

Resumen

Resumen de Los herederos

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Para quién es

For readers who love political satire with a touch of fantasy, and anyone curious to see Conrad and Ford working side by side. Its themes of power, persuasion and ruthless ambition invite readers drawn to uneasy questions about human sympathy.

De qué trata este libro

The Inheritors is a short novel written together by Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford, who then wrote under the name Hueffer. It appeared in 1901, early in a partnership that lasted several years. The two men shared an interest in careful, exact prose, and in this book they turned it to a strange mix of satire and fantasy.

The story is told by a writer named Arthur Granger. He meets a young woman who says she belongs to a people from a Fourth Dimension, a people who are about to take over the world from ordinary humans. They have no pity and no scruples. You get a sharp joke about politics, newspapers and ambition, and an uneasy question about what we lose when we stop feeling for others. Let us begin with the meeting that sets everything in motion.

En este resumen

  1. 1A writer meets a visitor from nowhereFree
  2. 2The Dimensionists want the earth
  3. 3Politics, newspapers and ambition get caught up
  4. 4A fantasy used to judge the real world

Idea clave 1 de 4

A writer meets a visitor from nowhere

The story opens with Arthur Granger, a writer who is not sure of himself or of his work. He is the one who tells us everything, and his voice is wry, self-doubting and a little tired. Into his life comes a young woman who is unlike anyone he has known. She is calm and sure of herself, and she speaks of things that make no sense to him.

She says she is one of a people from the Fourth Dimension. They are not ghosts or spirits, but a kind of human being who has moved beyond the old limits. Granger does not know whether to laugh at her or believe her. That doubt runs through the early chapters and gives the book its odd tension.

The first meeting also sets the tone. The novel plays with the form of a romance, yet it keeps showing that something cold lies under the charm. As you listen, notice how the narrator wants to be impressed, and how easily his wish to be impressed can be used against him.

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Questions about Los herederos

What is The Inheritors about?

A writer named Arthur Granger meets a young woman who says she comes from a Fourth Dimension. Her people, she claims, will take over the world, and the novel uses this idea to mock politics, the press and ruthless ambition.

Who wrote The Inheritors?

It was written jointly by Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford, who then used the name Hueffer. It is one of the works they produced together at the start of the twentieth century.

Who are the Dimensionists in The Inheritors?

They are the people the young woman says she belongs to. They are described as lacking sentiment and scruple, and as destined to inherit the earth. Many readers take them as a figure for ruthless modern power.

When was The Inheritors written?

It was published in 1901. It is a work of fiction mixing satire and fantasy, though its targets, such as politics, the press and empire, belong to the real world of its day.

Is The Inheritors worth reading?

It suits readers curious about how Conrad and Ford worked together. It is short, witty and odd, with a serious idea about power.