12 h 41 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a stranger trusts you with his life, and all you want is to protect your own?
Kirylo Razumov wants a medal for his essay and a quiet career. With no family or friends, he builds his future on staying out of trouble. Then Victor Haldin arrives at his room in St Petersburg with a dangerous secret. Suddenly, another man's trust threatens everything Razumov hopes to keep.
In Joseph Conrad's Under Western Eyes, the pressure reaches from snowy streets to the Russian exile community in Geneva. An elderly English teacher tells Razumov's story through a written record, but his understanding has limits. Spies, police officials and revolutionaries surround a young man whose deepest struggle takes place within his own conscience.
What you’ll discover
- A future under threat Follow a lonely student whose careful ambitions collide with another man's desperate need.
- Power behind quiet words Meet Councillor Mikulin, a soft-spoken police official who knows how to use people.
- Revolution far from home Enter Geneva's exile circles, where hopes for Russia meet vanity, suspicion and control.
- A conscience under pressure Feel the slow strain of choosing personal safety over the trust of another.
- The limits of understanding Look beyond an English narrator's careful account to the lives he struggles to understand.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who enjoy slow, intense novels about guilt and conscience, and anyone curious about Russian politics before 1917. It is also for fans of spy fiction who want more depth. If you need fast action throughout, the pace may try you.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A student with no family but ambition
- A stranger comes to the door
- Razumov makes his terrible choice
- The police draw him into their game
- Geneva and the old teacher's eyes
- The exiles and their strange leaders
- A lie that grows harder to live
- East and West, autocracy and revolution
- How the story is told
Who’s who
- Kirylo RazumovA lonely, ambitious student in St Petersburg who wants a quiet career and is pulled into politics against his will.
- Victor HaldinA fellow student and idealist who comes to Razumov's room one night, trusting him with a dangerous secret.
- Natalia HaldinVictor's sister, a brave and serious young woman who believes in a free and generous Russia.
- The English teacherAn elderly teacher of languages in Geneva who tells the story and tries, with limited success, to understand the Russians.
- Peter IvanovitchA famous exiled revolutionary writer, vain and domineering, who leads a circle of followers in Geneva.
- Councillor MikulinA soft-spoken police official who knows how to use people and sends Razumov abroad as a spy.
- Sophia AntonovnaA shrewd, hardened revolutionary who watches newcomers closely and does not trust easily.
- TeklaA gentle follower of the exiles' cause who devotes herself to helping the poor and the hunted.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 12 h 41 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works · 60-day guarantee
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, for the whole household.
- We remind you first. We email you 7 days before your first payment. Then your first year is 50% off: USD 0.14 a day, then USD 0.27 a day, never raised. Or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
60-day money-back guarantee. If the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Under Western Eyes in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Read it side by side
Under Western Eyes
by Joseph Conrad· 1911
A student's betrayal draws him into a world of revolutionaries.
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- The whole household
Starts right away, on any device
Read free60-day money-back guaranteeRenews every yearCancel anytimeHow it works
Language: English
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
A student with no family but ambition
The novel opens in St Petersburg, in the last years of the autocracy of the tsars. Kirylo Razumov is a student of philosophy at the university. He is the son of a man he has never been able to claim, and he has no relatives, no home town and no one to turn to. Because he is alone, he has learned to rely only on his own effort. His teachers and fellow students see him as clever, serious and rather silent.
Razumov has one great hope. He is working on an essay that he believes will win a silver medal from the university. The prize would lead to a government post, and a government post would give him a quiet, respectable life. He does not want to be a rebel, and he does not want to be a hero. He wants to be left alone to build something solid out of his own work.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
The author
Joseph Conrad
1857–1924 · Polish-British novelist
Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) was a Polish-British writer born in Berdychiv, then in the Russian Empire and now in Ukraine. He worked at sea before settling in England. He wrote in English. His works include Heart of Darkness (1899), Lord Jim (1900), Nostromo (1904), and The Secret Agent (1907).
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, for the whole household. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - The whole householdUp to 5 readers
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
More by Joseph Conrad
All 22 books
Free
Free
More like this
Free
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Questions about Under Western Eyes
Can I read it free?
Yes. The beginning, from the first page to the end of chapter 1, and the first 5 minutes of the audiobook are free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 90 days, with the eBook to keep. After that, your first year is 50% off. You also get 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
Can my family read too?
Yes. The whole household reads and listens: up to 5 readers, each with their own shelf and their own place in every book.
What if it is not for me?
Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. If you have paid and the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
What is Under Western Eyes about?
It follows Razumov, a Russian student who betrays a revolutionary that trusted him, then is sent to Geneva to spy on exiles. The book studies guilt, loyalty and the pressure of lies in a world torn between autocracy and revolution.
When was Under Western Eyes written and is it a true story?
Conrad published it in 1911. It is fiction, but it draws on real Russian politics of the time, including assassinations, police informers and the exile communities in Switzerland, which Conrad studied with care.
Who is the narrator of Under Western Eyes?
The narrator is an elderly English teacher of languages living in Geneva. He did not see most events himself, so he relies on Razumov's diary and his talks with Natalia Haldin, and he often admits he cannot understand Russians fully.
Popular in classics
See all
Free
Free
Free
