Joseph Conrad and H. G. Wells - by L Dryden (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Joseph Conrad and H.G. Wells: The Fin de Siaecle Literary Scene is the first sustained examination of the literary friendship between Conrad and Wells. Drawing upon biographies, letters, archival material and a close analysis of texts, the book traces the relationship between Conrad and Wells at the close of the nineteenth and the dawn of the twentieth centuries. It offers perspectives on both authors from literary figures like Ford Madox Ford and provides a unique analysis of the temperamental and artistic differences that ultimately caused Conrad and Wells to become estranged. At the same time, Joseph Conrad and H. G. Wells uses critical insights into the works of both authors to trace the ways in which the authors influenced each other's work. What emerges is a clear picture of the literary scene at the fin-de-siaecle and consideration of how the English novel was evolving in the opening years of the twentieth century"--

Book Synopsis

This book traces the literary friendship between Joseph Conrad and H. G. Wells from their early correspondence through to the differences that caused their estrangement, including their respective responses to the First World War. It thus gives an overview of the literary scene in the late Victorian and early Edwardian period.

Review Quotes

"Dryden's thoroughly researched monograph contains a very systematically organized and impressive bulk of data on the two turn-of-the-century writers' relationship, and she advances her argument in a clear, reader-friendly style. ... researchers looking for intersections of the two authors' art, which have a great potential for fruitful inter-textual analysis, will probably find Dryden's volume most helpful." (Angelika Reichmann, Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, Vol. 22 (2), Fall, 2016)

About the Author

Linda Dryden is Professor of English Literature at Edinburgh Napier University, and Director of the University's Centre for Literature and Writing (CLAW). She is author of two monographs, Joseph Conrad and the Imperial Romance, and The Modern Gothic and Literary Doubles: Stevenson, Wilde and Wells, and co-editor of Stevenson and Conrad: Writers of Transition.