NOSTROMO

Often praised as one of Joseph Conrad’s greatest novels, NOSTROMO tells the tumultuous history of the fictional country Costaguana. Conrad’s “perfectly incorruptible” Nostromo, a heroic symbol within the community, eventually reveals the novel’s dark irony. British actor John Lee approaches his narration with a steady tone and expert attention to the text. What is especially masterful in Lee’s reading is his array of accents for Conrad’s collage of characters—from the English and Italian transplants to the passionate native inhabitants. All are wonderfully portrayed by Lee, especially the polyglot Decoud, a Europeanized Costaguaneran whose accent fluctuates between French and Spanish. Lee takes Conrad’s dense and descriptive language in hand to produce an epic listening experience. D.M.W. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2011]