Other editions of book An Outcast of the Islands

An Outcast of the Islands is Joseph Conrad's second novel, first published in 1896 and inspired by Conrad's time as mate of the steamer The Vigar. Fleeing from scandal in Singapore, the disreputable Peter Willems hides out in a native village, only to betray his protectors in his lust for the daughter of the chief. The story features Tom Lingard and other characters who are also in Conrad's Almayer's Folly of 1895 and The Rescue of 1920.

An Outcast of the Islands is the second novel by Joseph Conrad, published in 1896, inspired by Conrad's experience as mate of a steamer, the Vidar.The novel details the undoing of Peter Willems, a disreputable, immoral man who, on the run from a scandal in Makassar, finds refuge in a hidden native village, only to betray his benefactors over lust for the tribal chief's daughter. The story features Conrad's recurring character Tom Lingard, who also appears in Almayer's Folly (1895) and The Rescue (1920), in addition to sharing other characters with those novels. It is considered to be underrated as a work of literature for many. Conrad romanticizes the jungle environment and its inhabitants in a similar style to his "Heart of Darkness".

An Outcast of the Islands is the second novel by Joseph Conrad, published in 1896, inspired by Conrad's experience as mate of a steamer, the Vidar. The novel details the undoing of Peter Willems, a disreputable, immoral man who, on the run from a scandal in Makassar, finds refuge in a hidden native village, only to betray his benefactors over lust for the tribal chief's daughter. The story features Conrad's recurring character Tom Lingard, who also appears in Almayer's Folly (1895) and The Rescue (1920), in addition to sharing other characters with those novels. It is considered to be underrated as a work of literature for many. Conrad romanticizes the jungle environment and its inhabitants in a similar style to his "Heart of Darkness". This novel was adapted into the film Outcast of the Islands in 1951 by director Carol Reed, featuring Trevor Howard as Willems, Ralph Richardson as Lingard, Robert Morley, and Wendy Hiller. The work was quoted in T. S. Eliot's The Hollow Men ('Life is very long.').

Joseph Conrad was a Polish-British writer regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English language. He joined the British merchant marine in 1878, and was granted British citizenship in 1886. Though he did not speak English fluently until his twenties, he was a master prose stylist who brought a non-English sensibility into English literature. He wrote stories and novels, many with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit in the midst of an impassive, inscrutable universe.