The Nigger of the "Narcissus"
First edition cover from the UK | |
| Author | Joseph Conrad |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Nautical fiction |
| Set in | A ship on the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean |
| Publisher | Heinemann |
Publication date | December 1897 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 120 |
| OCLC | 843064325 |
| 823.912 | |
| LC Class | PR6005.O57 |
| Preceded by | An Outcast of the Islands |
| Followed by | Heart of Darkness |
| Text | The Nigger of the "Narcissus" at Wikisource |
The Nigger of the "Narcissus": A Tale of the Forecastle (sometimes subtitled A Tale of the Sea), first published in the United States as The Children of the Sea, is an 1897 novella by Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad. The central character is an Afro-Caribbean man who is ill at sea while aboard the trading ship Narcissus heading towards London. Due to the offensiveness of the word nigger in the title, it was renamed The Children of the Sea: A Tale of the Forecastle for the 1897 US edition.
Some critics have described the novella as marking the start of Conrad's major or middle period; others have placed it as the best work of his early period.