Although this one took me a long time to finish, I really enjoyed it. It may be my favorite of the four Conrad books on the Modern Library’s list of Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century — maybe tied with The Secret Agent, which I also liked.

Nostromo starts off interestingly enough, setting the stage by describing the imaginary South American country of Sulaco. Then it hits a slow patch when it goes into the details of the political situation. That’s where I slowed down. But the second half picks up again, with a real adventure tale of stolen silver and star-crossed lovers. Of course, the writing throughout is elegant Conrad.