Product Description

When Lord Jim first appeared in 1900, many took Joseph Conrad to task for couching an entire novel in the form of an extended conversation--a ripping good yarn, if you like. Conrad defended his method, insisting that people really do talk for that long, and listen as well. In fact his chatty masterwork requires no defense--it offers up not only linguistic pleasures but a timeless exploration of morality. The eponymous Jim is a young, good-looking, genial, and naive water-clerk on the Patna, a cargo ship plying Asian waters. He is, we are told, "the kind of fellow you would, on the strength of his looks, leave in charge of the deck." He also harbors romantic fantasies of adventure and heroism--which are promptly scuttled one night when the ship collides with an obstacle and begins to sink. Acting on impulse, Jim jumps overboard and lands in a lifeboat, which happens to be bearing the unscrupulous captain and his cohorts away from the disaster. The Patna, however, manages to stay afloat. The foundering vessel is towed into port--and since the officers have strategically vanished, Jim is left to stand trial for abandoning the ship and its 800 passengers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57032 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

About the Author
Joseph Conrad was born in the Ukraine in 1857 and grew up under Tsarist autocracy. In 1874 Conrad travelled to Marseilles, where he served in French merchant vessels before joining a British ship in 1878 as an apprentice. In 1886 he obtained British nationality. Eight years later he left the sea to devote himself to writing, publishing his first novel, <I>Almayer's Folly</I>, in 1895. The following year he settled in Kent, where he produced within fifteen years such modern classics as <I>Youth, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, Typhoon, Nostromo, The Secret Agent</I> and <I>Under Western Eyes</I>. He continued to write until his death in 1924.

Customer Reviews

"a shred of meaningless honor"
There is no doubt that Conrad is one of the master writers of the previous century, however I tend to find him rather a chore to read. Not that reading is supposed to be "easy" of course, but that's just by way of a warning. In this novel, he not only embarks on epic page-long sentences, but engages in a whole range of innovative (for the time) techniques for telling the tragic tale of Tuan/Lord Jim. These techniques include abrupt shifts and jumps in time, and a great deal story within a story constructions. The bulk of the story is recounted by a seaman named Marlow (who also was narrator for Heart of Darkness), who is often retelling what he heard from another source, or even third-hand. Some may find this a little confusing at first, but it shouldn't be a surprising device for the modern reader. Technique aside, this is an exceedingly dense work, rich in lengthy descriptions, and requiring the reader's utmost attention.

Jim is a well-bred young Englishman who takes to the sea, envisioning a series of adventures in which he will prove his mettle and emerge as a well-regarded man. Alas, when a ship carrying a load of Malay pilgrims to Mecca strikes something and seems destined to sink, and his senior officers all abandon ship without rousing the passengers, he experiences fear and abandons ship as well. But when the ship doesn't sink, Jim is the only crewman to step forward and present himself to the maritime court of inquiry, which strips him of his sailing papers. Thereafter, Jim knocks around the South Seas, working as a water clerk in various ports, and departing whenever someone recognizes him. Finally, the narrator Marlow arranges for Jim to be installed as manager of a remote Malaysian trading post. There, he becomes the ruler and protector of the native people.

The story is not really of importance though; really, we are meant to be taking a long and careful look at the character of Jim. Some may find him to be a tragic and romantic figure, however I view him as the embodiment of self-absorption and pride. Jim's vision of himself as a brave and true fellow is so key to his ego that he literally can't face his own past actions, even though they are utterly understandable and human. And far from seeking to prove or redeem himself, he seeks to remove himself from the sight of anyone who might recognize him. His self-imposed exile among the Malays allows him to fulfill his dream of being an respected leader, and allows him to avoid introspection. Indeed, had he been even slightly introspective, he might have eventually recognized that his overwhelming adherence to a code of honor has not served him particularly well. Ironically (or maybe predictably), at the end of it all, his misguided sense of honor brings death to him, and destruction to his people. It's not too hard to figure out what Conrad, who spend several decades on the high seas, thought of this ideal of honor. One character gives voice to Conrad's views, by saying that Jim died for "a shred of meaningless honor".

Slow, but stylistically stunning
Lord Jim is a rather downbeat novel, telling the tale of a young romantic who finds himself unable to forgive himself for a moment of moral weakness when he flees a sinking ship without attempting to rescue any of the hundreds of travellers asleep within. Plot-wise this book is incredibly slight, with Conrad taking an age to stretch out what is essentially a short story into a full-length novel, but despite the meandering pace the authors use of the English language is simply stunning, and provided you have the willpower to continue you will be rewarded with a stylistically rich character examination that more than repays the readers patience.

Am I a total Philistine?
Oh dear...I have been trying to read this book for the last four months, mostly during my morning commute on the Tube. I have abandoned it at least ten times during that period in order to pick up something more readable. And I have to admit that I am still only three-quarters of the way through...

To be fair, my jaundiced view of 'Lord Jim' is partly a product of the above. Few books come alive on the Northern Line. However, the only reason that I keep returning to 'Lord Jim' is because I feel that I really ought to finish it.

Conrad does have a way with imagery (as the first reviewer below pointed out). He could certainly turn a phrase, too...but why so many of them? His syntax is often tortuous; his sentences are frequently over-long, with sub-clauses begetting sub-clauses, and no full-stop in sight. Many times I find that I have to re-read passages in order to glean the slightest meaning from them.

The character of Jim is as cardboard as any that I have come across in a serious novel. The stagey, melodramatic way in which most of the people in Conrad's world behave is irritating. The dialogue is equally awful. Are these people practical men of action, or a camp troupe of past-it actors in provincial theatre?

The silly conceit of having Marlowe tell the whole tale as an after-dinner story is ludicrous. This must have been the longest and most boring dinner-party in history, and Marlowe the most unwelcome dinner-guest East of Suez.

I am going to finish this book. Perhaps the final (and long-awaited) depiction of Jim's moral retribution, and the expiation of his guilt, will turn me into one of Conrad's greatest admirers. But I seriously doubt it.

I can only assume that this book is so highly regarded because its themes (honour, guilt, absolution) find echoes within the minds of some readers. And it is very densely-written; I suspect that there are certain self-appointed guardians of 'literature' for whom opacity and unreadability are the highest qualities to which any writer can aspire.

Unless you are one of the above, or a literary masochist, cross the road to avoid this book.

If, having finished it, I experience a Damascene conversion to the ways of Conrad, I promise to return to this site and eat my words.