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3.28 AVERAGE
3.28 AVERAGE
I don't know why but ‘Lord Jim’ by Joseph Conrad somehow echoes Star Wars. Same mythic quality, same romantic dreaming of quest hopefulness and testing of one's mettle until something really bad happens and naive inexperience gives way to heartrending reality. But Star Wars goes on to space opera where ‘Lord Jim’ is more of a singular man's destiny.
Star Wars does not possess any moral uncertainties, but Lord Jim accurately reflects the real-life play of moral decisions made on the fly that destroy or uplift a person in the eyes of society after the fact. Lord Jim cannot be a hero or villain in his own eyes until society makes the call, yet Jim has a peculiar internal moral guide that is a more difficult master to satisfy. A terrifying lack of self-forgiveness sets Jim on a unique adventure of finding redemption on a literal clean slate, a reinvented do-over that completely wipes out the previous universe where he so totally messed up. It's as if the clean cut, upright handsome blond appearance of a 21-year old Jim forced him to be driven not only to clear himself with the world but it had to be an epic toxic cleansing of soul scrubbing.
The usual fear of death in all human beings is underlying Jim's destiny yet never overt. Conrad mentions again and again how much Jim's physical appearance affects how people see his behavior. His youth is very important to the story yet like death only hinted at periodically as a logical excuse for him which no one allows him especially himself.
The act of defining oneself within the imposed standards and limits of society, any society in the world, is a tough business and deadly serious if one is a friendless outsider. The soundness of a man can be the key to it all. At least that seems to be main of the interesting themes Conrad explores in Lord Jim.
Star Wars does not possess any moral uncertainties, but Lord Jim accurately reflects the real-life play of moral decisions made on the fly that destroy or uplift a person in the eyes of society after the fact. Lord Jim cannot be a hero or villain in his own eyes until society makes the call, yet Jim has a peculiar internal moral guide that is a more difficult master to satisfy. A terrifying lack of self-forgiveness sets Jim on a unique adventure of finding redemption on a literal clean slate, a reinvented do-over that completely wipes out the previous universe where he so totally messed up. It's as if the clean cut, upright handsome blond appearance of a 21-year old Jim forced him to be driven not only to clear himself with the world but it had to be an epic toxic cleansing of soul scrubbing.
The usual fear of death in all human beings is underlying Jim's destiny yet never overt. Conrad mentions again and again how much Jim's physical appearance affects how people see his behavior. His youth is very important to the story yet like death only hinted at periodically as a logical excuse for him which no one allows him especially himself.
The act of defining oneself within the imposed standards and limits of society, any society in the world, is a tough business and deadly serious if one is a friendless outsider. The soundness of a man can be the key to it all. At least that seems to be main of the interesting themes Conrad explores in Lord Jim.
Read a while after Heart of Darkness but enjoyed just about the same. Marlowe's ambivalent narrative style is so evocative and removed, like the lone conservative who stares imperial violence in the face, understanding the terror wrought by Europe on her colonies, and offering nothing but a removed sigh.
The story is told in a very confusing style, I lost the plot a few times and forgot who was narrating parts of the story. The motives of the central character remain a mystery to me - perhaps this was the author's intention, but this arm's length approach didn't make for interesting reading.
The themes and central questions of the novel were not ones that struck a chord with me. This desperate desire to prove your heroism in a physical way, by putting yourself in danger. Should a person's cowardice or bravery be judged only on their flight or fight response?
Also, the characterisation of many of the non-white characters has definitely not stood the test of time.
The themes and central questions of the novel were not ones that struck a chord with me. This desperate desire to prove your heroism in a physical way, by putting yourself in danger. Should a person's cowardice or bravery be judged only on their flight or fight response?
Also, the characterisation of many of the non-white characters has definitely not stood the test of time.
Joseph Conrad’s 1900 novel Lord Jim is regarded as one of his finest achievements. Largely narrated by Charles Marlow, who also narrates Conrad’s novella “Heart of Darkness,” Lord Jim tells the story of the titular character, a British sailor who abandoned a ship he thought was sinking. The only problem was the ship didn’t actually sink.
Conrad’s use of Marlow as a partially involved narrator was a brilliant choice, and I thought it made the novel more interesting than if it was told by an omniscient narrator. Conrad was an astute observer of the human condition, and the novel shows us Jim’s attempts to outrun a cowardly act in his past.
Marlow listens to Jim spin his tale of the disaster aboard the ship. In a beautiful sentence, Marlow narrates “It is my belief no man ever understands quite his own artful dodges to escape from the grim shadow of self-knowledge.” (p.71) The ship that Jim abandons in the novel is called the Patna, and Conrad based it on what happened to the actual ship SS Jeddah. Both the real Jeddah and the fictional Patna were “pilgrim ships,” bringing Muslims on their way to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. The ships were both manned by white officers, and there’s an obvious racial overtone as one wonders if the officers would have been so quick to abandon ship if their passengers were white Europeans. Both ships made it into port, much to the shock and chagrin of the officers who had abandoned ship.
Lord Jim is full of Conrad’s beautiful language. One of my favorite passages was this one: “It’s extraordinary how we go through life with eyes half shut, with dull ears, with dormant thoughts. Perhaps it’s just as well; and it may be that it is this very dullness that makes life to the incalculable majority so supportable and so welcome.” (p.118)
Another favorite sentence of mine was this: “The human heart is vast enough to contain all the world.” (p.251) What a lovely and beautiful image.
The narrative structure of Lord Jim loses some tension after Jim finishes recounting the official inquiry into his actions during the abandonment of the Patna. With that part of the story complete, there’s less tension. But the rest of the novel is necessary, as the reader learns how Jim establishes a new life for himself, in a new place where he is not defined by a single act of cowardice.
Conrad wrote Lord Jim for serialization in Blackwood’s Magazine, and it might be the case that the novel expanded as Conrad realized he had more story to tell than just Jim’s abandonment of the Patna. Conrad allows us to see Jim’s redemption as he settles in Patusan, a remote island where no one knows about his past. Eventually, the natives of Patusan start calling him “Tuan Jim,” or “Lord Jim.”
Like a river, Lord Jim changes course, swirls around, and doubles back on itself. Just like at sea, time expands, as Marlow tell us a story of a hundred pages in a single evening. Like the best literature, Lord Jim takes us on a journey.
Conrad’s use of Marlow as a partially involved narrator was a brilliant choice, and I thought it made the novel more interesting than if it was told by an omniscient narrator. Conrad was an astute observer of the human condition, and the novel shows us Jim’s attempts to outrun a cowardly act in his past.
Marlow listens to Jim spin his tale of the disaster aboard the ship. In a beautiful sentence, Marlow narrates “It is my belief no man ever understands quite his own artful dodges to escape from the grim shadow of self-knowledge.” (p.71) The ship that Jim abandons in the novel is called the Patna, and Conrad based it on what happened to the actual ship SS Jeddah. Both the real Jeddah and the fictional Patna were “pilgrim ships,” bringing Muslims on their way to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. The ships were both manned by white officers, and there’s an obvious racial overtone as one wonders if the officers would have been so quick to abandon ship if their passengers were white Europeans. Both ships made it into port, much to the shock and chagrin of the officers who had abandoned ship.
Lord Jim is full of Conrad’s beautiful language. One of my favorite passages was this one: “It’s extraordinary how we go through life with eyes half shut, with dull ears, with dormant thoughts. Perhaps it’s just as well; and it may be that it is this very dullness that makes life to the incalculable majority so supportable and so welcome.” (p.118)
Another favorite sentence of mine was this: “The human heart is vast enough to contain all the world.” (p.251) What a lovely and beautiful image.
The narrative structure of Lord Jim loses some tension after Jim finishes recounting the official inquiry into his actions during the abandonment of the Patna. With that part of the story complete, there’s less tension. But the rest of the novel is necessary, as the reader learns how Jim establishes a new life for himself, in a new place where he is not defined by a single act of cowardice.
Conrad wrote Lord Jim for serialization in Blackwood’s Magazine, and it might be the case that the novel expanded as Conrad realized he had more story to tell than just Jim’s abandonment of the Patna. Conrad allows us to see Jim’s redemption as he settles in Patusan, a remote island where no one knows about his past. Eventually, the natives of Patusan start calling him “Tuan Jim,” or “Lord Jim.”
Like a river, Lord Jim changes course, swirls around, and doubles back on itself. Just like at sea, time expands, as Marlow tell us a story of a hundred pages in a single evening. Like the best literature, Lord Jim takes us on a journey.
What is it about this book? I read this ten years ago and couldn't recall a single detail about the plot. So I read it again to refresh my memory and just a few days after finishing, I can barely remember the plot. This feels very much like a writer's novel in its technical construction, but the strength of what should be a compelling story is lacking. Conrad has an tendency to be verbose with description and terse with action. It's easy to miss the hinges of the plot buried in the mess of convoluted prose that makes up this novel.
What did I just read? Seriously. I have no idea. I'm unclear as to what the whole situation at the beginning of the book was about. And the ending also befuddled me. The middle just bored me I guess.
Read for my senior thesis, and probably at least once before that. I should probably reread it while not under duress.
I love the mood of Conrad's novels, and I find myself intrigued by the recurring narrator Marlow. But I probably need to try this one again as a binge-read. Taking it in too many sittings made it seem repetitive and thus anticlimactic. I lost something of the power of Jim's moral and psychological journey.
En la vida hay momentos decisivos en los que toca actuar con rapidez, y es entonces cuando uno descubre que quizás no era tan valiente como se pensaba… Eso es lo que le ha ocurrido a Jim, al que un chispazo de cobardía le acaba incendiando el alma para el resto de su existencia. Apartado de la navegación después de un desafortunado incidente en alta mar, Jim anhela una redención que se le escapa de las manos, mientras huye una y otra vez de su pasado.
Este libro ganaría mucho siendo más breve. Hay pasajes brillantes, con frases afiladas hasta la perfección, con una elevada comprensión del comportamiento humano. Pero en muchos pasajes se extiende y se recrea, y la idea que ya se captó en el primer parrafo te persigue cuatro páginas después. Dice Conrad en la introducción que sus contemporáneos le echaron en cara que ningún hombre sería capaz de aguantar tantas horas relatando en voz alta una historia así. Él estimaba que el capitán Marlow —sí, aquí vuelve a aparecer su famoso recurso narrativo— podría haber estado hablando a lo sumo tres horas… cuando la lectura media de la novela está en ocho.
La atención y los tiempos actuales no son los de principios del XX; las novelas de hoy no son los folletines de ayer, pero el conflicto de quien entiende que ha obrado mal y se resiste a que ese momento le defina para el resto de su vida… ese, como Conrad supo reconocer, seguirá siendo uno de los grandes dramas de la humanidad.
Este libro ganaría mucho siendo más breve. Hay pasajes brillantes, con frases afiladas hasta la perfección, con una elevada comprensión del comportamiento humano. Pero en muchos pasajes se extiende y se recrea, y la idea que ya se captó en el primer parrafo te persigue cuatro páginas después. Dice Conrad en la introducción que sus contemporáneos le echaron en cara que ningún hombre sería capaz de aguantar tantas horas relatando en voz alta una historia así. Él estimaba que el capitán Marlow —sí, aquí vuelve a aparecer su famoso recurso narrativo— podría haber estado hablando a lo sumo tres horas… cuando la lectura media de la novela está en ocho.
La atención y los tiempos actuales no son los de principios del XX; las novelas de hoy no son los folletines de ayer, pero el conflicto de quien entiende que ha obrado mal y se resiste a que ese momento le defina para el resto de su vida… ese, como Conrad supo reconocer, seguirá siendo uno de los grandes dramas de la humanidad.