I absolutely loved this book. Here is a truly remarkable statement!

"And because you not always can keep your eyes shut there comes the real trouble -- the heart pain -- the world pain. I tell you, my friend, it is not good for you to find you cannot make your dream come true, for the reason that you not strong enough are, or not clever enough. Ja!..."

This profound thought by Stein, taken from Joseph Conrad's "LORD JIM", really makes one stop and think. It highlights the harsh reality that sometimes, despite our best efforts, our dreams may remain out of reach. Whether it's due to a lack of strength or intelligence, the disappointment and pain that follow can be overwhelming.

"And all the time you are such a fine fellow too! Wie? Was? Gott im Himme! How can that be? Ha! ha! ha!" Stein's words seem to express a sense of incredulity and perhaps a touch of sarcasm. It's as if he is questioning how someone who appears to be so good and capable could still fail to achieve their dreams.

This statement serves as a reminder that life is not always fair and that even the best of us can face difficulties and setbacks. It also encourages us to keep persevering and to not give up on our dreams, no matter how hard the road may be.

Lord Jim: Five stars--The novel by Conrad to which I've responded the most. It's a work that delves deep into the human psyche and explores themes of honor, guilt, and redemption. Conrad's masterful storytelling and vivid descriptions bring the characters and settings to life.

This Norton Critical Edition (First Edition): Four stars. There was a time when I relied on the Nortons for an in-depth explanation of the text, especially for challenging works like Lord Jim. However, I eventually realized that their purpose is not solely to provide interpretations. Instead, they offer valuable background information on the text, the author, and various critical opinions. The more of these editions I've read, the less I feel they are essential for a complete understanding of the work.

For this edition, the first hundred pages after the conclusion of the novel held little interest for me. The section on textual differences between different publications was rather dry and technical. The glossary of terms was useful, but the reprint of Conrad's short sketch Tuan Jim and the selection of correspondence added little to my understanding of the novel. The final fifty pages, which detailed the real-life events that inspired some of the elements in the novel, could have been condensed into a few paragraphs.

The last section, which reprinted critical essays concerning the novel, was much more engaging. However, it's important to note that these essays were published in the middle of the last century and may not address contemporary critical concerns. I was particularly impressed by the essay chain in this collection, where subsequent essays refer back to and often disagree with those that came before. The essays by Albert J. Guerard were especially informative and insightful. In other Norton editions I've read, such as Moby Dick and Turn of the Screw, the essay section did not engage me as much as this one. Overall, I rate this edition four stars based on the quality of the critical essays.

Lord Jim is an extremely frustrating literary work. It combines elements of imperial adventure and psychological exploration, similar to Joseph Conrad's renowned Heart of Darkness. However, while Heart of Darkness was concise and elegant, Lord Jim is a repetitive and tiresome read. I spent as much time trying to determine the narrator as I did actually enjoying the story.

The book tells the tale of the eponymous Jim, who serves as a mate on the merchant ship Patna, carrying hundreds of Muslim pilgrims. Mid-voyage, the ship encounters engine trouble and begins to take on water. A squall approaches, and the captain and crew are convinced the Patna will sink. They believe that informing the pilgrims will cause a panic and lead to everyone's deaths. So, the "brave" captain and his "hearty" men abandon the ship in a lifeboat, and Jim follows suit.

The only issue is that the ship doesn't sink. Later, it is towed into harbor without any loss of life. The crew of the Patna, including Jim, faces a trial before the shipping board. Eventually, he loses his sailing certificate. Among all the men, only Jim seems ashamed, and his shame borders on the pathological. Most of the book is dedicated to his all-consuming self-pity.

The story is told in Conrad's typical style, which means it employs every device known to LOST. The first section is written in the third person, which was my favorite part. It was fast-paced, uncluttered, and clear. Then, Marlow, the loquacious storyteller from Heart of Darkness, appears and starts spinning his tale. Apparently recovered from the jaundice he contracted while searching for Kurtz, Marlow is in a talkative mood. And he just keeps talking. He's like the quintessential drunk uncle on Thanksgiving, still going on long after everyone else has fallen asleep watching the Dallas game, holding a glass of wine and repeating the same thing for the fourth time.

The next approximately two-thirds of the book is told in the first person by Marlow. This section uses nested dialogue, so that Marlow relates a story within which a person is also telling a story. (The number of unreliable narrators in Lord Jim is astonishing.) When you look at a page, you see a mass of quotation marks, which can be very confusing. To make it even more so, the book occasionally jumps back to the third person. Then, the book ends with a letter (!) written by Marlow to an unnamed man who had been listening to the original story.

It was the nested dialogue that really got to me. There was no real need to use quotation marks as Marlow tells his story. It would have been much simpler to simply shift the book from third to first person when Marlow speaks, rather than fitting his extended monologue into the third-person format, which requires the use of quotation marks within quotation marks. For some reason, Conrad is insistent on jamming these essentially first-person narratives into the third person. This wasn't a major issue in Heart of Darkness because the framing device was much simpler: introduce Marlow, Marlow tells his story, and end with Marlow finishing the story. In Lord Jim, it's a much bigger problem because the narrative jumps around so much. There are stories within stories, and at times it's like opening a Russian nesting doll. There are dozens of tangents and digressions, and keeping track of who is speaking - whether it's Marlow, Jim, or some other character - requires constant attention.

I was also disappointed by the repetitiveness of the book. Marlow takes an interest in Jim, for reasons I can only guess (old man obsessed with young man... well, I'll just stop there), and tries to get him a job. Jim takes the job, does well, and then quits whenever the Patna incident is brought up. So, Marlow gets Jim another job, Jim does well... and so on.

Finally, through the help of his friend Stein, Marlow finds employment for Jim on the island of Patusan in the Malay Archipelago. Here, Jim becomes a benevolent Kurtz and earns the honorific "Lord." He falls in love with a mixed-race girl named Jewel, befriends Dain Waris, the son of a chief, and generally seems content (although he will never stop brooding about his moment of cowardice, to the point where I wanted to slap some sense into him). The finale comes when a buccaneer named Gentleman Brown invades Patusan and Jim shows that a man's character truly is his fate.

Despite its flaws, there are parts of Lord Jim that are enjoyable. Conrad is a great writer, and it almost goes without saying that if you read this book, you will encounter masterful descriptions, vivid imagery, and incisively used similes.

Redemption in the Tropics

Often encountered in college English curricula, LORD JIM has been the subject of countless reviews. I wonder if I can offer anything truly novel. Jim, a young Englishman, serves as a mate on a dilapidated ship that shuttles between Asia and Arabia, transporting pilgrims to the haj. Mid-ocean, the ship strikes something. The five white officers, aware of the vessel's poor state, panic and abandon ship. One succumbs to a heart attack during the process. The other four are rescued and taken to Aden, where they learn that the ship did not sink. They are tried for cowardice and "behavior unbecoming..." and have their sailor's papers confiscated.

The story is narrated over time by a man named Marlow, who believes that Jim acted thoughtlessly, without marshaling his mental faculties, and was capable of much better despite this momentary lapse. He tracks Jim over the years and relates the events of his life. The young sailor flees from port to port, evading his past, before arriving as a trader and agent in a forgotten (and fictitious) Indonesian port. He assumes the role of virtual leader of a jungle rajadom, balancing the forces of the Malay ruler and Bugis immigrant power,赢得了普通民众的爱戴, protecting them from external chaos.

Finally, a boatload of criminal renegades of various races appears - the scum of the seas, so to speak - and Jim faces the ensuing crisis. Without revealing everything, I will not continue the story, but it suffices to say that Jim redeems himself. Like a Christ-like figure, he takes responsibility for the sins of others and owns up to his own mistake. If this book is about anything, it is about the possibility of redemption. Perhaps Jim should have forgotten about his past as he wandered the ports of Asia before ending up in Patusan, but Conrad constructs another of his profound psychological studies; this one of a man haunted by his past. Jim cannot escape the guilt over his previous actions. Therefore, his final act is the one most crucial for achieving ultimate redemption.

LORD JIM is a classic novel for a good reason. It is masterfully constructed. Description, tension, plot, and important insights into human nature all contribute. Although Conrad's verbosity may test modern readers - he never uses five words when he can use fifty - there will be no doubt in your mind that Conrad was one of the greatest writers in the English language.

If Dostovesky's "Crime and Punishment" initially kindled my interest in literature, it was Joseph Conrad who truly solidified my passion. From the very first lines of "Lord Jim," one is immediately drawn into a world that is both complex and captivating. Conrad's painstaking attention to detail and his ability to describe even the most intricate of scenes with such vividness and precision is truly remarkable. As the novel progresses, the reader is taken on a journey that is filled with excitement, drama, and emotion. The closing lines of the novel leave a lasting impression, leaving the reader to reflect on the themes and ideas that Conrad has so skillfully explored. In short, "Lord Jim" is a masterpiece, a work of art that will continue to be studied and admired for generations to come.

A perfect novel, I would say, such a surely good classic. At first, I thought that the story about sailors would not be very interesting to me, but I could not have been more wrong. It is a book that has what I consider important - the depth of the story and the characters. The beautiful, poetic style of the author and the nicely flowing plot are the cherry on the cake.

About Jim, his adventure and the desire to atone for the tragedy that occurs in the period when he longs for something great in life, his friend Marlow tells us in the book. What is initially Jim's dream collapses like a house of cards. But despite that, he remains true to the truth. In order for him and all the others to forget the unfortunate event, with the help of Marlow, he undertakes a journey to Patusan, where he wins the hearts and trust of the people with his courage and determination. Whether he finally manages to find inner peace, you will see for yourself if you decide to give this book a chance. I highly recommend it

Turn of the century bizarreness.

Lord Jim, that not-so-likeable fellow, is all show and no substance. In his self-delusion, he oddly believes his actions are reasonable. Deep down, in some corner of his mind, he knows the truth.

Let's talk about the subject matter. White men ruling over native peoples and the resulting colonialism is truly abhorrent, chaotic, and disturbing. It's not portrayed heroically with upstanding characters at all. Instead, we're presented with the most unscrupulous group of men. They sail, pirate, convert, swindle, and make a living, having traversed the tropical seas. Yet, the story is told by a proper British nobleman whose world, at this time, never experiences a sunset. For some reason, he takes the young Jim under his wing.

Now, what's good in the book? There are beautiful sentences, vivid descriptions, and clever metaphors. However, I did tire of the flowery prose and took a long break in the middle.

How Conrad developed the story is wonderful. We're teased by the narration, chapter by chapter, slowly but surely learning about Jim's actions. A seasoned, wealthy, British gentleman named Marlow tells the story, gin and tonic in hand, fine cigar between his lips. He weaves stories within stories.

Personally, as much as I appreciated the methods used to write this novel, I could have enjoyed it more if it was much, much shorter. It's definitely a product of its time.

It is precisely when we earnestly attempt to grapple with another man's most intimate need that we become acutely aware of how incomprehensible, wavering, and misty the beings are who share with us the sight of the stars and the warmth of the sun.

It is as if loneliness were an unyielding and absolute condition of our very existence. The envelope of flesh and blood that our eyes are firmly fixed upon seems to melt away before the outstretched hand.

And what remains is only the capricious, unconsolable, and elusive spirit that no eye can ever truly follow and no hand can ever firmly grasp.

This realization makes us understand the profound mystery and distance that often exists between human beings, even those who are physically close.

We may share the same external world, but the inner landscapes of our souls remain largely unknown and inaccessible to one another.

It is a humbling reminder of the limitations of our understanding and the vastness of the human experience that lies beyond our reach.

**Expanded Article**

The words of Stein: "Romantic - Romantic!" seem to resonate from those remote shores that will never return him to a world indifferent to his weaknesses and virtues, nor to that ardent and tenacious affection that refuses easy tears in the loss of an immense pain and an eternal separation. Since the absolute purity of the last three years of his life has overcome the ignorance, fear, and anger of men, he no longer appears to me as I saw him the last time - a white dot that attracted all the weak light remaining in the increasing darkness of the sea and the coast - but greater and more miserable in the solitude of his soul, which remains for her who loved him most a cruel and insoluble mystery.

Even now, I believe I have not fully understood him. Something must have escaped me. Jim, Lord Jim, is many things. He is a romantic, a coward, a valiant one; but above all, he is a man, one of us. One like us. A man who makes a mistake, a grave mistake (whose similarities to Francesco Schettino are chilling). A man who tries in various ways to remedy this error while at the same time seeking to reintegrate into society. But there is nothing to be done. The only option is to move away from the civilized world, put a barrier between himself and all the other men among whom he grew up. For almost the entire book, through the eyes of Marlow, we have the opportunity to form an idea of who Jim truly is.

"To tell you the truth, Stein," I said, making an effort that surprised me, "I have come to describe to you an exemplar..." "Butterfly?" he asked promptly with a tone of ironic incredulity. "Nothing so perfect," I replied, suddenly feeling myself rise above all kinds of doubts. "A man!" "Ach so!" he murmured, and the smiling expression I saw directed at me became serious. Then, after looking at me for a while, he said slowly: "Well - I am a man too." [...] "I understand very well. A romantic." [...] "Is there any remedy?" He raised his long index finger. "There is only one." There is a single thing that can cure us of the disease of being what we are." The finger descended onto the desk with a quick strike. The case that had previously seemed so simple became even simpler - and absolutely desperate. There was a pause. "Yes," I said, "more precisely, the question is not how to cure, but how to live."

Mr. Joseph Conrad is to prose as the stars are to the sky. The writing is wonderful, profound, intimate, and never boring. We are left open-mouthed in discovering that Jim's error is also our error, although we have not committed it.

"You consider me an animal for having stayed there motionless, but what would you have done? What? You cannot say - no one can say."

Jim then leaves the world as we know it and arrives in Patusan with the support of Marlow and Stein. Here he builds the reputation of a demi-god, will manage to redeem himself and even find love, a girl named Gemma. He promises her that he will never leave. But she will continue to doubt him until the end because he is one of them, one of the whites, and they always leave.

"Ah! but I will hold you like this," she cried... "You are mine!" She sobbed on his shoulder. Over Patusan, the sky was blood red, immense, as if flowing from an open vein. An enormous sun nestled, cream-colored, among the treetops, while the forest beneath appeared black and hostile.

A man can never forget his past, the fatal error that has made him such that he does not deserve to live in the civilized world. Jim will carry this dark weight with him to everyone except Marlow and Gemma, and this weight will collide with Brown's words at the end of the book. The protagonist's soul is a tormented one, an unhappy one and unable to find peace. Even after success, even after everyone trusts him, Jim struggles to trust himself. He has already left once, abandoning everyone.

"Sometimes men act badly even if they are not much worse than others."

This book is wonderful. A masterpiece. And although masterpiece is an overused word, here we cannot use any other. Honor to Conrad and his prose. And honor to Jim, a man like all of us.

Jove! This book truly suffered from being a story-within-a-story!

At times, I had to painstakingly search back and decipher the quotation marks to figure out whether the speaker was Marlow or Marlow relaying something that Jim said.

I'm completely at a loss as to why Conrad chose to present Jim's story through Marlow. It really created an emotional distance between me and Jim's struggles.

This account, mostly (except for the end), is told by Marlow to a small audience after a lapse of several years. I couldn't help but question if he left out certain details, embellished others, or if he simply didn't have the story entirely straight.

I'm aware that this is just pointless speculation on my part, but I firmly believe this is the reason I couldn't sympathize with Jim, and it consequently hindered my ability to become fully engrossed in this book.

The Patusan chapters bore a striking resemblance to Fitzcarraldo, especially the part where Marlow/Jim explained how the cannons were raised.

Overall, this reading experience was rather reminiscent of how I felt while reading "The Picture of Dorian Gray." In both instances, I knew I held in my hands a novel capable of delving deep into the human soul and exploring our capacity to either endlessly seek redemption or completely descend into depravity.

However, something about the writing made it impossible for me to be profoundly affected by the story. Since both these books are highly regarded classics, I can only assume the shortcoming lies within myself.

Back to the New York Times Bestseller List for me...

"He didn't think in English." So spoke the owner of a secondhand bookstore in Monterey, who was discussing Joseph Conrad. I had never really considered him in that light before, perhaps accounting for the barrier that typically appears to stand between his work and my perception. LORD JIM is distinct. Conrad might not have thought in English, but he could most definitely write the language. For me, this is my favorite Conrad volume, the one that shattered the barrier.

In 1880, the S.S. Jeddah set sail from Singapore with predominantly Malay passengers en route to Mecca. When the ship began taking on water, the captain and crew promptly abandoned the vessel, leaving the pilgrims stranded alone on board. The crew reached civilization and fabricated a story of being attacked by the pilgrims. Unfortunately for these sailors, the ship was discovered and towed to shore, where the truth was uncovered. Conrad employs the tale of the Jeddah to construct a fictional scenario that commences with a similar maritime incident but progresses with the saga of Jim, the ship's first mate, as he establishes a fiefdom in the tropics.

It wasn't until I visited Poland that I grasped Jim's struggle with his conscience throughout this novel. The tug-of-war that seems to perpetually exist on Polish soil is brought to the forefront through Lord Jim's adventures, despite the setting actually being the British Empire. Fortunately, Mr. Conrad didn't think in English... but it has taken me far too long to appreciate that small fact.

Book Season = Winter (while watching the snow fall in Warsaw)

**"Lord Jim: A Complex Tale of Identity and Redemption"**

Lord Jim is a captivating novel that explores the depths of human nature and the struggle for self-acceptance. The story begins with the mysterious disappearance of Jim, a young man who abandons his ship in a moment of weakness. This act haunts him throughout his life, as he tries to come to terms with his actions and find redemption.

The central question of the novel is who Jim really is. Is he the brave and noble young man he aspires to be, or is he a coward and a traitor? The answer is not clear, as Jim's character is complex and multifaceted. He is a romantic at heart, with a strong sense of honor and a desire for adventure. However, his actions in abandoning the ship suggest a weakness of character that he cannot overcome.

Another important theme in the novel is the idea of morality and the role it plays in our lives. Is there a fixed moral code that we must follow, or is morality relative and subjective? Marlow, the narrator of the story, grapples with this question as he tries to understand Jim's actions and decide whether he is a good or bad person. In the end, he realizes that morality is not black and white, but rather a complex web of beliefs and values that are shaped by our experiences and our environment.

The setting of the novel, the exotic and dangerous world of the East Indies, adds to the sense of mystery and adventure. The descriptions of the landscapes, the cultures, and the people are vivid and detailed, transporting the reader to a world that is both beautiful and terrifying. Conrad's use of language is also masterful, with his prose being both lyrical and powerful.

In conclusion, Lord Jim is a great novel that explores some of the most fundamental questions of human existence. It is a story of love, loss, redemption, and the search for identity. It is a novel that will stay with you long after you have finished reading it, making you think about your own life and the choices you have made.

“Se n’era andato. La notte lo aveva inghiottito. Mi rimase negli occhi l’immagine di lui, di un uomo impacciato, sconfitto, finito. Era terribile. Udii il sordo cricchiare della ghiaia sotto le sue scarpe. Stava correndo. Stava correndo, vi dico, e non sapeva nemmeno lui dove era diretto. E non aveva ancora compiuto ventiquattro anni.”