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Jan-Maat's Reviews > Lord Jim
Lord Jim
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by
The outlook is bleak. Conrad's last book of the nineteenth century offers the certainty that we can never be good enough, if you are lucky disillusionment will result, if less lucky disaster, and your own death will be a mercy. Ideals, civilisation and values, even love, none have a chance in the face of our universal insufficiencies, however before we start getting too pessimistic the novel itself is an exercise in optimism - at least - Conrad demonstrates, we can talk about these things, even with aplomb and in foreign languages like English.
There is such magnificent vagueness in the expectations that had driven each of us to sea, such a glorious indefiniteness, such a beautiful greed of adventures that are their own and only reward! What we get...In no other life is the illusion more wide of reality - in no other is the beginning all illusion- the disenchantment more swift - the subjection more complete (p.101)
In a heap of ways this book reminded me of Heart of Darkness, playing with the same themes, though from a different point of view, using the same Marlow narrator to frame the central narrative. The Kurtz character is the central figure in this story but we are closer to him. Conrad expands the stream of narration style to book length and in this edition Conrad added a later defence arguing that this was a realistic conceit, there have been longer speeches in parliament he says, however he doesn't seem to have settled the issue definitively by having the book recorded on to wax cylinders and inventing the audio book.
The back cover records praise from Virginia Woolf, and it is not so far, I suppose, from stream of narrative to stream of consciousness.
The chief thing which caught my attention at least to start with is how character driven the book is. Conrad dreams up his Jim, sets him on the page like some clockwork toy and then watches his non-linear progression - what will happen to such and such a person when they are in a position when they realise they are not good enough, what will they do then? If they were to get a second chance how might that come about and how might that chance play out, so long as we assume that every that happens must be congruent with 'Jim's' character? And there we go we have a novel. It is quite remarkable.
For a while I was uncomfortable with the storyline of broken white man floats in on 'native' population and saves them, rules over them justly as their Lord, but Conrad wasn't comfortable with anything so straight forward either - a happy colonialist ending was not congruent with his or 'Lord Jim's' character.
The downside is that Heart of Darkness is better, compressed, distilled, punchier, this book is only going to come out the worse in comparison.
There is such magnificent vagueness in the expectations that had driven each of us to sea, such a glorious indefiniteness, such a beautiful greed of adventures that are their own and only reward! What we get...In no other life is the illusion more wide of reality - in no other is the beginning all illusion- the disenchantment more swift - the subjection more complete (p.101)
In a heap of ways this book reminded me of Heart of Darkness, playing with the same themes, though from a different point of view, using the same Marlow narrator to frame the central narrative. The Kurtz character is the central figure in this story but we are closer to him. Conrad expands the stream of narration style to book length and in this edition Conrad added a later defence arguing that this was a realistic conceit, there have been longer speeches in parliament he says, however he doesn't seem to have settled the issue definitively by having the book recorded on to wax cylinders and inventing the audio book.
The back cover records praise from Virginia Woolf, and it is not so far, I suppose, from stream of narrative to stream of consciousness.
The chief thing which caught my attention at least to start with is how character driven the book is. Conrad dreams up his Jim, sets him on the page like some clockwork toy and then watches his non-linear progression - what will happen to such and such a person when they are in a position when they realise they are not good enough, what will they do then? If they were to get a second chance how might that come about and how might that chance play out, so long as we assume that every that happens must be congruent with 'Jim's' character? And there we go we have a novel. It is quite remarkable.
For a while I was uncomfortable with the storyline of broken white man floats in on 'native' population and saves them, rules over them justly as their Lord, but Conrad wasn't comfortable with anything so straight forward either - a happy colonialist ending was not congruent with his or 'Lord Jim's' character.
The downside is that Heart of Darkness is better, compressed, distilled, punchier, this book is only going to come out the worse in comparison.
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Lord Jim.
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Reading Progress
May 14, 2017
– Shelved
May 15, 2017
–
Started Reading
May 17, 2017
–
20.13%
""The views he let me have of himself were like those glimpses through the shifting rents in a tick fog - bits of vivid & vanishing detail, giving no connected idea of the general aspect of the country. They fed one's curiosity without satisfying it""
page
63
May 18, 2017
–
32.27%
""He was there before me, believing that age and wisdom can find a remedy against the pain of truth""
page
101
May 19, 2017
–
54.31%
""Woe to the stragglers! We exist only in so far as we hang together""
page
170
May 20, 2017
–
69.01%
""He had his place neither in the background nor in the foreground of the story; he is simply seen skulking on its outskirts, enigmatical & unclean, tainting the fragrance of its youth & of its naiveness""
page
216
May 20, 2017
–
76.68%
""The last two words she cried at me in the native dialect.' Hear me out!' I entreated; she caught her breath tremulously, flung my arm away. ' Nobody, nobody is good enough,' I began with the greatest earnestness. I could hear the sobbing labour of her breath frightfully quickened. I hung my head. What was the use? Footsteps were approaching; I slipped away without another word...""
page
240
May 21, 2017
–
92.01%
""It was impossible to say how much he lied to Jim then, how much he lied to me now - and to himself always. Vanity plays lurid tricks with our memory, and the truth of every passion wants some pretence to make it live.""
page
288
May 23, 2017
–
Finished Reading
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Ilse
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May 23, 2017 10:59AM
I like to observe exercises in optimism, they mostly make me laugh.
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I am glad of the unexpected incursions of humour into your life Madame!
I had to read this in a Polish high school - it was probably chosen over Heart of Darkness because, as you noticed, it's more character-driven (I liked your observations), and teachers could rely on their general knowledge instead of learning something new about colonialism.
Bloodorange wrote: "I had to read this in a Polish high school - it was probably chosen over Heart of Darkness because, as you noticed, it's more character-driven (I liked your observations), and teachers could rely o..."thank you, although you could very well look at it in terms of colonialism and racial hierarchies - skin colour, religion, nationalities, rank and status
Another interesting review. Thank you.if you are lucky disillusionment will result, if less lucky disaster, and your own death will be a mercy. Ideals, civilisation and values, even love, none have a chance in the face of our universal insufficiencies,
i thought, initially, you had somehow made a connection between that fairly awful time in recent history, re: inequities, again to quote you:
" colonialism and racial hierarchies - skin colour, religion, nationalities, rank and status "
a connection between that time, and right now, in the States.
oh yeah, this is fiction.
dianne wrote: "i thought, initially, you had somehow made a connection between that fairly awful time in recent history, re: inequities,a connection between that time, and right now, in the States."you can if you like, I'm not sure I so so very excited or aware of how little has changed in the USA since 1900 to have anything of interest to say. I mean Conrad here and in hear of darkness seems to me to speak of the failure and insufficiencies of ideals, disillusionment is inevitable, while my impression of the USA is despite everything delusion and illusion is unshakeable, but that I suppose if the difference between the individual experience and the collective wish and longing for a shared dream?
This is one of the very few novels I began again, immediately after finishing the first read. The way you draw attention to the combination of pessimism and optimism makes me want to read it again, but I have other Conrads to read before.
Kalliope wrote: "This is one of the very few novels I began again, immediately after finishing the first read. The way you draw attention to the combination of pessimism and optimism makes me want to read it again,..."For me Conrad is all about optimism and pessimism, sometimes one wins out, sometimes the two dance together in his works. I certainly feel that he is a writer that you can read again immediately after finishing to see the same story in a different light.
per the U.S. you say: "delusion and illusion is unshakeable" There is still a significant percentage of people here who think Covid-19 is a hoax.
Michael wrote: "per the U.S. you say: "delusion and illusion is unshakeable" There is still a significant percentage of people here who think Covid-19 is a hoax."yes, I heard a story of a preacher who thought that and went to New Orleans to try save sinners during Mardi Gras, he developed a cough and a fever, died on his way home, his widow and children are quite upset.
Tough I was thinking more of the abstract, like representative government, the justice system and so on...
Jan-Maat wrote: "yes, I heard a story of a preacher who thought that and went to New Orleans to try save sinners during Mardi Gras, he developed a cough and a fever, died on his way home, his widow and children are quite upset."One small correction, Jan-Maat, probably only important to New Orleanians -- because many article seems to still be thinking New Orleans should've known to cancel Mardi Gras 3 weeks before anything else was canceled in the U.S., though I know you're not implying that at all -- Mardi Gras was Feb. 25 and the preacher apparently liked N.O. so much, he stuck around till mid-March.
Teresa wrote: "Jan-Maat wrote: "yes, I heard a story of a preacher who thought that and went to New Orleans to try save sinners during Mardi Gras, he developed a cough and a fever, died on his way home, his widow..."well a lot of people ideally would have cancelled a lot of things, but that's the bye the bye.
Goodness the guy was obviously really smitten by the city, or the sinner saving opportunites, or even both. Thanks teresa, it makes the story even sadder.
