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Title: Victory : An Island Tale by Peter Mallios, Joseph Conrad ISBN: 0-375-75908-5 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 08 July, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.56 (18 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: My favorite Conrad novel!
Comment: Victory is the best of the handful of Conrad novels I have read (for reference sake, the others are Lord Jim, The Secret Agent, Heart of Darkness, and Nostromo). For one thing, the other novels were much heavier in their narrative and descriptive content. As a result, I often suffered from mental imagery overload when plodding through a page-long paragraph. Victory has more dialogue, making it an easier read. Conrad's characters are always great, and the ones in this book are no exception. I also really liked the correlation between these characters and their environment. Heyst living in a serene yet isolated island matched his aloofness perfectly. As the book reaches its climax and tensions reach a boiling point, Conrad adds to this tension in godlike fashion, as the storm evinces the internal and external struggles occurring in Heyst. Of course, Conrad don't write no happy tales (sic), but in the end, I think that the title Victory was still very appropriate. This was an excellent read and one of the best novels I have read in a long time.
Rating: 5
Summary: Pure Conrad
Comment: Out of all that Conrad has ever written (and I have read nearly all that he has), Victory is my favorite of his works. The book is full of meaning and nuance. It is a love story, an examination of love itself, an adventure, a drama, an allegory, an examination of human nature, a look into the soul, and ultimately a truly heart-breaking tragedy.
The characters almost perfectly constructed and the story is driven by them. The main character, Axel Hyest, has to be one of Conrad's most complex heros. Lena, the female protagonist is a startling combination of innocence and power. A truly unique persona.
The settings are masterfully described, with typical Conrad depth. Perhaps only Nostromo is more full of vivid descriptions. Like all great books, you end up falling in love with the characters. I didn't want the story to end, and when it did I was in awe. Hands down, one of the greatest authors of all time.
Rating: 4
Summary: Distance and closeness and a way to bridge the gap.
Comment: _Victory_ is the first Conrad that I've read since reading _Heart of Darkness_ and _The Secret Sharer_ in high school and I was unsure what to expect before I picked up the book. In any case, I didn't expect it to be what it was-- so contemplative and so concerned with the rather abstract notions of isolation and the ability to act.
This shouldn't make the book sound unreadable or slow, because it isn't. There's an adventure story that wraps the whole thing up: A recluse on a deserted island breaks his solitude and rescues a girl from a life with a semi-shady gang. This act of kindness starts a chain of events that brings violence and change to his lonely island.
The story moves things along nicely, and you can read for the plot even if you're uninterested in the bigger issues the book raises. I found that I was interested in them. Heyst (the main character) has been infected by his father's skepticism and analytical view and never manages to find a way after that to engage with the world or other people in it. His few attempts at engagement are awkward and almost unwilling. Conrad uses a great line to describe his approach to other people's emotion:
"Consummate politeness is not the right tonic for an emotional collapse."
Everybody in the book is to some degree isolated. Wang removes himself from Chinese society to go native. Mrs. Schomberg is locked behind her mask of fear. Mr. Jones and Ricardo are set apart because of the Gentleman's obsessive fear of women. Alma/Magdalena/Lena is set apart by her past. Everybody is trying to connect, but (with the exception of Lena) always on their own terms and always within limits.
It's tempting to read Conrad's own background and separations into the mix, but I'll leave that to the Conrad scholars.
Worth reading & worth thinking about once you've read it.
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Title: Lord Jim (Penguin Classics) by Joseph Conrad, Robert Hampson, Cedric P. Watts ISBN: 0140180923 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: October, 1989 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Chance: A Tale in Two Parts (20th Century Classics) by Joseph Conrad ISBN: 0140186549 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: January, 1993 List Price(USD): $8.00 |
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Title: Under Western Eyes by Jeffrey Meyers, Joseph Conrad ISBN: 037575735X Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 10 July, 2001 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Nostromo a Tale of the Seaboard by Joseph Conrad, Martin S. Smith ISBN: 014018371X Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: November, 1990 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
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Title: The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' (Everyman Paperback Classics) by Joseph Conrad, Alan Simmons ISBN: 0460877895 Publisher: Unknown Publisher - Being Researched List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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