Bob Newman's review of Lord Jim (original) (raw)

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Bob Newman's Reviews > Lord Jim

Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

Lord Jim
by

M 50x66

Redemption in the Tropics

Often found in college English curricula, LORD JIM has been reviewed a huge number of times. I doubt if I can say anything entirely original. Jim is a young Englishman serving as a mate on a rust-bucket of a ship plying between Asia and Arabia, delivering pilgrims to the haj. The ship hits something mid-ocean. The five white officers, realizing the poor condition of their vessel, panic and abandon ship. One dies of a heart attack in the process. The other four are picked up and brought to Aden where they learn that the ship had not sunk. They are tried for cowardice and "behavior unbecoming..." and their sailor's papers are taken away. The story is narrated, over a period of time, by a man named Marlow, who believes that Jim had acted without thought, without gathering his mental resources as it were, and was capable of far better despite this momentary lapse. He follows Jim over the years and relates the events of Jim's life. The young sailor runs from port to port, escaping his past, before arriving as a trader and agent in a forgotten (and fictitious) Indonesian port. He takes over as virtual leader of a jungle rajadom, balancing the forces of Malay ruler and Bugis immigrant power, earning the love of the common people, protecting them from outside chaos. At last a boatload of criminal renegades of many races turns up--the scum of the seas, as the term goes---and Jim faces the resulting crisis. Not wishing to give everything away, I will not continue with the story, but suffice to say that Jim redeems himself. A Christ-like figure, he takes responsibility for the sins of others, as well as owns up to his own mistake. If this book is about anything, it is about the possibility of redemption. Maybe Jim should have forgotten about his past as he struggled around the ports of Asia before winding up in Patusan, but Conrad constructs another of his deep psychological studies; this one of a man haunted by his past. Jim cannot rid himself of the guilt over his previous behavior. Thus, his final act is the one most necessary to achieve final redemption.

LORD JIM is a classic novel for a good reason. It is constructed magnificently. Description, tension, plot, and important ideas about human nature all play their parts. Though Conrad's verbosity may wear on modern readers---he never says anything in five words if he can use fifty---there will be no doubt in your mind that Conrad was one of the greatest writers in the English language.

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Reading Progress

May 28, 2013 –Finished Reading

November 21, 2017 – Shelved

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