Chrissie's review of Typhoon (original) (raw)

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Chrissie's Reviews > Typhoon

Typhoon by Joseph Conrad

Typhoon
by

632247

Look, I am not hip on exciting adventure stories, so I have had to ask myself why in the world I have enjoyed this as much as I do. Writing the review has helped me think this through. I hope my thoughts will help others decide if they will enjoy the book too.

First of all, the writing, the prose, is exceptionally good. It is pretty darn amazing, since English was not Joseph Conrad’s mother tongue! He was born in Poland in 1857. On the other hand, he worked for the British mercantile marine for sixteen years and thereafter became a British citizen*. Simply by becoming a British citizen though, does not mean one by osmosis becomes so fluent, so adept in the new language! The writing is vivid. The description of the storm will have you on the edge of your seat. Before the storm has even arrived, tension mounts. One palpably perceives the stillness, the menacing calm that precedes the storm. It is spooky; it is eerie. The storm erupts, all hell breaks loose, then the lull at the eye of the storm descends. The reader is completely caught up in the weather! Quite simply, the writing is extremely good.

Secondly, Conrad puts the different parts of the story together well. During the lull in the storm, we are told the barometer is dropping and dropping—it has never been so low. This tells us the second part of the storm will be worse! Conrad is clever, he doesn’t give us more storm, instead he speeds forward to when the storm is over. Then we become aware of the destruction the storm has wrought--by observing the horrible state of the ship. Had Conrad given us more storm, this would have been repetitive. Instead Conrad leaves it to our own imagination, in our mind’s eye the fury of the storm attains monstrous proportions. I see this as a smart move by the author. Conrad uses both what is given and what is withheld to advantage. Through both he conjures mood.

Into this scary adventure tale Conrad adds humor, ironical humor. I will give one example. When Captain MacWhirr’s wife gets her husband’s letters, does she read them carefully through and through? No! She finds them pedestrian and boring. At one point he writes of how on Christmas day he thought the ship would go under! She, skimming through the letter, did not even bother to turn over the letter’s pages! That shows how interested she is. We note her lack of interest and how inattentive she is. The humor got me thinking……

What is Conrad saying in this story? I think he is saying something about how readers read. How inattentive we are. Even Captain MacWhirr does not rely on what is written in important shipping manuals. What is interesting is what Conrad is saying by this. Readers

should pay attention, but few do.

What else is Conrad saying? He draws the racial and sexist prejudices that existed in his time. He does not refute that they exist, but he also shows alternate ways of thinking. I see this in how Captain MacWhirr speaks of his wife and the manner in which the Chinese coolies (view spoiler)[are confined below deck (hide spoiler)], but then at the end the captain writes again to his wife telling her how he misses her and we observe how he fairly (view spoiler)[divides the money to the coolies on-board ship. I doubt the authorities in Fu-chau, the final destination, would have divided the money so equably (hide spoiler)]. This is a step forward. Conrad gives us characters that are true to the era and yet he shows little steps that can be taken to ameliorate conditions for those who are at a disadvantage. In my view, the middle road, which Conrad takes, is realistic.

The audiobook is narrated by Roger Allam. It’s good; it’s fine. I did at times have difficulty hearing what is said. The name of Jukes, the young first mate, an important figure, was not always clearly articulated. It seemed to me to be pronounced in different ways, which I found confusing at the start. The narration I have given three stars.

The prose, how Conrad chose to put the story together and the addition of humor is what has made the book worth reading for me. He also had me thinking about the message/s he wished to convey.

*This information has been made available to me by Elizabeth, a GR friend in a group discussion of the book. Curious for more? Look here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

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Reading Progress

October 22, 2019 – Shelved

October 22, 2019 – Shelved as:to-read

December 30, 2019 –Started Reading

December 31, 2019 –Finished Reading

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