Elizabeth (Alaska)'s review of Typhoon (original) (raw)

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Elizabeth (Alaska)'s Reviews > Typhoon

Typhoon
by

Another sea story for me to end the year (and the decade!). I enjoyed this infinitely more than Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. Packed into this short novel is a bit of plot and a lot of characterization, together with pleasing prose. Several other reviewers mention how well Conrad writes, despite English not being his first language. Maybe that's why he writes so well?

The men who served under Captain MacWhirr don't think highly of him. Generally, they think this quiet, sober man is a fool. When the barometer drops, and even MacWhirr knows there's "dirty" weather ahead, they think he knows not a thing. They want him to alter course, but he is determined to keep to schedule. It isn't as if MacWhirr knows what he should do facing such weather, it is his first typhoon. (Hard to imagine that, his having been in the South China Sea for several seasons, but that's another matter.)

MacWhirr, First Mate Jukes and Chief Engineer Rout are all well drawn characters. They are flesh and blood on the printed page. Conrad also gives us caricatures of their home life and family. While these parts lend more than a little humor, they also add to the characterizations of the seamen. The typhoon is also real enough.

I did hope to like this. I have read two previous novels by Conrad - one I liked 5-stars worth and one that scraped by at 2-stars. This was the decider: do I read more or let him go in favor of someone else. So now my only problem is to find another that I think I can hold on to.

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Reading Progress

November 7, 2019 – Shelved

November 7, 2019 – Shelved as:kindle

December 29, 2019 –Started Reading

December 30, 2019 –Finished Reading

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