Victory: An Island TaleA story of rescue and violent tragedy set in the Malayan archipelago, 'Victory' combines high adventure with a sensitive portrayal of three drifters. |
From inside the book
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Page 4
... knew of him , dwelling on his little island . An island is but the top of a mountain . Axel Heyst , perched on it immovably , was sur- rounded , instead of the imponderable stormy and transparent ocean of air merging into infinity , by ...
... knew of him , dwelling on his little island . An island is but the top of a mountain . Axel Heyst , perched on it immovably , was sur- rounded , instead of the imponderable stormy and transparent ocean of air merging into infinity , by ...
Page 16
... knew no more of Heyst than the rest of us trading in the Archipelago did . Had the Swede suddenly risen and hit him on the nose , he could not have been taken more aback than when this stranger , this nondescript wan- derer , said with ...
... knew no more of Heyst than the rest of us trading in the Archipelago did . Had the Swede suddenly risen and hit him on the nose , he could not have been taken more aback than when this stranger , this nondescript wan- derer , said with ...
Page 18
... knew very well his inability to lay by any sum of money . It was partly the fault of circum- stances and partly of his temperament ; and it would have been very difficult to apportion the responsibility between the two . Even Morrison ...
... knew very well his inability to lay by any sum of money . It was partly the fault of circum- stances and partly of his temperament ; and it would have been very difficult to apportion the responsibility between the two . Even Morrison ...
Page 28
... ! I always telling you ? Aha ! Have you got every- You see ? What was There was nothing in it . I knew it . But what I would like to know is what became of that - Swede . " I He put a stress on the word Swede as if 28 VICTORY.
... ! I always telling you ? Aha ! Have you got every- You see ? What was There was nothing in it . I knew it . But what I would like to know is what became of that - Swede . " I He put a stress on the word Swede as if 28 VICTORY.
Page 32
... knew very little of Heyst . He was one of those whom Heyst's finished courtesy of attitude and intonation most strongly disconcerted . He himself was a fellow of fine feeling , I think , though of course he had no more polish than the ...
... knew very little of Heyst . He was one of those whom Heyst's finished courtesy of attitude and intonation most strongly disconcerted . He himself was a fellow of fine feeling , I think , though of course he had no more polish than the ...
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Common terms and phrases
ain't Alfuro arms asked believe boat breath brig bungalow cardo chair cheroot Chinaman clairvoyance Colombia course crowbar dark Davidson door doorway doubt eyes face faint feeling fellow felt frightened gaze gentleman gharry girl glance gleam gone governor hand hanging head hear heard Heyst hotel-keeper island Java Sea jetty Jones keep knew laugh Lena light lips listened looked Malay Martin matter mean mind Morrison moustaches moved movement murmured ness never night Number once paused Pedro perhaps physiognomy quiet raised Ricardo round Samburan sarong Schom Schomberg schooner seemed shadow shoulders side sight silence smile sort sound Sourabaya speak stare stood strange suddenly surprised Swede table d'hôte talk tell Tesmans There's thing thought told tone tremely turned veranda voice walked Wang watched wharf What's whispered woman wonder words
Popular passages
Page 460 - Ah, Davidson, woe to the man whose heart has not learned while young to hope, to love — and to put its trust in life!
Page 77 - The Zangiacomo band was not making music; it was simply murdering silence with a vulgar, ferocious energy. One felt as if witnessing a deed of violence...
Page 119 - Impudent, overbearing, swindling sharper," he went on. "I have a good mind to " He was beside himself in his lurid, heavy, Teutonic manner, so unlike the picturesque, lively rage of the Latin races; and though his eyes strayed about irresolutely, yet his swollen, angry features awakened in the miserable woman over whom he had been tyrannising for years a fear for his precious carcass, since the poor creature had nothing else but that to hold on to in the world. She knew him well; but she did not...
Page 188 - Are we likely to be seen on our way?" "No, unless by native craft," said Schomberg. Ricardo nodded, satisfied. Both these white men looked on native life as a mere play of shadows. A play of shadows the dominant race could walk through unaffected and disregarded in the pursuit of its incomprehensible aims and needs.
Page 247 - Of the stratagems of life the most cruel is the consolation of love — the most subtle, too; for the desire is the bed of dreams.
Page 4 - ... the clear stars, a dull red glow, expanding and collapsing spasmodically like the end of a gigantic cigar puffed at intermittently in the dark. Axel Heyst was also a smoker; and when he lounged out on his verandah with his cheroot, the last thing before going to bed, he made in the night the same sort of glow and of the same size as that other one so many miles away. We could hardly fail to note so "empathic...
Page 239 - I've never killed a man or loved a woman — not even in my thoughts, not even in my dreams." He raised her hand to his lips, and let them rest on it for a space, during which she moved a little closer to him. After the lingering kiss he did not relinquish his hold.
Page 229 - I've been speaking. What of it?" "And you mean to say that he was your friend?" "You have heard enough to judge for yourself. You know as much of our connection as I know myself. The people in this part of the world went by appearances, and called us friends, as far as I can remember. Appearances — what more, what better can you ask for? In fact you can't have better. You can't have anything else.
Page 103 - Three years of such companionship at that plastic and impressionable age were bound to leave in the boy a profound mistrust of life. The young man learned to reflect, which is a destructive process, a reckoning of the cost.
Page 64 - Odious enough, I dare say. And you, of course — not being a married man — were free to step in. Ah, well!" He sat down in the stern-sheets, and already had the steering lines in his hands when Heyst observed abruptly : "The world is a bad dog. It will bite you if you give it a chance; but I think that here we can safely defy the fates.