VictoryIn Victory (1915) Conrad returns to the Malay Archipelago, to the setting of his first mature novel, Lord Jim, and in Axel Heyst he creates a hero who is in many ways similar to Jim, a noble altruist destroyed by his ideals. Heyst is emotionally crippled by the influence of his dead father, a sceptical philosopher who has bequeathed to Heyst an attitude to life summed up in the father's dying words: 'Look on - make no sound.' Despite this injunction Heyst allows himself to become inextricably involved with an English Cockney girl whom he rescues from Giancomo's Travelling Ladies' Orchestra and carries off to his isolated retreat on the island of Samburan. His action incurs the fatal wrath of Schomberg, the island's innkeeper, who sends in pursuit of Heyst three demonic strangers whose invasion of his island paradise leads rapidly to the novel's violent and tragic close. |
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Page xiii
I don't remember ever being so moved by the desolate end of a complete
stranger. I looked down the skylight, and there was the devoted Martin busy
cording cowhide trunks belonging to the deceased whose white beard and
hooked nose ...
I don't remember ever being so moved by the desolate end of a complete
stranger. I looked down the skylight, and there was the devoted Martin busy
cording cowhide trunks belonging to the deceased whose white beard and
hooked nose ...
Page xv
If of all the personages involved in the “mystery of Samburan” I have lived longest
with Heyst (or with him I call Heyst) it was at her, whom I call Lena, that I have
looked the longest and with a most sustained attention. This attention Criginated
in ...
If of all the personages involved in the “mystery of Samburan” I have lived longest
with Heyst (or with him I call Heyst) it was at her, whom I call Lena, that I have
looked the longest and with a most sustained attention. This attention Criginated
in ...
Page 10
He was tall and lantern-jawed, and clean-shaven, and looked like a barrister who
had thrown his wig to the dogs. We used to remonstrate with him: “You will never
see any of your advances if you go on like this, Morrison.” He would put on a ...
He was tall and lantern-jawed, and clean-shaven, and looked like a barrister who
had thrown his wig to the dogs. We used to remonstrate with him: “You will never
see any of your advances if you go on like this, Morrison.” He would put on a ...
Page 11
Being hailed across the street he looked up with a wild worried expression. He
was really in trouble. He had come the week before into Delli, and the
Portuguese authorities, on some pretence of irregularity in his papers, had
inflicted a fine ...
Being hailed across the street he looked up with a wild worried expression. He
was really in trouble. He had come the week before into Delli, and the
Portuguese authorities, on some pretence of irregularity in his papers, had
inflicted a fine ...
Page 14
He looked with sudden disfavour at that noble forehead, at those great martial
moustaches, at the tired eyes of the man sitting opposite him. Who the devil was
he? What was he, Morrison, doing there, talking like this? Morrison knew no more
...
He looked with sudden disfavour at that noble forehead, at those great martial
moustaches, at the tired eyes of the man sitting opposite him. Who the devil was
he? What was he, Morrison, doing there, talking like this? Morrison knew no more
...
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - DanielSTJ - www.librarything.comConrad managed to develop characters, imperfect, that all drove themselves forward on their own agendas to the story's conclusion- facilitating and enabling it along the way. He manages to keep the ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - Cecrow - www.librarything.comIn the first part we get an outsider's view of Axel Heyst's character, actions and motives without being certain who he is or what actually drives him. I found this off-putting until the second part ... Read full review
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Common terms and phrases
Alfuro arms asked believe boat breath bungalow buran can’t chair cheroot Chinaman clairvoyance course dark Davidson didn’t door doorway dunnage eyes face faint feeling fellow felt frightened gaze gentleman gharry girl glance gleam gone governor gunwale hand hanging head hear heard Heyst hotel-keeper I’ve island Java Sea jetty Jones knew laugh Lena light lips looked Malay Martin matter mean mind Morrison moved movement murmured mysterious never night Number once paused Pedro perhaps physiognomy quiet Ricardo round Samburan Schom Schomberg schooner seemed shadow shoulders side sight silence smile sort sound Sourabaya speak staring stood strange suddenly surprised Swede table d'hôte talk tell Tesmans There's thing thought tion told tone Tropical Belt Coal trouble turned verandah voice walked Wang wasn’t watched wharf What's whispered woman wonder words wouldn’t Zangiacomo
Bibliographic information
| Title | Victory Armed Services ed Armed Services editions Penguin modern classics The modern library of the world's best books The modern library |
| Author | Joseph Conrad |
| Edition | 2 |
| Publisher | Random House, 1915 |
| Original from | University of Chicago |
| Digitized | 13 Aug 2015 |
| Length | 385 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |