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 xii
I never saw him again because I believe he went straight on board a mail-boat
which left within the hour for other ports of call in the direction of Aspinall. Mr.
Jones's characteristic insolence belongs to another man of a quite different type.
I never saw him again because I believe he went straight on board a mail-boat
which left within the hour for other ports of call in the direction of Aspinall. Mr.
Jones's characteristic insolence belongs to another man of a quite different type.
Page xiv
... of months afterwards, have fixed my conception of blind, furious, unreasoning
rage, as manifested in the human animal, to the end of my days. Of the nigger I
used to dream for years afterwards. Of Pedro never. The impression was less
vivid.
... of months afterwards, have fixed my conception of blind, furious, unreasoning
rage, as manifested in the human animal, to the end of my days. Of the nigger I
used to dream for years afterwards. Of Pedro never. The impression was less
vivid.
Page 4
But he never did that. Afraid of mosquitoes, very likely. Neither was he ever
tempted by the silence to address any casual remarks to the companion glow of
the volcano. He was not mad. Queer chap—yes, that may have been said, and in
fact ...
But he never did that. Afraid of mosquitoes, very likely. Neither was he ever
tempted by the silence to address any casual remarks to the companion glow of
the volcano. He was not mad. Queer chap—yes, that may have been said, and in
fact ...
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
Morrison never had any spare cash in hand. With his system of trading it would
have been strange if he had; and all these debts entered in the pocketbook
weren't good enough to raise a milrei on—let alone a shilling. The Portuguese
officials ...
Morrison never had any spare cash in hand. With his system of trading it would
have been strange if he had; and all these debts entered in the pocketbook
weren't good enough to raise a milrei on—let alone a shilling. The Portuguese
officials ...
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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 |