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 xv
Since this Note is mostly concerned with personal contacts and the origins of the
persons in the tale, I am bound also to speak of Lena, because if I were to leave
her out it would look like a slight; and nothing would be further from my thoughts ...
Since this Note is mostly concerned with personal contacts and the origins of the
persons in the tale, I am bound also to speak of Lena, because if I were to leave
her out it would look like a slight; and nothing would be further from my thoughts ...
Page 4
His most frequent visitors were shadows, the shadows of clouds, relieving the
monotony of the inanimate, brooding sunshine of the tropics. His nearest
neighbour—I am speaking now of things showing some sort of animation—was
an indolent ...
His most frequent visitors were shadows, the shadows of clouds, relieving the
monotony of the inanimate, brooding sunshine of the tropics. His nearest
neighbour—I am speaking now of things showing some sort of animation—was
an indolent ...
Page 6
There are more spells than your commonplace magicians ever dreamed of.
Roughly speaking, a circle with a radius of eight hundred miles drawn round a
point in North Borneo was in Heyst's case a magic circle. It just touched Manila,
and he ...
There are more spells than your commonplace magicians ever dreamed of.
Roughly speaking, a circle with a radius of eight hundred miles drawn round a
point in North Borneo was in Heyst's case a magic circle. It just touched Manila,
and he ...
Page 23
It became the fashion with a good many to speak of Heyst as the Enemy. He was
very concrete, very visible now. He was rushing all over the Archipelago, jumping
in and out of local mail-packets as if they had been tramcars, here, there, and ...
It became the fashion with a good many to speak of Heyst as the Enemy. He was
very concrete, very visible now. He was rushing all over the Archipelago, jumping
in and out of local mail-packets as if they had been tramcars, here, there, and ...
Page 27
He isn't the sort of man one can speak familiarly to. There's something in him.
One doesn't care to. “'But what's the object? Are you thinking of keeping
possession of the mine?' I asked him. “'Something of the sort, he says. “I am
keeping hold.
He isn't the sort of man one can speak familiarly to. There's something in him.
One doesn't care to. “'But what's the object? Are you thinking of keeping
possession of the mine?' I asked him. “'Something of the sort, he says. “I am
keeping hold.
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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 |