VictoryAxel Heyst, a dreamer and a restless drifter, believes he can avoid suffering by cutting himself off from others. Then he becomes involved in the operation of a coal company on a remote island in the Malay Archipelago, and when it fails he turns his back on humanity once more. But his life alters when he rescues a young English girl, Lena, from Zangiacomo's Ladies' Orchestra and the evil innkeeper Schomberg, taking her to his island retreat. The affair between Heyst and Lena begins with her release, but the relationship shifts as Lena struggles to save Heyst from the detachment and isolation that have inhibited and influenced his life. Marked by a violent and tragic conclusion, Victory is both a tale of rescue and adventure and a perceptive study of a complex relationship and of the power of love. |
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Page xv
... Lena , because if I were to leave her out it would look like a slight ; and nothing would be further from my thoughts than putting a slight on Lena . If of all the personages involved in the " mystery of Samburan " I have lived longest ...
... Lena , because if I were to leave her out it would look like a slight ; and nothing would be further from my thoughts than putting a slight on Lena . If of all the personages involved in the " mystery of Samburan " I have lived longest ...
Page 186
... at the girl - to whom , after several experimental essays in combining detached letters and loose syllables , he had given the name of Lena . She remarked after a pause : " I was not very far from you . " 186 VICTORY.
... at the girl - to whom , after several experimental essays in combining detached letters and loose syllables , he had given the name of Lena . She remarked after a pause : " I was not very far from you . " 186 VICTORY.
Page 189
... Lena entered the shade of the forest path which crossed the island , and which , near its highest point , had been blocked by felled trees . But their in- tention was not to go so far . After keeping to the path for some distance , they ...
... Lena entered the shade of the forest path which crossed the island , and which , near its highest point , had been blocked by felled trees . But their in- tention was not to go so far . After keeping to the path for some distance , they ...
Page 200
... did not yet know how to live ; that human being so near and still so strange , gave him a greater sense of his own reality than he had ever known in all his life . IV WITH her knees drawn up , Lena rested her 200 VICTORY.
... did not yet know how to live ; that human being so near and still so strange , gave him a greater sense of his own reality than he had ever known in all his life . IV WITH her knees drawn up , Lena rested her 200 VICTORY.
Page 201
Joseph Conrad. IV WITH her knees drawn up , Lena rested her elbows on them and held her head in both her hands . " Are you tired of sitting here ? " Heyst asked . An almost imperceptible negative movement of the head was all the answer ...
Joseph Conrad. IV WITH her knees drawn up , Lena rested her elbows on them and held her head in both her hands . " Are you tired of sitting here ? " Heyst asked . An almost imperceptible negative movement of the head was all the answer ...
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Common terms and phrases
ain't Alfuro arms asked believe boat breath brig bungalow chair cheroot chimæras Chinaman clairvoyance course dark Davidson door doorway eyes face faint feeling fellow felt frightened gaze gentleman gharry girl glance gleam gone governor gunwale hand hanging head heard Heyst hotel-keeper island Java Sea jetty Jones knew Lena light lips looked Malay Martin matter mean mind Morrison moustaches moved movement murmured mysterious never night Number once paused Pedro perhaps physiognomy quiet Ricardo round Samburan sarong sauceboat 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 understand verandah voice walked Wang watched wharf What's whispered woman wonder words Zangiacomo