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 xvi
... girl . Her detachment from her task seems to me now to have equalled or even surpassed Heyst's aloofness from all the mental degradations to which a man's intelligence is exposed in its way through life . Silent and wide - eyed she went ...
... girl . Her detachment from her task seems to me now to have equalled or even surpassed Heyst's aloofness from all the mental degradations to which a man's intelligence is exposed in its way through life . Silent and wide - eyed she went ...
Page xvii
... girl jumped up as if she had been stung by a wasp . It may have been playfulness . Yet I saw plainly poor " dreamy innocence " rub gently the affected place as she filed off with the other per- formers down the middle aisle between the ...
... girl jumped up as if she had been stung by a wasp . It may have been playfulness . Yet I saw plainly poor " dreamy innocence " rub gently the affected place as she filed off with the other per- formers down the middle aisle between the ...
Page 40
... The sympathetic soul of Davidson drew its own conclusions . " Beastly life for these women ! " he said . " When you say an English girl , Mrs. Schomberg , do you really mean a young girl ? Some of these orchestra girls 40 VICTORY.
... The sympathetic soul of Davidson drew its own conclusions . " Beastly life for these women ! " he said . " When you say an English girl , Mrs. Schomberg , do you really mean a young girl ? Some of these orchestra girls 40 VICTORY.
Page 41
Joseph Conrad. mean a young girl ? Some of these orchestra girls are no chicks . " " Young enough , " came the low voice out of Mrs. Schomberg's unmoved physiognomy . Davidson , encouraged , remarked that he was sorry for her . He was ...
Joseph Conrad. mean a young girl ? Some of these orchestra girls are no chicks . " " Young enough , " came the low voice out of Mrs. Schomberg's unmoved physiognomy . Davidson , encouraged , remarked that he was sorry for her . He was ...
Page 42
... girl ! " You might have knocked me down with a feather , " Davidson told us some time afterward . By then he was taking an indulgent view of both the parties to that amazing transaction . First of all , on reflection , he was by no ...
... girl ! " You might have knocked me down with a feather , " Davidson told us some time afterward . By then he was taking an indulgent view of both the parties to that amazing transaction . First of all , on reflection , he was by no ...
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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