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 xiv
... surprised to hear that one morning I was told without any particular emotion by the padrone of the schooner that the " Rich man " down there was dead : He had died in the night . I don't remember ever being so moved by the desolate end ...
... surprised to hear that one morning I was told without any particular emotion by the padrone of the schooner that the " Rich man " down there was dead : He had died in the night . I don't remember ever being so moved by the desolate end ...
Page xv
... surprised of course I didn't stop to think it out . I took the nearest short cut - through the wall . This bestial apparition and a certain enormous buck nigger encountered in Haiti only a couple of months afterwards , have fixed my ...
... surprised of course I didn't stop to think it out . I took the nearest short cut - through the wall . This bestial apparition and a certain enormous buck nigger encountered in Haiti only a couple of months afterwards , have fixed my ...
Page 57
... surprised to hear it , " he said placidly . " Odious enough , I dare say . And you , of course - not being a married man - were free to step in . Ah , well ! " He sat down in the stern - sheets , and already had the steering lines in ...
... surprised to hear it , " he said placidly . " Odious enough , I dare say . And you , of course - not being a married man - were free to step in . Ah , well ! " He sat down in the stern - sheets , and already had the steering lines in ...
Page 71
... surprised into a sympathetic start . He glanced quickly round . Nobody was looking towards the plat form ; and when his eyes swept back there again , the girl , with the big woman treading at her heels , was coming down the three steps ...
... surprised into a sympathetic start . He glanced quickly round . Nobody was looking towards the plat form ; and when his eyes swept back there again , the girl , with the big woman treading at her heels , was coming down the three steps ...
Page 74
... surprised , open gaze , self- consciousness growing on them so slowly that it was a long time before they averted their eyes ; and very soon they met again , temporarily , only to rebound , as it were . At last they steadied in contact ...
... surprised , open gaze , self- consciousness growing on them so slowly that it was a long time before they averted their eyes ; and very soon they met again , temporarily , only to rebound , as it were . At last they steadied in contact ...
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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