Victory

Front Cover
Courier Dover Publications, Aug 15, 2017 - Fiction - 336 pages

"The world is a bad dog. It will bite you if you give it a chance," maintains Axel Heyst, a Swedish drifter in the Pacific islands. Heyst's attempt to remain aloof from the rest of humanity is challenged by his compassion for Lena, a destitute orchestra girl. Defying Lena's abusive boss, the two flee to an isolated paradise. But the vengeful employer sets a trio of miscreants on the lovers' trail, leading Heyst's growing moral courage to a deadly reckoning.
First published in 1915, Victory is Conrad's last great novel. Its central question, whether a man of moral sensitivity can function in a corrupt and derelict world, is treated with the author's fundamental pessimism and with faith in the possibility of redemption. The tale abounds in elements characteristic of the great storyteller's later work: an exotic setting, richly and powerfully evoked; muscular prose; complex characterization; and a compelling examination of the human capacity for good and evil.
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Contents

Section 1
3
Section 2
8
Section 3
16
Section 4
21
Section 5
26
Section 6
39
Section 7
43
Section 8
49
Section 21
169
Section 22
176
Section 23
185
Section 24
189
Section 25
196
Section 26
213
Section 27
219
Section 28
226

Section 9
58
Section 10
69
Section 11
74
Section 12
79
Section 13
89
Section 14
101
Section 15
114
Section 16
129
Section 17
136
Section 18
139
Section 19
151
Section 20
163
Section 29
231
Section 30
237
Section 31
250
Section 32
254
Section 33
258
Section 34
268
Section 35
277
Section 36
283
Section 37
296
Section 38
303
Section 39
307
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About the author (2017)

Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) was fluent from birth in French as well as his native Polish. He learned his third language, English, as an adult, and it was in English that he wrote his evocative stories and novels. Conrad drew upon his experiences in the British and French navies to portray the struggles of humanity amid the world's vast indifference.

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