Victory: An Island TaleIn 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. Victory was the first of Conrad's novels to be completed after the commercial success of Chance (1914) had transformed Conrad's fortunes and made him internationally famous. It is a more complex example of the literary form which Conrad evolved for Lord Jim: a story of action and high adventure coexisting with an exhaustive study of the psychology of the central character. |
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Page 60
It was really provoking that Davidson should not be able to give one some idea of
the girl . Was she pretty ? He didn ' t know . He had stayed the whole afternoon in
Schomberg ' s hotel , mainly for the purpose of finding out something about ...
It was really provoking that Davidson should not be able to give one some idea of
the girl . Was she pretty ? He didn ' t know . He had stayed the whole afternoon in
Schomberg ' s hotel , mainly for the purpose of finding out something about ...
Page 164
In his simplicity he was not able to give | up the idea which had entered his head .
An idea must be driven out by another idea , and with Schomberg ideas were
rare and therefore tenacious . “ Minted gold , ” he murmured with a sort of
anguish ...
In his simplicity he was not able to give | up the idea which had entered his head .
An idea must be driven out by another idea , and with Schomberg ideas were
rare and therefore tenacious . “ Minted gold , ” he murmured with a sort of
anguish ...
Page 202
He was extremely easy to live with ; but then he got hold of this coal idea - or ,
rather , the idea got hold of him . It entered into that scantily furnished chamber of
which I have just spoken , and sat on all the chairs . There was no dislodging it ...
He was extremely easy to live with ; but then he got hold of this coal idea - or ,
rather , the idea got hold of him . It entered into that scantily furnished chamber of
which I have just spoken , and sat on all the chairs . There was no dislodging it ...
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Common terms and phrases
answer appeared arms asked believe better boat bungalow chair clear close coming Conrad course dark Davidson don't door doubt existence expected expression eyes face fact feeling fellow felt gave girl give glance gone governor hand head hear heard heart Heyst hold idea island Jones keep leave Lena less light lips live looked manner matter mean mind Morrison moved movement murmured nature never night once passed Pedro perhaps raised reason remained Ricardo round Schomberg seemed seen sense shoulders side sight silence smile sort sound speak steps stopped strange suddenly suppose surprised talk tell thing thought tion told tone trouble turned understand verandah voice waited walked Wang watched whispered woman wonder
Bibliographic information
| Title | Victory: An Island Tale Oxford paperbacks World's classics |
| Author | Joseph Conrad |
| Editor | John Batchelor |
| Edition | illustrated, reprint, reissue |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, 1986 |
| ISBN | 0192817086, 9780192817082 |
| Length | 426 pages |
| Subjects | › Fiction / Classics |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |