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 58
... waited , ringing the bell again and again , and swallowing two or three iced drinks which he did not want . Presently , as he hoped it would happen , Mrs. Schomberg came in , silk dress , long neck , ringlets , scared eyes , and silly ...
... waited , ringing the bell again and again , and swallowing two or three iced drinks which he did not want . Presently , as he hoped it would happen , Mrs. Schomberg came in , silk dress , long neck , ringlets , scared eyes , and silly ...
Page 184
... waited for some time , very still , the top of his shaven poll exactly level with the floor of the back verandah . His face meanwhile preserved an inscrutable immobility . Suddenly he stooped to pick up the lid of a deal candle - box ...
... waited for some time , very still , the top of his shaven poll exactly level with the floor of the back verandah . His face meanwhile preserved an inscrutable immobility . Suddenly he stooped to pick up the lid of a deal candle - box ...
Page 243
... waited , two vague shapes nearly mingled together in the darkness of the verandah , from which issued a sudden chattering of Mr. Jones's teeth , directly suppressed , and a slight shuffle of Ricardo's feet . Their guide and host , his ...
... waited , two vague shapes nearly mingled together in the darkness of the verandah , from which issued a sudden chattering of Mr. Jones's teeth , directly suppressed , and a slight shuffle of Ricardo's feet . Their guide and host , his ...
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Common terms and phrases
Alfuro arms asked believe boat breath bungalow chair Chinaman Chink Conrad course dark Davidson door doorway dream eyes face faint feeling fellow felt Flores Sea Ford Madox Ford frightened gaze gentleman girl glance gleam gone governor hand head heard Heyst hotel-keeper island Java Sea jetty JOHN BATCHELOR Jones Joseph Conrad Lena light lips looked Lord Jim Martin matter mean mind Morrison moved murmured mysterious never night Norman Sherry Nostromo Number once Pedro perhaps Ricardo round Samburan Schom Schomberg schooner secretary seemed seen shadow shoulders side sight silence smile sort sound Sourabaya speak staring stood strange suddenly surprised table d'hôte talk tell Tesmans There's thing thought tion told tone Tony Tanner turned understand verandah voice walked Wang Wang's watched wharf What's whispered woman wonder words Zangiacomo