Lord Jim: A Tale (Penguin Popular Classics) (Paperback)

Jim is a well-bred young Englishman who takes to the sea, envisioning a series of adventures in which he will prove his mettle and emerge as a well-regarded man. Alas, when a ship carrying a load of Malay pilgrims to Mecca strikes something and seems destined to sink, and his senior officers all abandon ship without rousing the passengers, he experiences fear and abandons ship as well. But when the ship doesn't sink, Jim is the only crewman to step forward and present himself to the maritime court of inquiry, which strips him of his sailing papers. Thereafter, Jim knocks around the South Seas, working as a water clerk in various ports, and departing whenever someone recognizes him. Finally, the narrator Marlow arranges for Jim to be installed as manager of a remote Malaysian trading post. There, he becomes the ruler and protector of the native people.

The story is not really of importance though; really, we are meant to be taking a long and careful look at the character of Jim. Some may find him to be a tragic and romantic figure, however I view him as the embodiment of self-absorption and pride. Jim's vision of himself as a brave and true fellow is so key to his ego that he literally can't face his own past actions, even though they are utterly understandable and human. And far from seeking to prove or redeem himself, he seeks to remove himself from the sight of anyone who might recognize him. His self-imposed exile among the Malays allows him to fulfill his dream of being an respected leader, and allows him to avoid introspection. Indeed, had he been even slightly introspective, he might have eventually recognized that his overwhelming adherence to a code of honor has not served him particularly well. Ironically (or maybe predictably), at the end of it all, his misguided sense of honor brings death to him, and destruction to his people. It's not too hard to figure out what Conrad, who spend several decades on the high seas, thought of this ideal of honor. One character gives voice to Conrad's views, by saying that Jim died for "a shred of meaningless honor".

To be fair, my jaundiced view of 'Lord Jim' is partly a product of the above. Few books come alive on the Northern Line. However, the only reason that I keep returning to 'Lord Jim' is because I feel that I really ought to finish it.

Conrad does have a way with imagery (as the first reviewer below pointed out). He could certainly turn a phrase, too...but why so many of them? His syntax is often tortuous; his sentences are frequently over-long, with sub-clauses begetting sub-clauses, and no full-stop in sight. Many times I find that I have to re-read passages in order to glean the slightest meaning from them.

The character of Jim is as cardboard as any that I have come across in a serious novel. The stagey, melodramatic way in which most of the people in Conrad's world behave is irritating. The dialogue is equally awful. Are these people practical men of action, or a camp troupe of past-it actors in provincial theatre?

The silly conceit of having Marlowe tell the whole tale as an after-dinner story is ludicrous. This must have been the longest and most boring dinner-party in history, and Marlowe the most unwelcome dinner-guest East of Suez.

I am going to finish this book. Perhaps the final (and long-awaited) depiction of Jim's moral retribution, and the expiation of his guilt, will turn me into one of Conrad's greatest admirers. But I seriously doubt it.

I can only assume that this book is so highly regarded because its themes (honour, guilt, absolution) find echoes within the minds of some readers. And it is very densely-written; I suspect that there are certain self-appointed guardians of 'literature' for whom opacity and unreadability are the highest qualities to which any writer can aspire.

Unless you are one of the above, or a literary masochist, cross the road to avoid this book.

If, having finished it, I experience a Damascene conversion to the ways of Conrad, I promise to return to this site and eat my words.