Book Review: Lord Jim, by Joseph Conrad (1900)

Cover of the 2004 Barnes & Noble edition of Lord Jim, by Joseph Conrad. Lord Jim was first published in 1900. 

Joseph Conrad’s 1900 novel Lord Jim is regarded as one of his finest achievements. Largely narrated by Charles Marlow, who also narrates Conrad’s novella “Heart of Darkness,” Lord Jim tells the story of the titular character, a British sailor who abandoned a ship he thought was sinking. The only problem was the ship didn’t actually sink.  

Conrad’s use of Marlow as a partially involved narrator was a brilliant choice, and I thought it made the novel more interesting than if it was told by an omniscient narrator. Conrad was an astute observer of the human condition, and the novel shows us Jim’s attempts to outrun a cowardly act in his past.  

Marlow listens to Jim spin his tale of the disaster aboard the ship. In a beautiful sentence, Marlow narrates “It is my belief no man ever understands quite his own artful dodges to escape from the grim shadow of self-knowledge.” (p.71) The ship that Jim abandons in the novel is called the Patna, and Conrad based it on what happened to the actual ship SS Jeddah. Both the real Jeddah and the fictional Patna were “pilgrim ships,” bringing Muslims on their way to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. The ships were both manned by white officers, and there’s an obvious racial overtone as one wonders if the officers would have been so quick to abandon ship if their passengers were white Europeans. Both ships made it into port, much to the shock and chagrin of the officers who had abandoned ship.  

Lord Jim is full of Conrad’s beautiful language. One of my favorite passages was this one: “It’s extraordinary how we go through life with eyes half shut, with dull ears, with dormant thoughts. Perhaps it’s just as well; and it may be that it is this very dullness that makes life to the incalculable majority so supportable and so welcome.” (p.118) 

Another favorite sentence of mine was this: “The human heart is vast enough to contain all the world.” (p.251) What a lovely and beautiful image.  

The narrative structure of Lord Jim loses some tension after Jim finishes recounting the official inquiry into his actions during the abandonment of the Patna. With that part of the story complete, there’s less wondering what will happen next. But the rest of the novel is necessary, as the reader learns how Jim establishes a new life for himself, in a new place where he is not defined by a single act of cowardice.  

Conrad wrote Lord Jim for serialization in Blackwood’s Magazine, and it might be the case that the novel expanded as Conrad realized he had more story to tell than just Jim’s abandonment of the Patna. Conrad allows us to see Jim’s redemption as he settles in Patusan, a remote island where no one knows about his past. Eventually, the natives of Patusan start calling him “Tuan Jim,” or “Lord Jim.”  

Like a river, Lord Jim changes course, swirls around, and doubles back on itself. Just like at sea, time expands, as Marlow tell us a story of a hundred pages in a single evening. Like the best literature, Lord Jim takes us on a journey.  

2025 Classic Baseball Era Committee Results

Dick Allen, about to give a baseball a ride.

Dave Parker, with a hat full of stars.

Yesterday, Dave Parker and Dick Allen were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Classic Baseball Era Committee. 12 votes were needed for election, Parker received 14, and Allen received 13. Tommy John got 7 votes, and the other candidates, Ken Boyer, John Donaldson, Steve Garvey, Vic Harris, and Luis Tiant all received fewer than 5 votes. I’m disappointed that Tommy John didn’t get in, but I’m very happy about Parker and Allen being elected, and that my prediction was half correct.  

Allen and Parker were two of the best baseball players not in the Hall of Fame, and I think they make worthy additions to Cooperstown. Allen had come heartbreakingly close to induction, falling just one vote short of induction on two previous Veterans’ Committee ballots. Unfortunately, Allen passed away in December of 2020. Dave Parker is still with us, fortunately, and I’m so glad that he gets to enjoy the thrill of being a Hall of Famer.  

There have been various Veterans’ Committees in the history of the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Veterans’ Committee justly gets a bad rap for the many borderline candidates they elected during the 1960’s and 1970’s, and even into the 1980’s—Travis Jackson, George Kell, and Rick Ferrell, I’m looking at you! Since 2018, the Eras Committees have elected a number of outstanding players that the baseball writers totally whiffed on: Alan Trammell, Lee Smith, Ted Simmons, Gil Hodges, Minnie Minoso, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, Fred McGriff, and now Dick Allen and Dave Parker. You can quibble with Jack Morris and Harold Baines if you want to, but I think they’re worthy additions as well. This is proof that the Veterans’ Committee/Eras Committee is working the way it should: adding deserving players to the Hall of Fame that were overlooked by the writers.  

Now I need to write up my thoughts on the 2025 BBWAA ballot. I have a sneaking suspicion that Allen and Parker will be joined by at least one other inductee next July. (Spoiler alert: it’s Ichiro!)  

Book Review: The Duel, by Joseph Conrad (1908)

The Duel, by Joseph Conrad. Originally published in 1908, this Melville House Publishing edition was published in 2011. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

Joseph Conrad’s novella The Duel was originally serialized in The Pall Mall Magazine in 1908. Melville House Publishing released The Duel as part of their series “the Art of the Novella” in 2011. At just 115 pages, The Duel is a quick little read, and I enjoyed it.  

The Duel is the story of two French officers who fight a series of duels during the Napoleonic Era. The first duel starts for the most ridiculous reason: Lieutenant D’Hubert informs Lieutenant Feraud that the general wants Feraud kept under house arrest because Feraud fought a duel against a civilian earlier that day. Feraud takes exception to this and promptly challenges D’Hubert to a duel. They duel with swords, and D’Hubert wounds Feraud. But the dueling doesn’t end there.  

The story then follows D’Hubert and Feraud as they fight battles, and each other, across the European continent. If you read The Duel, it’s helpful if you have some knowledge of the Napoleonic Era, and the rising and falling fortunes of the French Army during this period. The Melville House edition doesn’t include any explanatory notes, so you’ll have to do your own research on the battles if you’re so inclined. I’ve read a couple of biographies of Napoleon, which served me well as background knowledge here.  

Joseph Conrad was fascinated by the Napoleonic Era, and the literary critic Jocelyn Baines wrote that “His library contained more books connected with this subject than with any other.” This is an interest that Conrad shared with F. Scott Fitzgerald, who was also obsessed with the Napoleonic Era.  

The Duel was made into a movie in 1977 as The Duellists. Starring Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine, who might seem to be unlikely choices to play French Napoleonic officers, it was the debut movie of director Ridley Scott. The Duellists also featured Albert Finney and Edward Fox in supporting roles.  

The Duel struck me as a satire of militarism. Conrad highlights the vain militarism by having the duels start for such a ridiculous reason. And the duels continue because, well, they just continue, much as the wars of the Napoleonic Era just dragged on and on. You can blame Napoleon Bonaparte for the endless wars, but you can also blame all of heredity monarchies of every other country in Europe, who hated Napoleon’s belief in meritocracy.  

Conrad’s wonderful writing style made The Duel very enjoyable to read. One of my favorite descriptions was of an old army surgeon: “Amusing was his favorite word; but the expression of his face when he pronounced it never matched.” (p.24)  

D’Hubert finally meets a young woman who charms him, and Conrad has this to say about his relationship: “The charming girl...had conquered him in the thorough manner in which a young girl by merely existing in his sight can make a man of forty her own.” (p.67) 

Midwesterners will appreciate Conrad’s description of D’Hubert’s mixed feelings about Feraud: “He felt an irrational tenderness towards his old adversary and appreciated emotionally the murderous absurdity their encounter had introduced into his life. It was an additional pinch of spice in a hot dish.” (p.68) Although most Midwesterners don’t like having any spice in their hot dish.  

Feraud is only suited for battle and is unhappy when the wars seem to be over: “The passing away of the state of war, the only condition of society he had ever known, the horrible view of a world at peace, frightened him.” (p.76) 

There are some beautiful lines at the beginning of Chapter 4 of the story: “No man succeeds in everything he undertakes. In that sense we are all failures. The great point is not to fail in ordering and sustaining the effort of our life.” (p.81)  

Conrad’s depiction of a lovestruck D’Hubert is marvelous: “always feeling a special intensity of existence, that elation common to artists, poets, and lovers—to men haunted by a great passion, a noble thought, or a new vision of plastic beauty.” (p.84)  

The Duel is an excellent example of Joseph Conrad’s beautiful writing style, and it’s an evocative story. It’s hard to believe that it was written 116 years ago.  

Book Review: The Most a novel by Jessica Anthony (2024)

The striking paperback cover of The Most, by Jessica Anthony, 2024.

Jessica Anthony’s short novel The Most, takes place on Sunday, November 3, 1957. This was the day that the Soviet Union sent up Sputnik 2, the second spacecraft ever launched—and this time, with a dog inside of it! The Most follows Kathleen Beckett and her husband Virgil throughout the day, as Kathleen spends the whole day in the swimming pool in their apartment complex. The novel flashes back in time, and we learn more about Kathleen and Virgil’s lives that led them to this moment.  

The Most is a fine novel, but the whole point of the novel seemed to me “people in the 1950’s had repressed inner desires.” This is not new information to people who have even a passing knowledge of American pop culture in the 1950’s. Authors like Richard Yates, John Cheever, and John Updike traversed this territory a long time ago, finding the dissatisfaction behind the hollow consumerism of 1950’s America. And that’s not to say that other authors can’t write books about dissatisfied white people living in the suburbs in the 1950’s, but The Most doesn’t bring anything new to the table. Although the novel focuses on Kathleen’s dissatisfaction with her marriage, it’s not really written from a feminist viewpoint.  

One of my problems with Virgil’s character is how his relationship with the cocktail waitress Little Mo is portrayed. Virgil has flirted with Little Mo for a long time. Finally, about six months before November 3, 1957, he sleeps with Little Mo. He only sleeps with her once, and then because of his guilt, upends his whole life, quitting his job, and moving the family to a new state. Virgil even starts going to church every Sunday. Rather than have Little Mo be a one-night stand, the novel would have gained in complexity if Virgil was actually enmeshed in an affair with Little Mo.  

The Most was an interesting, quick read, as I read the entire novel on a plane. It was fine, but it didn’t blow my mind.