After two years of training he went to sea, and entering the regions so well known to his imagination, found them strangely barren of adventure. That pretty much sums up Lord Jim.
Once again we read a tangled web of words by Joseph Conrad that somehow landed on a list of greatest 20th Century novels. Once again, we wonder why. It barely made it, being published in 1900 (I’m really being petty here) and isn’t that technically still in the 19th Century? What I’m trying to say is that it does not belong on our list at all and should be barred for any reason we can find. What a terrible book.
The sad thing is that there really is a great story buried under the bad writing. Jim, as a young man, goes to the sea thinking he is looking for adventure. Through a series of minor events, he shows us that he is not suited for the life of honor that he dreams of and that he is basically a coward. During a crisis at sea, he commits an act so cowardly that the shame of it follows him the rest of his life. As he runs from his past, taking one anonymous job after another, he finally winds up in a situation that offers him absolution but demands the ultimate sacrifice.
From start to finish it’s a great story about the forces of good and evil at battle for a man’s soul. Yet Conrad tells it in a bizarre fashion that both belittles the story’s impact and confuses the reader. Initially, the tale is told in a straight narrative that is overly wordy and not necessarily chronological. Perhaps this was just his style of writing as his Heart of Darkness suffered from the same technique. Heart of Darkness also suffered for having a lackluster central character named Marlowe who just had to show up in Lord Jim, not only as a minor player, but as a second narrator. This is bad enough, but then Marlowe starts telling about stuff that he didn’t see himself but got third hand from someone else. You can imagine how murky the details get. I was confused by who was telling the story, who the story was about and what was actually happening. It’s much like sitting around with older relatives that you don’t know that well as they tell tales about people you’ve never heard of. They’ve told the stories so many times that they assume you are familiar with the details and they leave out key points. At times, it’s just annoying.
Conrad’s story structure is unusual. He takes great care in detailing the most mundane facets of life while glossing over the exciting elements. There is no suspense and at the end he could have easily said, “And by the way, Jim died” achieved the same results, and saved some paper. I have read other books from this era that were written in a style far different from today but were far more readable, understandable and enjoyable than Lord Jim.
I bought Lord Jim at a used bookstore for two dollars and the person who had it before me had written all sorts of deep, philosophical notes in the margins in what looks like preparation for a major book report. It was amusing reading how one person attempted to contrive deep meaning out of Conrad’s vague writing.
Joseph Conrad lived an incredible life and before I decide to put myself through reading any more of his work, I would like to read a biography about the man…but certainly not an autobiography.
Next time…Sandra finds something you should actually read!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment