Lord Jim

Like all Conrad, Lord Jim is worth persevering with and benefits from a re-reading (my first time was in 2007). While Conrad is rightly identified as being one of the first modernist authors, with a clear conception of the self and its struggles, this does not mean Lord Jim is always an easy read. The novel splits into two distinct halves (the Patna incident and Jim's time in Patusan), but not all of the narration is chronological and the storytelling shifts. Marlow (of Heart of Darkness fame) narrates most but not all the tale. There is also the consideration of what role Conrad's own life played in informing his fiction. One reading of Lord Jim would certainly see it as a critique of empire building and colonial appropriation. At heart, however, is the timeless theme of honour, how it can be lost, regained and fought for, whether victoriously or in a futile fashion. An additional level would take in both a public and private account of the above. Jim, it seems, is never fully free from the consequences of his actions. Beyond this, readers of Lord Jim will appreciate Conrad's take on the power of friendship, the responsibility of privilege, the fragility of courage, the need for forgiveness and more. Ultimately Conrad notes that Jim is ‘one of us’ — we are all weak, mortal and potentially flawed humans. Eight out of ten.

By Joseph Conrad