Lord Jim
“Originally intended as a short story, the work grew to a full-length novel as Conrad explored in great depth the perplexing, ambiguous problem of lost honor and guilt, expiation and heroism…played out to their logical and inevitable end.”
The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
Jim, the first mate aboard a small steamer named the Patna, travels from port to port in the Pacific Ocean. When the ship hits floating wreckage, Jim and the crew are forced to abandon it, leaving hundreds of ethnic travelers on board. However, Jim’s reprehensible actions are soon discovered by the court, and he is compelled to face his guilt and redeem himself—a journey that leads him to a remote exotic location where he is revered as “Tuan Jim,” a.k.a. Lord Jim.
Through beautifully evocative descriptions and ponderous, philosophical prose, Conrad delivers a powerful novel about the extremes of pride and self-delusion.
Praise