Youth, a Narrative
by Joseph Conrad
- Used
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Torrance, California, United States
999 Copies Available from This Seller
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
YOUTH
This could have occurred nowhere but in England, where men and sea
interpenetrate, so to speak--the sea entering into the life of most men,
and the men knowing something or everything about the sea, in the way of
amusement, of travel, or of bread-winning.
We were sitting round a mahogany table that reflected the bottle, the
claret-glasses, and our faces as we leaned on our elbows. There was a
director of companies, an accountant, a lawyer, Marlow, and myself. The
director had been a Conway boy, the accountant had served four years at
sea, the lawyer--a fine crusted Tory, High Churchman, the best of old
fellows, the soul of honour--had been chief officer in the P. & O.
service in the good old days when mail-boats were square-rigged at least
on two masts, and used to come down the China Sea before a fair monsoon
with stun’-sails set alow and aloft. We all began life in the merchant
service. Between the five of us there was the strong bond of the sea,
and also the fellowship of the craft, which no amount of enthusiasm for
yachting, cruising, and so on can give, since one is only the amusement
of life and the other is life itself.
Marlow (at least I think that is how he spelt his name) told the story,
or rather the chronicle, of a voyage:
“Yes, I have seen a little of the Eastern seas; but what I remember best
is my first voyage there. You fellows know there are those voyages that
seem ordered for the illustration of life, that might stand for a symbol
of existence. You fight, work, sweat, nearly kill yourself, sometimes do
kill yourself, trying to accomplish something--and you can’t. Not
from any fault of yours. You simply can do nothing, neither great nor
little--not a thing in the world--not even marry an old m
Synopsis
Conrad's aim was 'by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel . . . before all, to make you see' Heart of Darkness, his exploration of European colonialism in Africa and of elusive human values, embodies more profoundly than almost any other modern fiction the difficulty of 'seeing', its relativity and shifting compromise. Portraying a young man's first sea-voyage to the East in Youth, an unenlightened maturity in Heart of Darkness, and the blind old age of Captain Whalley in The End of the Tether, the stories in this volume are united in their theme - the 'Ages of Man' - and in their scepticism. Conrad's vision has influenced twentieth-century writers and artists from T. S. Eliot to Jorge Luis Borges and Werner Herzog, and continues to draw critical fire. In his stimulating introduction John Lyon discusses the links between these three stories, the critiques of Chinua Achebe and Edward Said, and the ebb and flow of Conrad's magnificent narrative art.
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- IDB PRoductions (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 9781776795420
- Title
- Youth, a Narrative
- Author
- Joseph Conrad
- Format/Binding
- MP3 Audio CD
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 999
Terms of Sale
IDB PRoductions
Refund paid once goods received and checked-in.
Returns must be in an unopened and unused condition.
About the Seller
IDB PRoductions
About IDB PRoductions
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes: