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And the best of it was that the danger was all over already. There was no danger any more. The supposed nephew's appearance had a purpose. He had come, full, full to trembling--with the bigness of his news. There must have been rumours already as to the shaky position of the de Barral's concerns; but only amongst those in the very inmost know. No rumour or echo of rumour had reached the profane in the West-End. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Conrad's Strangest Triumph
So well-crafted, so engaging, so powerfully written - it's hard believing "Chance" was written by Joseph Conrad. Not that Conrad didn't write great books, just that nothing in "Lord Jim," "Heart Of Darkness," or the rest of his tough, unsettling oeuvre prepares you for the wry warmth and hidden sunlight of "Chance."

Well, you do have Marlow again. The narrator of "Jim" and "Darkness" is back here telling another story about people he doesn't actually know first-hand. This time the central character is young Flora de Barral, set adrift in England by her father's scandal-plagued financiering. Haunted and helpless, her wide blue eyes giving her the look of "a forsaken elf," Flora takes what comes in life, seemingly unable to function for herself. Can she find her own way? Will she become ruthless if she tries?

All this may sound precious and twee, very much in the style of period romances more suited to Henry James than what you expect from the shamelessly macho Conrad, with his damned souls sailing heedless into typhoons. Yet Conrad makes this odd Merchant-Ivory production work by making you care for Flora in a way that draws you in more deeply than even the classic "Lord Jim" ever did. "Jim" was a philosophical novel; "Chance" is a uniquely intuitive one, more about feelings than ideas, yet quite brilliant in its concept all the same.

Published in 1913, one year before World War I would change forever the genteel world it so painstakingly describes, "Chance" was the one book by Conrad that clicked with readers in his own lifetime. It's been disregarded since, as modern readers embrace more dour Conrad fare like "The Secret Agent" and "Nostromo."

It's our generation's loss. Missing "Chance" is missing the other side of Conrad, the bleak nihilist discovering for once "the precise workmanship of chance, fate, providence, call it what you will." Other Conrad books feature broken-up narratives and odd framing devices, but the structural convolutions in "Chance" actually propel the story rather than hold it back.

Marlow's narration is a marvel of storytelling economy, carrying you across windswept moors and the high seas, not to mention a source of much dry wit as the rather mysterious misogynist fires many shots across the bow of womankind. "Mainly I resent that pretence of winding us around their dear little fingers, as of right," he snorts.

Is Flora exhibit A in this case against? Certainly she winds the helplessly infatuated Captain Anthony around her finger, despite her apparent total lack of reciprocal devotion. Flora does love, only it is in a flawed way, for her crabbed, corrupt father who believes the two of them too good for the rest of the world. Yet love can be a form of redemption despite itself.

Women, Conrad writes, can be fiendish and dumb, yet they are "never dense." "There is in woman always, somewhere, a spring." Realizing that spring here is at the heart of "Chance," and makes for Conrad's strangest triumph, the one book of his that not only makes you feel smarter for reading it, but happy to be alive.

An obscure gem from one of history's greatest writers
My first Conrad read was Victory, and I have been hooked ever since.I chose Chance because it was Conrad's first commercial success, and I was curious to see what the public liked better than so many other great novels such as Lord Jim.As other reviewers have suggested, the ending must have been the difference.There is far more sweet than bitter, and it's usually the other way around in his books, especially the love stories.I suspect we may learn more from sad stories than from happy ones, but in any event, Chance is not without pain and suffering.As the capable narrator Marlowe repeatedly emphasizes, the novel's heroine, Flora, leads a difficult life. Her father is one of the great villans in literature.He really steals show from Marlowe--well, almost.
What I like most about Conrad's use of the narrator, particularly in Chance, is his role as an interpreter.In most novels, the reader must examine the story itself for the life lessons Conrad so uniquely presents.Marlowe enables Conrad to speak more directly to the reader, and I found him doing so more in Chance than in Lord Jim.There are a few arguably gratutious digressions--one about the differences between men and women comes to mind--but that's Marlowe.
The bottom line: if in reading Lord Jim, you really enjoyed Marlowe's character, you will love the extra depth and insight Chance provides.If you love Conrad, then I expect you will find this to be one his most enjoyable books.And, if you have never read Conrad, but are curious, this is an excellent novel to start with, for it cannot be sterotyped as a South Seas adventure novel full of Pacific atmosphere and nautical terms.

A sublime piece of work
From the author famous for seminal works like The Heart of Darkness, The Secret Agent and Nostromo this novel is often left unmentioned within his repertoire of books.This is unfair.I would say Chance is Conrad's most beautiful story, the construction of the plot masterly from start to conclusion, and probably the only novel of his which genuinely leaves a good feeling and makes the reader smile.His handling of the material from Marlow the teller of the tale, the way the novels flits from present to the past and back again flawlessly, surprises one how so far ahead Conrad was compared to the standard straight-line story telling that dominated writing of that era.But bottomline is despite the technical perfection, a story would only succeed its telling if it has heart.Here Conrad never faltered and one feels for the heroine in the story, and it would be hard not to let out a whoop of bemused joy once the final page is turned.Simply sublime.

Marlow does it again
Chance is a wonderful Conrad novel that no one really pays attention to nowadays. True, it does not have the same magic as Lord Jim or Heart of Darkness, but it is brilliant in that Conradian way. It features the return of Marlow, so it is an especially interesting read for Conrad fans who have been with Marlow through other novels and stories. His role in this book is less hands-on. He does not have a very strong tie to the two characters he most discusses. He does, however, have a more active role in the actual narration. His audience this time is not passive, but questions his analyses and puts in their own ideas. A hilarious example:
"You are the expert in the psychological wilderness. This is like one of those Redskin stories where the noble savages carry off a girl and the honest backwoodsman with his incomparable knowledge follows the track and reads the signs of her fate in a footprint here, a broken twig there, a trinklet dropped by the way."

For those unfamiliar with Marlow, the commentator is refering to his capacity for putting together pieces of information to create a sketch of a person, and we have to filter through some of Marlow's pretensions to get a real view of what is going on in his story. At one point, he compares women to electricity. Both have been captured, "but what sort of conquest would you call it? (Man) knows nothing of it. And the greater the demand he makes on it in the exultation of his pride the more likely it is to turn on him and burn him to a cinder." Ah, Marlow, you rambling fool.

This is the novel that brought Conrad popular success, rather late in his career. It is one of his only female characters with a dominant role, but don't expect a strong feminist type. Flora de Barral is naive, at the mercy of others and their wills. I didn't feel quite as close to the characters, and Conrad tries a little too hard to philosophize on the role of chance and circumstance in our lives. Still, very enjoyable, witty, pure Conrad that you shouldn't miss.

Excellent
This book is just perfect.It's very well written.Conrad shows an understanding of the predicament of women of his time.Conrad advances the plot though the voice of the characters, who tell a story, which involves another character telling a story, etc.At one point the tale is six levels deep; but such is the skill of Conrad that you do not notice and are never lost.One of Conrad's two or three best.A book I was sad to end because I was enjoying it so much. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.Download Description
The last word of this novel was written on 29 May 1914. And that last word was the single word of the title. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (26)

Paradise was lost forever
"Victory" is not so much a conventional novel as a fable, with strong influences of the Bible, Milton's "Paradise Lost" and Shakespeare's "The Tempest". This story is absolutely marginal, that is, it occurs to people who inhabit the margins of the world, the margins of society, and within the margins of a common life. The characters also operate in one or the other of the two extremes of morality. Axel Heyst, a Swede son of a bitter and disenchanted philosopher, is extremely influenced by the parental way of thinking, to the point that he follows the advice provided by his dying father. When Heyst, disconcerted at the foot of the bed, asks him what is the proper way to live, Heyst senior answers: "Look on, and make no sound". So, after his father dies, Axel emigrates to the colonies in Southeastern Asia, where he makes a living as a merchant, coming and going about the islands. Heyst is a distant but kind guy, always with a smile on his face and willing to help others, but always refusing any kind of intimacy. One day, he enters a business about a coal mine with an associate, the death of whom (not a murder) he is later accused of provoking, which gives him a reputation throughout the islands as a mysterious, somewhat mischievous man. His main detractor is a hotel keeper, one Schomberg, a hateful, coward, and calumnious man. After the business goes broke, Schomberg escalates his tirades about "that Swede", slowly developing an irrational hatred towards him. Meanwhile, unaware of his reputation and of Schomberg's hatred, Heyst decides to stay on the remote island where the coal mine used to be, totally isolated from humanity, except for the silent and shadowy company of his servant, Wang.

One day, on account of old business affairs, Heyst travels to the island where Schomberg's hotel is, and stays there. There he meets a young woman who plays in a "ladies orchestra", managed by a sinister couple who practically treats their employees as slaves. The girl, Lena, tells Heyst that the hideous Schomberg has been sexually harassing her, and begs him to get her out of there. Heyst, attracted by the beauty and mystery of the girl, manages to smuggle her out of the hotel and take her to his island. This, of course takes Schomberg's hatred to extremes. A little time later, three criminals arrive to the hotel. They force Schomberg to host illegal gambling, and make his life hell, practically taking over the place. As the secretary of the boss (one Mr. Jones), Martin Ricardo, reveals their past (true or imaginary, but certainly scary), Schomberg comes up with an idea. He tells them that Heyst keeps vast amounts of money on the island. Ricardo convinces his boss to go there and assault him. He hides from his boss the fact that there is a girl, for Mr. Jones has an irrational hatred and fear of women. Meanwhile, Heyst and Lena lead a loving, peaceful life.It's easy to see here the metaphor of Adam and Eve. One day, the three thugs arrive, almost dead, and Heyst rescues and shelters them, but with a gloomy feeling of something bad to come.

It would be foolish to reveal anything more. The rest is a hair-rising game of psychological chess, where suspense and tension are almost unbearable. The intruders in Paradise and the primeval Man and Woman struggle to achieve their ends, in sequences of undescribable beauty and sadness.

As I said at the beginning, this is more a fable than a common novel. I think it is wrong to do what another reviewer here, Bruce Kendall (otherwise an excellent one) did: to concentrate on novelistic technique. Yes, the narrator begins by being a casual follower of the story, and ends by being omniscient. Yes, some of Heyst's and Lena's dialogues are almost corny. Yes, the allusions to Paradise Lost are too obvious. But that's not the content nor the point. This is a powerful, moving, unforgettable tale of innocence violated, of pure evil against goodness, of the pain stupid and useless people can inflict on persons who are only minding their own business. It is also a cautionary tale about the perils of isolation. About the dangers incurred on by giving up on people, on love, on trust. At some point, Heyst wishes he had learned to hope and to fight as a young man. So many subjects, the quality of character development, so beautiful a literature (you will find passages and sentences that are real poetry), make for a great piece of art. Joseph Conrad grows in time as one of the quintessential writers of history.

One of My Favorite Books
Joseph Conrad is my favorite novelist. His characters live and breathe and you don't just read about them, you keep company with them long after the book ends. You're not just reading a story, you are going on an adventure and after the last page is turned you have made a new friend. In this book especially you are brought up short about how Fate turns on the smallest detail and the knowledge that we must find something in life to sustain us other than getting what we want.

Great story and great art
Conrad once again proves his excellence as both a storyteller and a stylist. The images and ideas of this book are sharp. I haven't stopped thinking about Victory since turning the last page. The villains are more fleshed out than the protagonists which makes for delicious reading.

Despite the small number of pages devoted to her, Lena is the focus of the story. Her victory provides the title of the novel. A symbol of strength and loyalty,Lena's actions speak of far more depth than a generic heroine. When she first encounters Heyst, she inspires his courage and re-ignites his contact with the world. A lesser author would have made her stunningly beautiful, but Conrad uses her inner-beauty to ignite the flame that Heyst and Ricardo find spellbinding. I believe that the smoldering volcano in the background of the story is a symbol of Lena.

While it is clear that there is underlying symbolism of Adam, Eve, and the garden, these symbols only have limited usefulness in examining Victory. Conrad uses these allusions to add depth and strength to the story, but the plot and themes of the story only vaguely follow biblical references.

Victory requires sacrifice
Victory.Seven letters that seem so clear and simple to understand.Yet Conrad weaves a story around the meaning of this word that is beautiful yet tragic, clear yet confusing, delightful yet disasterous.Conrad intentionally creates these contradictions to remind the reader that life is not simple, and has many contradictions.Any victory requires sacrifice, and it is only at the end of Heyst's life that he understands this truth both intellectually and experientially.Victory is a must read, as it reminds the reader that love and freedom require sacrifice at some level.This is a message that is often lost in the age of cell phones, instant messaging, and video streaming.

A Lesson Learned
Victory presents a philosophical story of a man who learns that his own philosophy has robbed him of a life worth living.The novel is Conrad's answer to the prevailing view that only facts matter, that emotions such as love have no basis in reality.

The protagonist, Axel Heyst, is the son of a philosopher who once wrote, "Of the strategems of life, the most cruel is the consolation of love."His philosophy Conrad compares to a "terrible trumpet which had filled heaven and earth with ruins..."After his father dies, Heyst wanders the globe, looking "only for facts" until he becomes enchanted with a South Sea archipelago.Therafter, he is drawn to two people who provide models of friendship and love.Morrison, a small craft owner whose generosity has left him bankrupt, Heyst helps out of his bind only to fail to understand why the man is so grateful and anxious to repay him.But it is the girl Lena who fills him with an emotion that he cannot express or understand until the novel's end.After rescuing her from a life of exploitation, Heyst takes her back to his island where he is determined to live apart from the world.

It's only after his island is invaded by two criminals that Heyst discovers how much his actions toward Morrison and Lena were motivated by love.When he learns that the jealous hotelkeeper, Schomberg, has told everyone that "the Swede" had swindled his friend out of all his money before sending him to England to die, Heyst becomes upset, even though he had never cared what the world thought of him.When the malefactors Jones and Ricardo threaten Lena's life, he at last becomes involved in the world that he had left behind.

Suspenseful and chilling, Heyst's fight with the criminals ends with a victory having multiple meanings.Unlike with his other work, Conrad falls back on the plot device of coincidence to make a satisfactory ending, but the artifice only slightly mars a book that should be read as much for its message as for its story. ... Read more

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Word count: 7929. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.Download Description
who maintained that his name was Henry Price. However, for some reason or other, the natives down the river had given him the name of Makola, and it stuck to him through all his wanderings about the country. He spoke English and French with a warbling accent, wrote a beautiful hand, understood bookkeeping, and cherished in his innermost heart the worship of evil spirits. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Mental Unrest
In these tales, people are put under heavy mental stress by fatal accidents, hostile environments or insoluble doubts. Their reactions become uncontrollable.
The short stories give a good picture of Conrad's themes, story building with surprising outcomes and view on mankind: `Morality is not a method of happiness'.

In `Karain: a Memory', a Malay war-chief makes an odyssey trying to kill a woman who left her native village with a white man. He becomes haunted by the spirit of his dead brother.
In `The Lagoon', the adduction of a woman turns into a fatal accident. `There is no light and no peace in the world; but there is death - death for many. I left him in the midst of the enemies; but I am going back.'
In `An outpost of Progress', two lonely `progressive' colonialists become haunted by their hostile environment; `a suggestion of things vague, uncontrollable, and repulsive, whose discomposing intrusion tries the civilized nerves.'
In `The Return', a marriage turns sour on the impossible `certitude of love and faith'.
In `The Idiots', a less successful offspring puts a marriage under extreme pressure.

These sometimes furiously written stories with their high evocative power of landscapes, feelings and conflicts should not be missed.

Probing the Murky Waters ot the Soul
his anthology of 216 pages provides an excellent introduction for new readers to Polish-born Joseph Conrad, who deftly paints on an English canvass.Having selected five of his tales the editors present readers with settings in both the exotic tropics of Malaysia and Africa, as well as the chilly social milieus of socialite London and pastoral France.Perhaps the editors chose the word UNREST for their title, because all the protagonists experience psychological malaise from a diversity of causes.

KARAIN.This Malay chieftain feels cursed by his past, so he desperately seekst a new English charm to ward off his fatal stalker.

THE IDIOTS.A simple French peasant couple are cursed by bearing children who are severely mentally retarded.

OUTPOST OF PROGRESS.The title is sheer irony, since a useless African trading station is run by two ineffectual English agents. The men are pursued by their failed pasts, general laziness, incompetence, extreme heat and company indifference.

THE RETURN.A young socialite husband returns home to discover a note from his wife, explaining that she has left him for another man.In this most psychological of the tales, the wronged husband undergoes a series of intense emotions and decisions, ultimately defying the very Society he represents.

THE LAGOON.A native is pre-grieving the death of his beloved wife, unburdening his soul before his only white friend.Although this represents Conrad's first published short story, curiously it concludes this particular anthology.Prepare to explore the murky waters of the human heart and soul.
... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.Download Description
Certain individualities grow into fame through their vices and their virtues, or simply by their actions, which may have a temporary importance; and then they become forgotten. The names of a few leaders alone survive the end of armed strife and are further pre- served in history; so that, vanishing from men's active memories, they still exist in books. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.Download Description
I had the time to see her dull face, red, not with a mantling blush, but as if her flat cheeks had been vigorously slapped, and to take in the squat figure, the scanty, dusty brown hair drawn into a tight knot at the back of the head. She looked quite young. With a distinct catch in her breath, her voice sounded low and timid. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more