Book 13: Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

I know a few people who just detest Joseph Conrad but, in my limited readings (I've only read Heart of Darkness) I find that I actually enjoy his writing.  I find it impressive that he writes such good prose for a non-native English speaker and I think that his depictions of the human psyche are quite interesting and believable.  I had a couple of Conrad novels to choose from and Lord Jim kept popping to the top of the list so, with very little knowledge of what it's about, I'm going to give it a go.

It's 417 pages in my copy so that makes about 60 pages per day.  I have a couple of other events coming up this week, however, so I'll probably have to do a bit better than that.

REVIEW:  I had a hard time getting through this one.  It didn't capture my attention quite as well as some of the other books I've been reading lately.  I also had a lot of things going on this past week and wasn't able to read as often as I'd have liked to and maybe that had something to do with it.

The book is roughly split into three main sections.  The first part reads very mysteriously as you are told about the title character, Jim, and that there is something about his past that haunts him.  Little by little we are let in to the secret and all comes out eventually.  The second part deals with the complete story of the event that has shaped Jim's life.  It reminded me of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner the way that the narrator is held enthralled while the main character tells his unfortunate story.  Finally, we are shown the effects of this event and Jim's gradual redemption through the assistance of the narrator.

It was this final part that seemed to drag on a bit.  I kept wondering how much could possibly be left while I still had 150 pages to go.  Conrad managed to keep the story going, however, and I eventually made it to the end.

The plot was interesting and some passages were very well written but, ultimately, it felt more like a chore to finish the book.  I certainly didn't hate the book, but it wasn't one of my favorites.  It's definitely a good book, but not for me.  5/10.