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Lord Jim : a tale

Part of the Penguin Popular Classics series
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When "Lord Jim" first appeared in 1900, many took Joseph Conrad to task for couching an entire novel in the form of an extended conversation - a ripping good yarn, if you like.

Conrad defended his method, insisting that people really do talk for that long, and listen as well.

In fact his chatty masterwork requires no defense - it offers up not only linguistic pleasures but a timeless exploration of morality.

The eponymous Jim is a young, good-looking, genial, and naive water-clerk on the Patna, a cargo ship plying Asian waters.He is, we are told, 'the kind of fellow you would, on the strength of his looks, leave in charge of the deck'.

He also harbours romantic fantasies of adventure and heroism - which are promptly scuttled one night when the ship collides with an obstacle and begins to sink.

Acting on impulse, Jim jumps overboard and lands in a lifeboat, which happens to be bearing the unscrupulous captain and his cohorts away from the disaster.

The Patna, however, manages to stay afloat. The foundering vessel is towed into port - and since the officers have strategically vanished, Jim is left to stand trial for abandoning the ship and its 800 passengers.

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Product Details
Penguin Classics
0140620141 / 9780140620146
Paperback
823.912
13/01/1994
United Kingdom
English
Classics
312 p.
18 cm
general Learn More
Quiz No: 236417, Points 24.00, Book Level 9.10,
Upper Years - Key Stage 3 Learn More
Reprint.