Conrad was 43 when he wrote this novel, number 4 on the official "A"-List of the Fireside Reading Club. A wonderful book. Very hard to read, requiring great concentration and continuous rereading of certain pages until things become clear. He writes in a very strange manner, with tales within tales, and continually giving the results of actions before we know what the actions are, so that we are forever mistakenly under the impression we've missed something. Nevertheless, a great, solemn and wonderful book with a nicely ambiguous ending. For instance, what would Jim have done if Doramin had turned down the chance to shoot him? It would appear he would have "jumped" once more, starting the chain of self-loathing and guilt all over again, though presumably in not as extreme a manner this time. It's a great novel about guilt, innocence and betrayal, and how betrayal and guilt become easier to handle with time, and innocence can create the breeding ground for both. This of course is a great simplification. Glad I decided to take a break and watch the film version of Lord Jim half way through reading the book, for although the film is not all that faithful to the book, the young Peter O'Toole is absolutely perfect as Jim. I gave a friend a brief synopsis of Lord Jim and she said it sounded like The Red Badge of Courage (which I haven't read, and, since it misses being twentieth century by five years, I probably never will). There appears to be a Dickens connection or two in Lord Jim - Cornelius is very much drawn after Uriah Heep in David Copperfield, and Conrad's habit of breaking up dialogue with dashes is very Dickensian, as well as being highly unnatural. There is also a lot of Buddhism in Conrad, but then again there is in most great novelists, and sometimes even the not-so-great.
