Henry Avila's Reviews > Lord Jim

Jim, no other name is given except the rather pretentious one of Lord, which he acquires later on. A son of an English clergyman, who seeks adventure, among other things at sea. And becomes the first mate of the rusty, old, local steamer Patna at the age of 23. Going from port to port, mostly in the western Pacific . But everything changes, when taking 800 pilgrims to Mecca, something hits the ship underneath, springing a major leak, not good. Opening a hatch, our friend Jim sees water flooding the Patna, any moment she will sink to the bottom of the abyss. Reporting to the obese German captain, what he found. The to be honest not brave officers of the steamer agree with Jim, and decide little time remains, before the vessel goes under. What about all the passengers? Never a big deal, a shortage of lifeboats, will doom them anyways . No warning is given .... Besides, its every man for himself. The captain and his officers take the only lifeboat left (after a vigorous struggle) and go overboard. Leaving one man dead he collapsed of a heart attack. The wavering Jim, finally jumps into the sea, to save himself, no hero. Yet strangely the Patna doesn't disappear under the waves and everyone is rescued by a French gunboat... Of course, all the officers careers are over, after they are picked up too by a different vessel, nobody would hire such cowards. The first mate even testifies at the naval inquiry, the only one of the officers that does , all lose their papers. Later Jim travels from Asian harbor to harbor, he gets supplies for ships in need but always sneaking off when his true identity is discovered. People by then do not care, only the ashamed Jim, still fortune improves when meeting Captain Marlow, an old friend of his. Soon Mr.Stein, a rich European trader with a fabulous butterfly collection, gives him a job, in an Indonesian island jungle. He quickly helps to defeat a local warlord and receives the name Lord Jim for his vigorous efforts . The Englishman has the power, he can do anything he wants there, finding love with a mixed race girl, life can be sweet, however will the moody man every cleanse his soul of his demons? Enemies are around, trying to bring down Lord Jim's jungle kingdom....One of Joseph Conrad's greatest novels, the story of a man who seeks redemption, some place under the sun to live happily, fully, not be condemned for his past indiscretions...A beautiful dream...