Folio Archives 106: Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad 1996
Talk Folio Society Devotees
Join LibraryThing to post.
This topic is currently marked as "dormant"—the last message is more than 90 days old. You can revive it by posting a reply.
1wcarter
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad 1996
Between 1996 and 2005, the Folio Society published a uniform set of the 17 works of Joseph Conrad. The books in the series were Almayer’s Folly Arrow of Gold, Chance, Duel, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, Mirror of the Sea, Nostromo, Outcast of the Islands, The Rescue, The Rover, The Secret Agent, The Secret Sharer, The Shadow Line, Typhoon, Under Western Eyes, and Victory. The first book published in this series was Lord Jim. This review can be considered to be representative of the series.
Several of these titles (eg. Lord Jim, Almayer’s Folly, Nostromo, Heart of Darkness) have been published at other times by the FS.
I find Conrad to be rather verbose, as he describes in intricate detail the scene, and the characters in it, using paragraphs that may be 3 pages long. I found it quite easy to scan quickly over these long passages, and underneath them lies the rollicking tale of Jim, a young English man who in the 1890s by various means fair and foul, moves from being the first mate in a dilapidated Moslem pilgrim ship crossing the Indian Ocean, to a vagabond around Southeast Asia, before ending up as the Lord of a remote jungle settlement.
All books in the series are bound in a uniform style of dark blue cloth that is blocked with a black design, with silver highlights and spine title.
Lord Jim runs to 294 pages and is illustrated by 14 full page black and white illustrations by Francis Mosley. There is a 7 page introduction by Gavin Young. The 23x16cm. slipcase is mid-blue with the author’s signature in silver script on the front. The endpapers are plain very pale blue.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
Between 1996 and 2005, the Folio Society published a uniform set of the 17 works of Joseph Conrad. The books in the series were Almayer’s Folly Arrow of Gold, Chance, Duel, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, Mirror of the Sea, Nostromo, Outcast of the Islands, The Rescue, The Rover, The Secret Agent, The Secret Sharer, The Shadow Line, Typhoon, Under Western Eyes, and Victory. The first book published in this series was Lord Jim. This review can be considered to be representative of the series.
Several of these titles (eg. Lord Jim, Almayer’s Folly, Nostromo, Heart of Darkness) have been published at other times by the FS.
I find Conrad to be rather verbose, as he describes in intricate detail the scene, and the characters in it, using paragraphs that may be 3 pages long. I found it quite easy to scan quickly over these long passages, and underneath them lies the rollicking tale of Jim, a young English man who in the 1890s by various means fair and foul, moves from being the first mate in a dilapidated Moslem pilgrim ship crossing the Indian Ocean, to a vagabond around Southeast Asia, before ending up as the Lord of a remote jungle settlement.
All books in the series are bound in a uniform style of dark blue cloth that is blocked with a black design, with silver highlights and spine title.
Lord Jim runs to 294 pages and is illustrated by 14 full page black and white illustrations by Francis Mosley. There is a 7 page introduction by Gavin Young. The 23x16cm. slipcase is mid-blue with the author’s signature in silver script on the front. The endpapers are plain very pale blue.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
2cronshaw
Thanks for yet another useful FS resource, Warwick. I love my Folio Conrad set, it's one I'll certainly be hanging on to as I winnow my FAD hoard to a more manageable Folio collection. I particularly enjoyed Lord Jim. It contains the most beautiful descriptive passages that powerfully evoke the exotic setting yet still provides rollocking adventure while dealing with profound philosophical subjects such as morality, fate and atonement. I find it extraordinary that Conrad wrote so well in his third language which he didn't even become fluent in until he was in his twenties. As an outsider he seemed able to comment more insightfully and objectively on colonisation than most contemporary British authors. With Heart of Darkness, Victory, Lord Jim and so many other works, Conrad to my mind always merits a re-read and is a worthy member of the Folio Pantheon.
3folio_books
>2 cronshaw:
Hello Russell :) Nice to see you here again.
Just wanted to add that I think Francis Mosley's woodcuts are particularly appropriate and added much to my enjoyment of the text.
Hello Russell :) Nice to see you here again.
Just wanted to add that I think Francis Mosley's woodcuts are particularly appropriate and added much to my enjoyment of the text.
4wdripp
>3 folio_books: I agree. I'm a sucker for woodcuts in general, but these are perfect for the stories, and have added to my enjoyment of the works.
5Cat_of_Ulthar
>1 wcarter:
'I find Conrad to be rather verbose, as he describes in intricate detail the scene, and the characters in it, using paragraphs that may be 3 pages long.'
I can't help wondering (and I know, I'm going OT again: story of my life :-)) but: have you read Gormenghast?
'I find Conrad to be rather verbose, as he describes in intricate detail the scene, and the characters in it, using paragraphs that may be 3 pages long.'
I can't help wondering (and I know, I'm going OT again: story of my life :-)) but: have you read Gormenghast?
7Cat_of_Ulthar
>6 wcarter:
Thanks for the link.
And I am obviously never destined for a career as a chat show host as I have managed, not for the first time, to turn an attempt to stimulate discussion into a simple yes or no question.
I did actually try searching on this: 'wcarter + gormenghast'.
0 results.
I'm sure it's my fault, I must not understand the search machine.
Thank you for replying, and I enjoyed the review. And I am also glad that, as I have, you enjoyed Gormenghast. It's a singular piece of work; like nothing else in the world of literature.
But the thing I was wondering about was, if you find Conrad 'verbose', how are you able to stand Peake's entire pages of basically, nothing happening? Or are there other aspects of the series that counteract that for you?
For me, it's all about Fuschia and her struggle to know who she is and who she can love and the consequences of those choices.
:-)
Thanks for the link.
And I am obviously never destined for a career as a chat show host as I have managed, not for the first time, to turn an attempt to stimulate discussion into a simple yes or no question.
I did actually try searching on this: 'wcarter + gormenghast'.
0 results.
I'm sure it's my fault, I must not understand the search machine.
Thank you for replying, and I enjoyed the review. And I am also glad that, as I have, you enjoyed Gormenghast. It's a singular piece of work; like nothing else in the world of literature.
But the thing I was wondering about was, if you find Conrad 'verbose', how are you able to stand Peake's entire pages of basically, nothing happening? Or are there other aspects of the series that counteract that for you?
For me, it's all about Fuschia and her struggle to know who she is and who she can love and the consequences of those choices.
:-)
8wcarter
>7 Cat_of_Ulthar:
Many, many decades ago, as a child, I was taught speed reading. As a result I now have two reading speeds - steady as she goes to enjoy a book, and speed skimming to get the gist of a story. I use the latter technique whenever I am becoming bored, and slow down again when I get to the good bits.
Many, many decades ago, as a child, I was taught speed reading. As a result I now have two reading speeds - steady as she goes to enjoy a book, and speed skimming to get the gist of a story. I use the latter technique whenever I am becoming bored, and slow down again when I get to the good bits.
