Victory: An Island Tale

5 Responses to “Victory: An Island Tale”

1. Anonymous says:

   July 2, 2010 at 6:27 pm

   Conrad is the second of Mencken-recommended authors I have read since reading a Carl Bode biography of H.L. Mencken. In that biography, Mencken said Conrad, as well as Theodore Dreisier and Sinclair Lewis, were the best realists who approached life through their writings as Mencken saw the world. Creative loners whose ambition is challenged by the dreadful humans surrounding them. Heyst, Victory’s main character, is similar to the main character in Dreiser’s “The Genius.”
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
2. A. Saha says:

   July 2, 2010 at 8:40 pm

   that is an additional message i got from this very readable, chilling book. Additional reviewers have already touched upon many aspects of this book, so i won’t replicate. One of the most illuminating books i have read, and i read this about 15 years ago.
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
3. chris richardson-child says:

   July 2, 2010 at 9:18 pm

   Conrad’s brilliance in my eyes is heightened by the fact that he is writing in his second language, English. In Britain we aver him as British and in Poland he is is claimed as Polish – and why wouldn’t we all aver this genius of the descriptive, the fleshing out of characters and the forceful and taciturn dialogue. Based on his experiences at sea at the turn of the century all these books – and Victory: An Island Tale is no exception – it is 5 stars. But one word of warning – if you want to get to know Conrad – avoid movies – such as the Sam Neil Willem Dafoe – disasters. Read him. His books cannot be effectively translated to the screen as they depend too much on the imagination of the reader. The screen only serves to diminish his work
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
4. Eggbert the Great says:

   July 2, 2010 at 10:15 pm

   Joseph Conrad has long been one of my favorite authors. His works can be hard to know, with all the shades of meanings and the intricate plots, but Conrad’s novels have permanently been worth the effort. Victory was one of the more readable works; and one of the most spell-binding. A fantastic tale by a fantastic leader: I’m very glad I read this!
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
5. Barry J. Wythoff says:

   July 3, 2010 at 12:23 am

   Just perfectly written, with no lapses in quality throughout its part, this novel is both terribly romantic and terribly tragic. Rather like a Greek tragedy in it’s drama and grandeur, this work was much better to my taste than the better known “Heart of Darkness” which inspired Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” – a very thinly veiled adaptation set in Vietnam.

   I cannot propose this work to be the pinnacle of literature, and yet, when only 5 levels may be granted, this is certainly a 5. Well worth reading.
   
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5