Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly Disappointing
Review: Maybe my expectations were too high. I had purchased a Modern Library hardcover copy of Lord Jim for myself at a second hand bookstore for my birthday. I was really looking forward to reading it. However I struggled to finish the book, which in my edition was 400 pages long. I normally don't have a problem with books that long, and so I can't say that this was the turn-off. So, what was it that disappointed me? I never really felt empathy for any of the characters. In my book if you are looking for a classic tale of moral failure and attempted restoration try Thomas Hardy's "The Mayor of Casterbridge" or Graham Greene's "The Power and the Glory".
Rating: 
Summary: a delicate picture of rough brutality
Review: After reading this book (along with several other of Conrad's books) I am under the impression that Joseph Conrad may very well be my favorite author. Here is another masterpiece, a deeply incisive study of character of the motivation and the ultimate failure of all high-minded ideals. Granted my own personal world view falls directly in line with this realization and therefore prejudices me towards anything the man might write, but, when considering such a lofty title as 'favorite author' one must regard other aspects of the novelist's creation. As with the others, Conrad wins by the power of his stories.Lord Jim is my least favorite of the the four books I have read by Conrad. The story is rather scattered: a righteous young man does something wrong that he holds himself far too accountable for and the public shame the action brought him exaggerates the reality of his failure and makes him believe the rumors swirling around about his so-called cowardice. He spends the remainder of his life trying to reclaim his self-regard, mostly exaggerating his own importance in matters he hardly understands. His goal is to liberate the primitive people of the jungle paradise he inadvertantly finds himself in (due to an effort to escape every particle of the world he once inhabited) and his once high-minded ideals and regard for himself lead him to allow those people to consider him almost a God. Jim likes being a God and considers himself a just and fair one. He treats everyone equally and gives to his people the knowledge of modern science and medicine as well as the everyday archetecture and understanding of trade that those primitive folks would otherwise be years from comprehending. Of course everything ends in failure and misery and of course Jim's restored name will be returned to its demonic status, but the whole point of the novel seems to me that one can not escape their past. Jim, for all his courage in the line of fire has tried to avoid all memory of the once shameful act of his former life and by doing so becomes destined to repeat his mistakes. Lord Jim is far more expansive than the story it sets out to tell, ultimately giving a warning on the nature of history and general humanity that only a writer of Conrad's statue could hope to help us understand. If there is a flaw it is not one to be taken literally. Conrad was a master of structural experimentation and with Lord Jim he starts with a standard third person narrative to relate the background and personalities of his characters and then somehow merges this into a second person narrative of a man, years from the events he is relating, telling of the legend of Jim. It is a brilliant innovation that starts off a little awkward and might lead to confusion in spots as the story verges into its most important parts under the uncertain guidence of a narrator who, for all his insight into others, seems unwilling to relate his personal relevence to the story he is relating. Nevertheless (with a heartfelt refrain), one of the best books I have ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: A master
Review: Reading Joseph Conrad is a true pleasure. His mastery of the language is unparalleled and his sentence structures, although at times dense, as often approach pure poetry. This is even more astounding given the fact that English is a second language for him. This is the story of an untested young English sailor, Jim, who has visualized himself as a man honor and bravery. When he fails miserably at the very first test of his courage, it alters all aspects of his life and his views of himself. Conrad takes us through an intricate retelling of his tale, from the point of his failure forward, through a third party, Marlow - an older sailor who befriends him.
Rating:
Summary: Lord Jim
Review: Conrad's style may be difficult but what he says is oh so interesting. Lord Jim is an idealistic young Englishman who pictures himself as a hero,yet in his first real test he is dissapointed in his own actions. In his first job as first mate on a ship transporting muslim pilgrims to their Holy Land, Jim is confronted with a predicament in which he is unable to act heroically. The ship collides with something in calm waters and is in imminent danger of sinking. Much to Jim's dismay the Captain and crew decide to abandon ship leaving the pilgrims to fend for themselves. Jim does what he can but in an impulsive moment of terror finds himslef jumping from the ship to save himself. Incredibly the ship does not sink and the passengers are rescued by another ship. Rather than run away from his responsibilities like the ship's captain. Jim answers the charges of the maritime review board. At the inquiry, Jim becomes aware of the presence of Marlowe, the story teller in 'The Heart of Darkness'. Marlowe recognizes something honorable in Jim and becomes interested in Jim's well being. The court ruling forbiding Jim to officer another ship for the rest of his life is not nearly as harsh as Jim's own self incrimination. Marlowe assists Jim in finding work as "water clerk" and Jim drifts around the South Seas, never staying very long in one place. Marlowe persuades an old merchant friend to hire Jim to manage one of the remote trading posts that he owns. Jim is dispatched to an island in Malaysia to releive another man who is dishonest. Jim encounters an island that is rife with political strife and warring native tribes. Jim organizes the people to stand up to a tyrant theif who was terrorizing them. Because of his leadership and heroic actions, Jim is deified by the people. Jim befriends the chief's son, Dain Varis and falls in love witha eurasian girl who is the step daughter of Cornelius, the theif who preceeded Jim as the manager of the trading post. Jim regains a part of his own self esteem but is once again put to the test when pirates invade the island. The pirates persuade Jim to let them leave the island without harm. Aided by Cornelius, the pirates leave the island only after they savagely kill several islanders, including Jim's best friend. Rather than leave the island, Jim confronts the greiving chieftan who blames Jim for the death of his son. By doing so Jim achieves his own heroic end.
Rating:
Summary: Timeless Tale of Conscience and Morality
Review: Conrad is not only one of the finest stylists writing in the English language, he is also one of the best to tackle moral issues. A good writer, as we know, does not preach morality, but rather conjures up bits of life that really make us think about who we are. Lord Jim is the story of a man poised to be at the pinnacle of human heroism and ability, who comes face to face with the horror of his weaknesses. Jim is a guy who gives us every sign of being a hero, a reason for pride in the human race, only to take flight at the last moment. Having committed a brutal act of betrayal in a moment of weakness, he sets off to escape his conscience - running away but never quite getting away. No matter how many good things a man can do, Conrad shows us, he can undo in a few seconds. Colonialism figures heavily into the thematic core of the book. We are made to think throughout about the issue of race and racial relations. Does the Western conscience always, if even subconsciously, think itself superior or of more worth to the Eastern? Do we overlook heinous evils in others in favor of tenuous racial connections and conformist attitudes? All of this is explored in the book, as Conrad takes us on an escape from the heart of darkness.
Rating:
Summary: Graduate Level Conrad
Review: This is a useful text for exploring notions of heroism and would be handy in a class that also makes use of Hemingway and Crane. Great book for graduate study - great book for a rainy day (or week).
Rating:
Summary: Tuan Jim
Review: (...)Conrad knows how to tell a story and few have ever been told as well as this one. Lord Jim the character is very appealing but also appealing are the sea and island settings that Conrad describes so well. Those hard to resist settings as well as the tale itself populated by a host of memorable minor characters all conspire to make this an irresistable yarn. It appeals as an adventure but there is plenty to capture the discerning substantive mind as well. Conrad offers a tale about a young man who wishes to be a hero.(...)
Rating:
Summary: A deeply psychological novel
Review: "Lord Jim" marks the beginning of the modern era of the novel. It breaks away from the linear storytelling mode of the Victorian era and instead shifts back and forth in time, gradually pulling together pieces of the story from different points of view that ultimately form an understanding, but never a clear rendering of "the truth," which remains elusive and for the reader to discern. It is a deeply psychological novel. The protagonist, who is known to us only as "Jim," the first mate of a ship in the British merchant marine, struggles with his ultimate decision to abandon, with the rest of the white crew, a seemingly sinking ship, the Patna, which is full of Muslim pilgrims. The ship does not sink after all, and Jim must live with his fateful and enduring decision to "jump" from the Patna. The problem is that Jim does not live with it and reconcile himself to the choice to which he committed; instead, he continues to run away every time his past threatens to catch up with him. Finally, he finds the opportunity to redeem himself, seemingly, on a remote island. But even there, although he can escape gossipy tales of the Patna, he cannot escape himself, and therein he finally meets his resolution. We learn about Jim through the eyes of a fellow sailor, Marlow, who is the narrator of "The Heart of Darkness" published the year before. Marlow is obsessed with Jim, and it is equally intriguing to probe and to attempt to understand Marlow's fascination as it is to attempt to understand Jim himself. "Lord Jim" is a deeply disconcerting novel that, again departing from the Victorian narrative, doesn't tie up all the ends neatly for us at the end and present a satisfying resolution. It's a haunting story whose questions will linger long after you've finished reading it.
Rating:
Summary: grappling with the past
Review: This novel requires undisturbed concentration, and rewards with a rich description of deeply moving moments. I read the book on a Gulf Coast barrier island, where I was escaping from personal strife. Lord Jim is a tragedy about the personal past becoming destiny, and how the past can destroy. This book woke me up; my life has changed. If only Conrad would lighten up for a few paragraphs occasionally...
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing story of a guilt-ridden young man
Review: Published in 1900, this story by British contemporary of Thomas Hardy, Joseph Conrad, is a little hard to read. It is "Literature" (though opinion is divided as to its value) because there is much more going on that just a series of events. Like the Stallone movie "Cliffhanger", the central character is traumatized by an incident when he lost his nerve and abandoned ship. An assignment many guilt-ridden years later gives Jim a chance to redeem himself. There are several factors that make this famous novel hard to read: the old-fashioned morals (white man superiority, social acceptability, duty), descriptions of "the mysterious East", and the use of a narrator (Marlow, no, not the Humphrey Bogart character). At first I found it hard to take Jim's guilt-tripping seriously. The narrator, Marlow, is telling the story to a group of friends at a house one evening after dinner. Although these friends do not figure in the story, we see the glow of their cigars in the dark, and they act as foils for Marlow's narrative: he has to not only tell them the story but also explain how he felt about Jim and why he decided to try and help him. They in turn, together with other characters Marlow meets, comment on Jim. Using Marlow as a narrator also helps to delay the reader's discovery of what actually happened on board the "Patna". At the end, even the physical Marlow fades away, and the final details of what actually happened to Jim are given in a letter from Marlow to a "privileged reader", and are made up of what Marlow gleaned from a number of different sources, including the girl Jewel and Jim's manservant/bodyguard Tamb' Itam. The long drawn-out descriptions and the indirect narration allows the reader to ponder what is going on in Jim's mind, and in Marlow's. Although a modern reader will not agree or even understand what Jim did, the mysteries within the human heart remain as fascinating and as unfathomable as ever. How will we act in an emergency: stick to our duty, or save ourselves? And how would we deal with the feelings of guilt or inadequacy? Jim firmly believes that he would do his duty, and never comes to terms with the fact that he saved himself. All this makes for a challenging read. This story reminded me of Kipling's descriptions of "the far-flung corners of Empire", of Somerset Maugham's stories of the Far East (especially "Before the Party", a traumatic incident recalled), and of Flaubert's "Madame Bovary", that ironic description of a life ruined by the romantic ideals of the day.
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