Rating: 
Summary: The most inspiring book of man's protean emotions.
Review: Everything in this book accords to its content and very message. Joseph Conrad's style, his sentence structure keeps in perfect beat with the events of the narrative. Despite contrary opinions, I hold that the lengthy sentences were the only way to deliver to the reader the full impact of what kind of man Jim was like; Conrad exposes every thought of the man and the emotion haunting it with terrfic and horrifying truth. This book stirred and inspired the romantic side of me, and devestated me whenever I was forced to realize that it was all hopless dreaming in the end. Above all, however, the very sense of honour (a virtue seemingly forgotten in today's culture, or perhaps only in America) in Jim gave me a universal truth and direction; this story of a man that is the truest of them all to himself is the most thought- invoking book I've ever read.To all who are thinking of picking this book up- It is a rich and orientaled lilac egg, with a treasure of meat inside that can only be described as ambrosia to the last great men. It is a voyage on the mysterious and endless sea of black waters; and once the voyage has been finished, the truth of men will be held- if you're ready.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Wordy!
Review: I was assigned this book through my 10th grade English course. Never before have I been forced to struggle through a book like this one. Conrad's style is adds superfluous information that does absolutely nothing to advance the plot or symbolic significance of the story. The sentences and paragraphs were too large to be dealt with rationally. One of the chapters, which is about 4 and a half pages, is one single paragraph! While the story itself was a good one, Joseph Conrad ruins it with his esoteric and over-descriptive style of novel-writing.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I love Conrad, so I was very disappointed when I read (or slogged through) LORD JIM. Conrad was heavily under the influence of Henry James when he wrote this book, and if you like Henry James, then you'll probably like this one. But, as Michael Crichton said about Henry James, "I can't stand Henry James. His stuff reads like a first draft." Conrad writes like Henry James here in that the sentences are eternal and convoluted, and take forever to make a point. And every little thing in LORD JIM is symbolic of...you name it: man's despair, etc. As I said, I love Conrad: HEART OF DARKNESS, NOSTROMO, his short stories. But I found LORD JIM a totally unwelcome change in his writing style, and it was pure tedium for me to make it to the last page
Rating:
Summary: Simply the finest psychological novel in English
Review: This book is spell-binding for anyone who has lived imagining themselves in fantastic opportunities to display heroism. The role of failure and cowardice exemplified in Jim is a seed resting in all of us and the only thing that keeps it a seed and not a plant is the lack of opportunity for failure that Jim faces and fails. Although he redeems himself, that is not the strength of the book. Its strength rests in the exploration of his struggle to explain his actions to himself after failing the pilgrims and himself. The chapters post-failure and pre-success are exceptional in the study of his thoughts and inner struggle through the medium of his actions.
Rating:
Summary: One man's flight from the shame of his past.
Review: A story of glimpses and rumours, a flight from a shamed past, and the redemption of a brave present. This tale captures the spirit of an age when reputation meant evrything to a man, when the taint of cowardice or failed duty would drive men to the ends of the earth, to hide, or perhaps, to find themselves. Lord Jim follows the advantures of one such man across the far-flung Islands of the Pacific and Indian Ocean. The story conveys the grief of mistakenly following the herd, the despair of recognition of a guilty secret, and the hope of a new life. Conrad manages to convey the reader from the smokey verandahs of tropical colonies where a jaded traveller recounts a story of an almost legendary fugitive, to the sun bleached sands of heavily wooded tropical Islands, where the fugitive must at last face up to the challenge of men who feel no shame. Is the outcome a victory, a chance of redemption, or the passing of a sentence? The prose of Conrad contains classic descriptions, such as "The night came down like a bendiction" to describe the plight of a floundering ship in the blistering heat of the seas near Arabia. The narative crawls with characters of utter evil who are drawn to, and seem to feed from the basic goodness of a man who has lost his way in the world
Rating: 
Summary: Lord Jim
Review: Just after the first few pages I was already a little confused. I think just because I don't think I have ever read a book that was told in third person. Eventually you get used to it, and the fact that his descriptions of almost everything is both extremely detailed and long, perhaps a little too long. I think Conrad just wants us, the reader, to know exactly what is going on and to be focused on the story. Most of Jim's story is told by a fellow seaman(a captain) named Marlow who Jim met at a meeting where Jim loses his hopes and dreams of becoming a "hero of the sea". Jim is a young man who has big plans to become a sea captian, but after pushing through the ranks and becoming chief mate he makes a bad mistake. The ship he was currently boarded, "the Patna", became damaged and without thinking Jim and the rest of the crew abandoned the ship leaving innocents stranded on the boat. This mistake costs Jim his life as a seaman. This is where he meets Marlow, who seems to take interest in Jim. Marlow assists Jim in finding a new way to live in Patusan, where people begin to look up to Jim as their leader. In my opinion I don't really think we are suppose to think of the story as what is so great but looking at Jim the character as what is. I think Jim is a little to full of himself and everytime the memory of the Patna arises he hides in fear like a coward. He thinks he is superhuman for stopping a bandit in his little town. He needs to realize that heros are only in fairy tales. I rated the book three stars because it was a good story, but the book for me was a little too confusing and way to long of a book to get the story he was telling across to everyone. Overall, if your looking for a something to do everynite before you go to sleep then I recommend this book to you.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly written
Review: One of the best books I've ever read. Brilliantly written, this books tells the story of a young man struggling with guilt about his past. Demonstrates the impact of a single event on an individual's soul and life.
Rating:
Summary: Undying Truth
Review: Your Words are your honor - your honor is your cross.
Be it the cross to live by, and to be so rudley bolted to in the name of duty.
I CAN not begin to fathom the full depth of this story, no may any living man. Times have cheapened, and like Tuan Jim, the Heros have died.
Yet still, remember - your lives are amiss, adrift without a moral compass, that if you should die without ever reading this book, truly you have failed, surcome to a grey.
In response to the stupidious comments made in other reviews, to those authors - Until you know the the joy of the lonley sea spray, and the great ideals written in this book, fall to your own world of shades. the grey twlight has already consumed you. In Conrad's own words - the prupose of this book is 'to make you SEE.' I stare many nights into the sky, wondering if I will ever stand up to the principals lived by Jim. Do you? There comes a time when we must all shirk out the ghost of cowardice in us, a time when we lose what we valued, only to know its true worth when we gain it back.
At all times, principal, duty , and honor upon your words takes up upon you life. Read this book, only then will tou begin to comprehend the depths of human existance, mortality, and the frailty of those who argue against a good and evil in this world. Lord Jim will open a door to duty, sense, and a common sense of virtue. Comfort is only temporary, only when you read this book can you understand the THE STRUGGLE IS THE GLORY.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing novel
Review: Lord Jim turned out to be one of the best novels I have read, and I admit around page 180, for the first time I can remember, I was considering not finishing a novel I had started. The first novel I read by Joseph Conrad was Heart of Darkness, which was narrated by Marlow. Lord Jim is also narrated by Marlow, which was an interesting twist. However, it also made the first 180 pages difficult to follow. Instead of reading a story, a story is being told to the reader. But the book is composed of two parts: Marlow telling us the introduction, and Marlow's letter to one who also heard the story the night Marlow told it. I felt this added something to the novel, making it more thrilling. The last 60-80 pages flew by, the conclusion was exciting, and then it was over. I have read three of Conrad's novels, and I like how he finishes them. What happens. Jim is a sailor who dreams of glory, but falters in his first trial. He spends time trying to avoid his past and eventually finds himself the guardian of a people in remote India. When trouble seeks him again, he makes a decision with horrible consequences. But instead of running from the consequences as he had earlier in his life, he faces them. An amazing novel.
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