Rating: 
Summary: One of Conrad's best novels, if not one of his best known.
Review: Victory is the story of a man named Heyst who leads an isolated life in the South Pacific. However, he is drawn out of his isolation when he brings a woman to his island home. A chance encounter between a dishonest German who dislikes Heyst and two criminals sets up the dramatic ending. Conrad's style is as fluid as in his better known books, such as Lord Jim, and it is amazing that someone could write English so well who did not learn it until later in life and who always spoke it with a heavy Polish accent. Victory is similar to Conrad's other works in that the plot flirts with melodrama, but always is rooted in realism. Those who read the book will find the title apt.
Rating: 
Summary: Story the impact of a frustrated, jealous, vengeful man.
Review: Victory, pubished in 1915, tells the story of a loner,
a victimized woman, a frustrated, jealous, vengeful man, his
wife and the predators he uses to achieve the revenge he is
too much of a coward to exact himself.
Axel Heyst is a cynical loner, who, largely through the
influence of his misanthropic father, is disillusioned with
the world. He meets, Lena, a member of a woman's traveling
orchestra, where she is harshly treated and from which she
cannot escape. Schomberg, the owner of the hotel where the
orchestra is employed makes advances towards her, which she
repulses. Heyst, who is intensly disliked by Schomberg, takes pity on her and with the help of Schomberg's wife, escapes with her to the island of Samburan, now uninhabited (except for his servant Wang) where he had been owner of a
the Tropical Belt Coal Company.
Schomberg convices three men, who he fears and wants to get rid of, that Heyst has amased a large fortune just
waiting to be taken from him. He describes how they can find
this island. Despite Schomberg sabotageing their water supply they make it to the island, though barely alive.
Although Heyst saves them, he distrusts them from the start
and knows that he and Lena are in great danger.
How this story plays out is facinating and frightening
by turns, and as is usual with Conrad, there are great,
indeed profound insights into the human soul, both the
light and the very dark. How Heyst changes through his
relationship with Lena from a man who can live without anyone to one who can't live without this one person
is a major theme that is told with the rich psychological
insight that made Conrad a master.
As great as Nostromo, Lord Jim and Heart of Darkess all
are, I enjoyed Victory even more. The writing is more
direct, with less digression (which can be distracting)than
in these other books. This results in the story moving
along to the extent that you can't wait to find out how
it will all end. This isn't one of those classics that are
simply "good for you to read" it just plain Good!
Rating:
Summary: Distance and closeness and a way to bridge the gap.
Review: _Victory_ is the first Conrad that I have read since reading _Heart of Darkness_ and _The Secret Sharer_ in high school. I was unsure what to expect before I picked up the book. In any case, I didn't expect it to be what it was-- so contemplative and so concerned with notions of isolation and the ability to act.
Despite the abstract themes, the book is neither slow nor unreadable. An adventure story wraps the whole thing up:
A recluse on a deserted island breaks his solitude and rescues a girl from a life with a semi-shady gang. This act of kindness starts a chain of events that brings violence and change to his small world.
The story moves along nicely, and you can read for the plot even if you are uninterested in the bigger issues the book raises. I found that I was interested in them. Heyst (the main character) has been infected by his father's skepticism and analytical viewpoint and never manages to find a way after that to engage with the world or other people in it. His few attempts at engagement are awkward and almost unwilling.
Everybody in the book is to some degree isolated. Wang removes himself from Chinese society to go native. Mrs. Schomberg is locked behind her mask of fear. Mr. Jones and Ricardo are set apart because of the obsessive fear the Gentleman has of women. Alma/Magdalena/Lena is set apart by her past. Everybody is trying to connect, but (with the exception of Lena) always on their own terms and always within limits.
It's tempting to read Conrad's own background and separations into the mix, but I'll leave that to the Conrad scholars.
Worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Distance and closeness and a way to bridge the gap.
Review: _Victory_ is the first Conrad that I've read since reading _Heart of Darkness_ and _The Secret Sharer_ in high school and I was unsure what to expect before I picked up the book. In any case, I didn't expect it to be what it was-- so contemplative and so concerned with the rather abstract notions of isolation and the ability to act. This shouldn't make the book sound unreadable or slow, because it isn't. There's an adventure story that wraps the whole thing up: A recluse on a deserted island breaks his solitude and rescues a girl from a life with a semi-shady gang. This act of kindness starts a chain of events that brings violence and change to his lonely island. The story moves things along nicely, and you can read for the plot even if you're uninterested in the bigger issues the book raises. I found that I was interested in them. Heyst (the main character) has been infected by his father's skepticism and analytical view and never manages to find a way after that to engage with the world or other people in it. His few attempts at engagement are awkward and almost unwilling. Conrad uses a great line to describe his approach to other people's emotion: "Consummate politeness is not the right tonic for an emotional collapse." Everybody in the book is to some degree isolated. Wang removes himself from Chinese society to go native. Mrs. Schomberg is locked behind her mask of fear. Mr. Jones and Ricardo are set apart because of the Gentleman's obsessive fear of women. Alma/Magdalena/Lena is set apart by her past. Everybody is trying to connect, but (with the exception of Lena) always on their own terms and always within limits. It's tempting to read Conrad's own background and separations into the mix, but I'll leave that to the Conrad scholars. Worth reading & worth thinking about once you've read it.
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