Rating: 
Summary: A great introduction to Conrad
Review: A powerful tale of human interaction in the confines of a sailing ship. Conrad mixes technical details with poetic prose in a style that is very enjoyabe to read. A relatively short book, this makes a delightful introduction to Conrad. Perhaps the best tale of the seas written.
Rating:
Summary: A great introduction to Conrad
Review: A powerful tale of human interaction in the confines of a sailing ship. Conrad mixes technical details with poetic prose in a style that is very enjoyabe to read. A relatively short book, this makes a delightful introduction to Conrad. Perhaps the best tale of the seas written.
Rating: 
Summary: Conrad's first masterpiece
Review: I read this in one sitting on a very dark skied rainy afternoon in an attic which looked like the interior of a ship and I was riveted by it, truly amazed by this tale which was at least in part based in fact. Conrad had written a couple of minor novels and some stories before this but this was his first masterpiece and remains his best tale of the sea, though he wrote other good ones none of them approach the power of this one. There is not only a great telling of a perilous holding-on-by-the-skin-of- your-teeth tale of a ship in peril but also a figure on board whose presence has an unsettling effect upon the men. While the ship sails on calm waters the crew and captain all appear to us as individuals only united by the fact that they all walk on the same decks, they are seen as unique presences and they all have their own reaction to the strangers "condition" which is an apparent illness. As the storm approaches and the ship and crew begins its stunningly told fight for life the individuals all merge as it were into one entity sharing the common task of sailors versus the sea. As the men try to save the ship the strangers presence is forgotten and the captain himself is mysteriously quiet as the men simply do what they must to survive the storm. Once the ship is no longer in peril the uneasy balance of personalities resumes and once again the stranger is suspect. Fascinating and exciting story. Elements of both mystery and high adventure combining here to give one not only a wildly enjoyable read but one which leaves ones mind opened in some way. Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim were Conrads next efforts, but don't miss this one. The prologue to this has Conrad setting down his artistic credo but read it only after the tale is told. That way your mind can absorb in its own way this excitingly told tale.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Work of Literature
Review: In my opinion, Nigger of the 'Narcissus' by Joseph Conrad is one of the truly great novels in English. It goes on the list with such works as The Great Gatsby, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Passage to India, and Moby Dick. It is fascinating, gripping, deep, and entertaining. It defies description, analysis, or summary. (Nevertheless Doug Anderson in his review has done a pretty good job, so I won't even try.) I don't feel competent to write reviews of great literary works, but not everyone may be familiar with Conrad's Nigger of the 'Narcissus' and what a wonderful novel it is. ... I had no expectations about it and was taken completely by surprise. Nigger of the 'Narcissus' is not just another good novel. It is a masterpiece of literature.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Work of Literature
Review: In my opinion, Nigger of the 'Narcissus' by Joseph Conrad is one of the truly great novels in English. It goes on the list with such works as The Great Gatsby, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Passage to India, and Moby Dick. It is fascinating, gripping, deep, and entertaining. It defies description, analysis, or summary. (Nevertheless Doug Anderson in his review has done a pretty good job, so I won't even try.) I don't feel competent to write reviews of great literary works, but not everyone may be familiar with Conrad's Nigger of the 'Narcissus' and what a wonderful novel it is. ... I had no expectations about it and was taken completely by surprise. Nigger of the 'Narcissus' is not just another good novel. It is a masterpiece of literature.
Rating:
Summary: The sea of another time
Review: Joseph Conrad provides a memory from life of the sea in the waning days of square-rigged ships. How far that age is gone is illustrated by the rebuilt Constitution. When she was gotten out in recent years after her reconstruction she really wasn't put under full sail--you couldn't assemble a crew to do so in the USA. Conrad suggests he was among the crew but at other times assumes the stance of an omniscient observer (as when he reports that conversation between Donkin and Jim Wait in the closed deck house). Yet he does this in other novels and I can live with it for the reward of his evocation of the sea--at least I think it's a realistic evocation of the sea, I who have voyaged only in air conditioned cruise ships and a small inland sail boat. More important than Conrad's nautical narration is his penetration into the psyche of nearly everyone on board. The first customer reviewer was wrong to say that "the loathsome Donkin" stands for the crew and to align the novel with political literature. A great humanistic work cannot be demeaned to the status of a political analysis, at least this one can't. The last pages of the novel are as melancholy a picture of the vanished men of a dead age as I can imagine. They have undergone three fates (except for Donkin, who of course succeeds): death at sea, death by land, and transfer to a steam vessel, the latter equated with a sort of death. Even the material remnants of that age are fragmentary and unsatisfactory, a few ships in dock as museum specimens and the great East India docks transformed to the trendy "Docklands" development.
Rating:
Summary: The sea of another time
Review: Joseph Conrad provides a memory from life of the sea in the waning days of square-rigged ships. How far that age is gone is illustrated by the rebuilt Constitution. When she was gotten out in recent years after her reconstruction she really wasn't put under full sail--you couldn't assemble a crew to do so in the USA. Conrad suggests he was among the crew but at other times assumes the stance of an omniscient observer (as when he reports that conversation between Donkin and Jim Wait in the closed deck house). Yet he does this in other novels and I can live with it for the reward of his evocation of the sea--at least I think it's a realistic evocation of the sea, I who have voyaged only in air conditioned cruise ships and a small inland sail boat. More important than Conrad's nautical narration is his penetration into the psyche of nearly everyone on board. The first customer reviewer was wrong to say that "the loathsome Donkin" stands for the crew and to align the novel with political literature. A great humanistic work cannot be demeaned to the status of a political analysis, at least this one can't. The last pages of the novel are as melancholy a picture of the vanished men of a dead age as I can imagine. They have undergone three fates (except for Donkin, who of course succeeds): death at sea, death by land, and transfer to a steam vessel, the latter equated with a sort of death. Even the material remnants of that age are fragmentary and unsatisfactory, a few ships in dock as museum specimens and the great East India docks transformed to the trendy "Docklands" development.
Rating:
Summary: Not his best but...
Review: The Nigger of the "Narcissus," though not Conrad's best work, is perhaps the best introduction to his work. Many of the themes he would explore in his subsequent works are addressed in this one; for example the psychological struggle with the incomprehsible and the problem of memory vs. reality. This work also has political overtones: the conservative captain and mates vs. the laboring crew as typified by the loathsome Donkin. It is a psychological tale and though it can probably be read in one sitting, it probably would be most enjoyable being read for the second or third time, as would most of Conrad's works. Joseph Conrad is not the most straightforward author in the world and, for this reason, many find his works more difficult than they really are. Indeed he is not for everyone. However, one should read his texts closely two or three times before denigrating them, for there is much to be cherished within his oeuvre.
Rating:
Summary: Not his best but...
Review: The Nigger of the "Narcissus," though not Conrad's best work, is perhaps the best introduction to his work. Many of the themes he would explore in his subsequent works are addressed in this one; for example the psychological struggle with the incomprehsible and the problem of memory vs. reality. This work also has political overtones: the conservative captain and mates vs. the laboring crew as typified by the loathsome Donkin. It is a psychological tale and though it can probably be read in one sitting, it probably would be most enjoyable being read for the second or third time, as would most of Conrad's works. Joseph Conrad is not the most straightforward author in the world and, for this reason, many find his works more difficult than they really are. Indeed he is not for everyone. However, one should read his texts closely two or three times before denigrating them, for there is much to be cherished within his oeuvre.
Rating:
Summary: A powerful and evocative tale that reaches far and deep.
Review: This a powerful and dramatically written sea story of shipmates under trial both from the sea and from eachother. But the sea is only its point of departure. Behind the surface there abides the universe of human struggle, sacrifice, betrayal and death. In the final lines, Conrad says so: "A gone shipmate, like any other man, is gone forever." Then the story ends with a farewell image of the crew tossing aloft in the night, battling with the sails in the teeth of a westerly gale -- a fitting description of struggle and victory at sea and a metaphor for the struggles of life. This is a remarkable work, which is prefaced by an author's note setting forth Conrad's artistic mission as he saw it.
| 
