The arrow of gold

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Summary: The Burnished Gold of Youth
Review: After the masterpieces had all been written Conrad began writing a purer kind of adventure story. These late books are interesting and though not masterpieces themselves there is something in each one that makes them well worth your while. The young man in Arrow of Gold has fallen under the allure of old Europe in the form of the lovely Spaniard Dona Rita (Conrads most complete and most attractive portrait of a woman) and finds himself involved in her schemes to smuggle guns to her countrymen from Marseilles. High adventure ensues, including a breathtaking boat chase, but every cause and every ideal is corruptible and Conrad with this book contrasts the heady ideals of youth with worldly experience and wisdom. In these last books(Rescue, Arrow of Gold, Rover) it feels as though Conrad felt he had already tackled his great themes so there is a calm in the writing of them that is very pleasing and one imagines he is enjoying the writing of them in his retired captains easy chair as much as we enjoy the reading of them. The arrow is a gold pin, a rich symbol, the fate of which must be left unknown to potential readers. The historical setting of 1870's Marseilles is one Conrad knew well as that is the port from which he set off to sea for the first time and the gun running episode as well as the boat(especially the boat)Conrad spoke of with great fondness in his memoirs.

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Summary: A must to know about Conrad's youth and his maturity style.
Review: The Arrow of Gold is a must for Conrad fans, as it is based on one of the most interesting and obscure periods of the Polish-English writer's life. Action happens in the 1870's in Marseilles, France, where a young and naif sailor, back from West Indies, is engaged by a couple of conspirators to smuggle guns and ammunition for the Carlist army, with the idea of putting King Carlos back in the throne of Spain. All this is almost exactly what happened to Conrad, all which is partially narrated in the "Tremolino" chapter of his beatiful book The Mirror of the Sea, as well as in the souvenir book entitled Some Reminiscences. The Arrow of Gold is a book of Conrad's maturity. It was not well received in his time and Conrad himself was not fully happy with it. But it is a deeply moving and funny novel, full of adventures, fascinating ladies, charming crooks, bizarre characters and sharp descritions of places and milieu. All this in a neat prose, now free from the philosophical statements or stylistic refinements that at times burden some of the works of the great Master. In summary, a rather forgotten book by the author of Lord Jim, Nostromo and so many masterpieces, which deserves to be "discovered" by old and new Conrad devotees.