This section covers from the outcome of the court inquiry through Jim reaching Patusan. The verdict was relatively mild, requiring the sailing certificates of the Patna crew cancelled (although you got the feeling it would have little impact for most of the crew). As Marlow put it, “The real significance of crime is in its […]
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The text for Lord Jim can be found for free at Project Gutenberg. There are also audio versions there and at LibriVox. The breaks for discussion for Lord Jim are totally arbitrary but I hope they will be at natural points. Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim was written around the same time as Heart of Darkness, […]
Mark Twain’s King Leopold’s Soliloquy engages the atrocities in the Congo differently than Conrad—through satire. While the subject matter hardly seems like it would lend itself to such an approach, Twain does a good job at lampooning King Leopold II and issuing a call to end the hellish arrangement. The American Museum of Natural History […]
I’m sure that almost everything that can be said about Heart of Darkness has already been said (except for someone writing a dissertation on some of the minutiae). But I’ll throw a few things together anyway. First, the text can be found on Project Gutenberg. A free audio reading of it can be found on […]
There is a lot available online about Joseph Conrad and his work. This doesn’t pretend to be a comprehensive list, but the links (to date) I’ve found helpful: Joseph Conrad’s Wikipedia entry. While I already knew some about him, his personal life is as interesting as his works. Conrad’s online texts at Project Gutenberg Free […]
A central post with all the links to Kim and other Kipling-related material: Kim discussion: Chapters 1 – 5 Kim discussion: Chapters 6 – 10 Kim discussion: Chapters 11 – 15 Kim (1950 movie) Online Kipling resources Kipling’s imperialism As with other summaries, this is also probably the best place to post thoughts on Kim […]
Before I leave Kipling and move on to other works, I wanted to try and articulate my feelings on Kipling’s imperialism. David Cody’s short entry at The Victorian Web does a good job of summing Kipling up as well as putting him in the context of his time. It is easy to dismiss Kipling because […]
I was pleasantly surprised for the first two-thirds of the movie that they followed Kipling’s novel in spirit, if not always faithfully. Dean Stockwell as the young Kim turns in an admirable job—it’s not a role I thought would translate to the screen very well. Errol Flynn’s role of Mahbub Ali was exaggerated in importance […]
A wonderful ending to an enjoyable book. I had gotten a little impatient with the middle section, feeling it was simply marking time. But there was important groundwork being laid that pays off handsomely. There are several different themes and things to talk about, so I’m sure I’ll do the book an injustice, but here […]
The middle third of the book covers Kim’s formal education as well as his extended informal learning. The book can be read solely as an adventure story, but some of the themes in the book add substantial depth. Kim’s reflection upon entering the school is worth noting: ’I am Kim. This is the great world, […]