The text for The Shadow-Line can be found at Project Gutenberg. Joseph Conrad’s The Shadow-Line is a reminiscence of the narrator obtaining his first command in addition to his first voyage as captain. The young sailor meets all kinds of challenges and crises, overcoming them mostly with help he doesn’t recognize, and advances over the […]
This section covers the Patusan episode of Jim’s life. Reaching Patusan safely, Jim is imprisoned by one of the rival leaders. He leaps twice to safety and renown (as compared to his one leap to dishonor from the Patna), once over the blockade and once over the narrow river between settlements. Jim devises and carries […]
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 […]
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, […]
The text for Kim can be found here. Kim is the coming of age story of a 13 year-old orphaned boy, whose father was a British soldier. Kim’s fortune was foretold by his father: The third [document left at Kim’s father’s death] was Kim’s birth-certificate. Those things, he was used to say, in his glorious […]
Project Gutenberg e-texts Wikipedia entry on Kilping The New Readers’ Guide to the works of Rudyard Kipling (created by The Kipling Society) The Victorian Website page on Kipling Most of these sites have additional links and resources listed, as well as several links to Kipling’s works online. There is a wealth of material available! The […]
Text can be found here.There is so much that can be written about with any book or short story, yet the hard part is choosing what to point out. While there are many more thoughts on the works I read, I’m trying to keep the posts relatively short compared to what I could cover. If […]
The text can be found here. This short story presents a very complex look at India and 19th century British rule. There is a lengthy discourse early in the tale which includes this passage: Gentlemen come from England, spend a few weeks in India, walk round this great Sphinx of the Plains, and write books […]
As things are straightening out regarding work and home, I’m hoping to start posting again on the books I read. Since I was essentially the only one posting, I’ll start back with the direction I would like to go. I tend to immerse myself in certain eras and read a handful in a row from […]
Due to the many demands of work and home, I will not be able to host this board anymore. If anyone would like to step in and try to resuscitate the board, please contact Claire or me.
Work has taken an interesting turn, so I’m behind schedule and not enough time to post right now. I’ll try and get something up on Theron Ware by Friday, but if not I’ll push the schedule back a week.
I’ll start this off relatively slow, then pick up speed. Hopefully anyone wanting to join me can catch up easily. September 27: Chapters 1 — 5 (47 pages in my version) October 4: Chapters 6 — 10 (49 pages) October 11: Chapters 11 — 17 (Part 2: 69 pages) October 18: Chapters 18 — 24 […]