The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-11-27

L have read another of those inimitable
sea stories by Joseph Conrad-"Typhoon."
Speaking from the standpoint of one who
has gone down to the sea in ships" who
has seen 1t at its best and at its worst;
wringing from it a slender pittance, at
times, under adverse conditions. and again
basking in the smile of the prodigal pros
perity which old ocean sometimes vouch-
safes to her devotees: smiled on and
frowned on by turns-I have no hesitancy
in affirming that Conrad has no equal in
portraying the various phases Of sea life
and the varying moods Of the sea. Being
a sailor. he is direct-to the point. Rus
sells circumlocution does not appeal to
the old salt. In this latest book Of Con-
RAIDS the stars hung frightened" in the
sky; then they "winked out" Russell
would have devoted a page to a description
that would pass with landlubbers as a
marvellous word painting; but every man
who has seen the coming of an East In
dian or China sea typhoon, or witnessed
the onslaught of a West Indian hurricane
in its native waters can c~onjure up the
whole picture, with all it's oppressive ter
rors, from Conrad's half-dozen words, bet
ter than from Russell's page of garrulity.
xxx
There is a growing power in Conrad's
works, and in each book a growing power
of fascination. The Niger of the Mar
%cissus,'' that grewsome story of a black
co~nsumptive's domination of the white in
mates of the fo'c'stle, was a strong por-
trayal that had its ante-type in real life
at sea. The very commonplaceness-if you
will permit the word-of the story was
the fundamental rock of its foundation, and
on it was reared a superstructure that held
one closely, yet with a divided mind as
to whether the horror or the pathos were
the dominant influence. In it, too. was a
strong retrospective vein that directed the
reader, almost unconsciously, along lines
of thought that were different from, yet
closely related to, that which gave them
birth. Children of the Sea- followed-a
new subject, with new phases Of the old
setting. the sea, new treatment and new
lines of thought, new undercurrents Of
reasoning, but showing the master hand,
with added traces of his mastery of subject
and style; for Conrad has a style that is
all his own. Then followed IAN Outcast
of the Islands, in a way precursor of
Lord JIM" and TALES of Unrest much
like Children of the Sea- but showing
greater growth along the lines heretofore
indicated.
Then came Lord jim" That Is a won-
derful story. / have written of it at length
heretofore, but ] ave read 1t again, and
yet again, since that writing, and with
each reading the power of the story grows.
AS a study Of the inner consciousness Of a
man it has not been excelled, and / doubt
IL it has been equaled. 1t is, in effect, the
story of one fleeing from himself. and in its
reading the reader goes through all the
phases of the mental horror which besets
its hero; albeit that hero, save in the very
opening chapter. is seen only through the
medium of another mans eyes, heard only
through the medium Of another's voice. The
narrator of the story, one Marlowe, speaks
a few incisive sentences, and the whole
soul and mentality of the hapless Jim are
laid bare; his contradictory elements Of
weakness and strength made so plain that
the reader. in q sense. becomes imbued
with them. rising to the heights and de-