The Washington times., 1922-08-13

Joseph Conrad. Chance" each
has its advocates. but II is Lord
Jim" that first caught the popular
imagination. 1t still Is, and prob
ably always win be. Conrad's most
widely read and best loved book.
Conrad himself has a fondness
for Lord Jim," although he will
acknowledge no favorites. He
wrote the story in 1898 and 1899.
Several years earlier he had finally
left the sea. his health broken by
a fever contracted in the Congo.
Divorced from the sea, he had not
known what to do with himself,
SO almost as an after-thought he
sent the manuscript Of "Almayer's
Folly" to Fisher Unwin. To his
intense surprise II was accepted.
Thus encouraged. he married, set.
tied down In Kent and wrote an
other book. From henceforward
his life is mainly the history Of his
books. Teodor Josef Konrad Kor-
zeniowsli, the Polish lad who was
determined to go to sea. had sowed
his wild oats on the Mediterranean.
sailing up fetid African rivers or
cruising around the islands of the
shallow southern seas, had fulfill
ed his ambition to become the com.
mander Of an English ship, and at
forty had left the glamour and tur-
mol of a wild. vigorous youth to
live quietly in the creation OF his
books.
For the next few years he was a
novelist Of a small following. Then
came q landmark in his career
Henley accepted THE Niger of
the Narcissus" for "The New Re.
view" and the House Of Heine-
man published II in a red volume
for a shilling. From that moment
Conrad's following widened and
with his next book. Lord jim"
his reputation was firmly establish
ed as one OF the master novelists
of all time.
The episode Of the pilgrim ship.
a tale that was repeated In all
ports Of the African coast, had
always attracted Conrad. A short
story took shape in his mind. but
after writing a few pages he be-
came discontented and laid II
aside. The story was not taken
out Of his desk again until William
Blackwood suggested that he
wanted another story for his
magazine. Then Conrad perceived
that the pilgrim ship was a good
starting point for a free and
wandering tale, for II was an event
which could conceivably color the
whole sentiment OF existence" In
a simple and sensitive character.
So grew the tale of Lord Jim,"
the young officer Of imaginative
and romantic courage whose life
was spent In attempting to atone
for one deed Of fatal and unex.
pected cowardice.
When the rust-eaten old steamer
with its eight hundred sleeping
pilgrims passed over a derelict on
a fair, calm night on the Red Sea
and a subdued. hideous panic
broke out among the few white
officers on the upper deck, who ex.
pected the bulging bulkheads to
give way at any minute, Jim
stood aloof and disdainfully watch.
ed their attempts to lower a boat.
But at the last moment, as the
boat was pulling away from the
doomed hulk. he Jumped. BY some
strange freak OF chance the ship
stayed afloat and was towed into
port by French ma n-of.war.
This was the story as Conrad orig.
inally conceived II, but the final
work traces the wnnderings of Jim,
dogged everywhere by some evi-
dence, some reminiscence Of that
one act. At last In the jungle
country OF Patusan he becomes
the virtual ruler Of trusting
savage people and forgets his one
failure in his magnificent success.
Here too disaster overtakes him,
his power crumbies in an instant,
but he grasps the chance of
supreme spiritual atonement
through death.
Lord Jim" Ia one of the most
dramatically realized Of all Con.
RAIDS characters. In fact Conrad
once actually visuaiised him.
"ons sunny mernins. In the cem.