Victory: An Island Tale
First UK edition
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| Author | Joseph Conrad |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | adventure in the South Seas |
| Genre | psychological novel |
| Publisher |
Methuen (UK) Doubleday Page & Co (US) |
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Publication date
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1915 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
Victory (also published as Victory: An Island Tale) is a psychological novel by Joseph Conrad first published in 1915, through which Conrad achieved "popular success." The New York Times, however, called it "an uneven book" and "more open to criticism than most of Mr. Conrad's best work."
The novel's "most striking formal characteristic is its shifting narrative and temporal perspective" with the first section from the viewpoint of a sailor, the second from omniscient perspective of Axel Heyst, the third from an interior perspective from Heyst, and the final section has an omniscient narrator.
It has been adapted into film a number of times.
Axel Heist, the novel's protagonist, was raised by his widowed father, a Swedish philosopher, in London, England, and never knew his mother. The atmosphere of Heyst's home, with his father's ruthless pursuit of truth and pessimistic view of humanity, warps Heyst's mind, and after his father dies, he leaves England and becomes a rootless wanderer. This eventually leads him to the Southeastern Asia, especially to what is now Indonesia, including Surabaya a port in the then Dutch colony of Java.
Eventually, however, human feelings are awoken in Heyst by the plight of Captain Morrison, who faces the confiscation of his ship, and loss of his livelihood, because he cannot pay a fine levied by the Portuguese authorities. Heyst intervenes with a loan for a paltry sum, which establishes a relationship, and Heist is unable to break this bond. This eventually leads to the establishment of The Tropical Belt Coal Company, of which Heist becomes the manager, although he has no interest in this enterprise. Morrison subsequently visits England where he dies. Soon after the coal company goes bankrupt. Heyst however, remains at the site of the derelict coal mine, on the island of Samburan. living the life of a hermit, with his Chinese servant, Wang.
Later Heyst's compassion is aroused again when he encounters the young woman Lena in Sourabaya on the Island of Java, where she is playing in an all woman orchestra. Lena is being mistreated by the orchestra's conductor and his sadistic wife, and threatened with sexual violence by Schomberg, the owner of the hotel, where the orchestra plays. Heyst, with the aid of Schomberg's down-trodden wife, absconds with Lena, to Sambouran.
Schomberg's jealous rage, at losing Lena, along with his fear of a mysterious trio of visitors, Mr Jones, Martin Ricardo, and Pedro, lead him to suggesting to this trio that Heyst caused the death of Morrison, and has great wealth hidden on Samburan.
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Wikipedia