by Joseph Conrad
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Product Description
Axel Heyst, a dreamer and a restless drifter, believes he can avoid suffering by cutting himself off from others. Then he becomes involved in the operation of a coal company on a remote island in the Malay Archipelago, and when it fails he turns his back on humanity once more. But his life alters when he rescues a young English girl, Lena, from Zangiacomo's Ladies' Orchestra and the evil innkeeper Schomberg, taking her to his island retreat. The affair between Heyst and Lena begins with her release, but the relationship shifts as Lena struggles to save Heyst from detachment and isolation. Featuring arguably the most interesting hero created by Conrad, "Victory" is both a compelling tale of adventure and a perceptive study of the power of love.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 It's Still an Audience Pleaser..., 2008-11-30
... judging by the high marks it gets in these 28 (so far) amazon reviews. One does need to wonder why, especially since Conrad scholars and literary critics have never ranked it as one of Conrad's best. Mr. H. Schneider, the most recent reviewer before me, suggests that the "likability" of the protagonist, the Swede Axel Heyst, stirs up enough empathy in the readers to make them fear for his welfare and thus experience suspense. As one Swede reading about another, hey, I'm delighted that Axel's virtues are appreciated. The other side of the coin is the portrayal of the two "bad guys", who are easily the baddest baddies Conrad ever wrote into a novel. I mean, they are nasty! Gnarly! One can only hope to see them dismembered and pulverized in the final chapters. But don't count on any well-rounded happy ending in a Conrad novel, friends; you'll need to read the book to see whether modest virtues triumph over immoderate villainy.
Conrad is (IMHO to be sure) one of the greatest 20th novelists in any language. If you've never read him, or had trouble liking what you've read of him before, it would seem that Victory is the amazon readers' choice for an introduction to his brilliance.
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Enchanted Swedish drifter turns hermit, then discovers traces of the old Adam in himself, 2008-11-29
Victory was one of Conrad's more successful novels, commercially. I am currently re-reading his novels and stories; my first go at them was 25 years ago. Now on my second visit I am baffled that the man was not more appreciated during his lifetime. There is no better story teller in English literature of the 20th century.
Why did Victory do better than his others then? Several reasons. It is structurally more accessible than some of his other novels. The narrative technique does not obscure things as much as in some others. Second: the story can be read as a thriller and works well as such. Maybe most important: the hero is a positive guy. Heyst is an oddball, an outsider, but he is likable. He is no fallen angel like Kurtz, no contemptible fool like Almayer, no low life like the secret agent.
Heyst lives on an island in the Java sea, where he had been manager of a failed coal mining company. He rescues a young English woman from miserable circumstances in Surabaya, making an enemy in her hotelier suitor in the process. That man is besieged by a trio of international gangsters, whom he manages to deflect: he turns them against Heyst by spinning yarns about his alleged hidden wealth. The gang goes for Heyst...
There is more to it than meets the eye, but even the surface is strong enough. There are ways to read it as a variation on the Tempest.
It is certainly a masterpiece in its use of slanderous gossip as narrative device.
If you don't know Conrad yet, Victory is maybe a good place to start.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Good Story, 2008-06-11
I'm no literary critic so excuse my terse review. I found the beginning of this book a little slow and disjointed. I almost put it down but fortunately kept reading. The second half of this book is more engaging than the first and more "exciting". It is a romance story including a battle between good and evil and the ultimate sacrifice for love. If you read Victory be patient and you will end up enjoying the story.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Paradise was lost forever, 2007-07-18
"Victory" is not so much a conventional novel as a fable, with strong influences of the Bible, Milton's "Paradise Lost" and Shakespeare's "The Tempest". This story is absolutely marginal, that is, it occurs to people who inhabit the margins of the world, the margins of society, and within the margins of a common life. The characters also operate in one or the other of the two extremes of morality. Axel Heyst, a Swede son of a bitter and disenchanted philosopher, is extremely influenced by the parental way of thinking, to the point that he follows the advice provided by his dying father. When Heyst, disconcerted at the foot of the bed, asks him what is the proper way to live, Heyst senior answers: "Look on, and make no sound". So, after his father dies, Axel emigrates to the colonies in Southeastern Asia, where he makes a living as a merchant, coming and going about the islands. Heyst is a distant but kind guy, always with a smile on his face and willing to help others, but always refusing any kind of intimacy. One day, he enters a business about a coal mine with an associate, the death of whom (not a murder) he is later accused of provoking, which gives him a reputation throughout the islands as a mysterious, somewhat mischievous man. His main detractor is a hotel keeper, one Schomberg, a hateful, coward, and calumnious man. After the business goes broke, Schomberg escalates his tirades about "that Swede", slowly developing an irrational hatred towards him. Meanwhile, unaware of his reputation and of Schomberg's hatred, Heyst decides to stay on the remote island where the coal mine used to be, totally isolated from humanity, except for the silent and shadowy company of his servant, Wang.
One day, on account of old business affairs, Heyst travels to the island where Schomberg's hotel is, and stays there. There he meets a young woman who plays in a "ladies orchestra", managed by a sinister couple who practically treats their employees as slaves. The girl, Lena, tells Heyst that the hideous Schomberg has been sexually harassing her, and begs him to get her out of there. Heyst, attracted by the beauty and mystery of the girl, manages to smuggle her out of the hotel and take her to his island. This, of course takes Schomberg's hatred to extremes. A little time later, three criminals arrive to the hotel. They force Schomberg to host illegal gambling, and make his life hell, practically taking over the place. As the secretary of the boss (one Mr. Jones), Martin Ricardo, reveals their past (true or imaginary, but certainly scary), Schomberg comes up with an idea. He tells them that Heyst keeps vast amounts of money on the island. Ricardo convinces his boss to go there and assault him. He hides from his boss the fact that there is a girl, for Mr. Jones has an irrational hatred and fear of women. Meanwhile, Heyst and Lena lead a loving, peaceful life. It's easy to see here the metaphor of Adam and Eve. One day, the three thugs arrive, almost dead, and Heyst rescues and shelters them, but with a gloomy feeling of something bad to come.
It would be foolish to reveal anything more. The rest is a hair-rising game of psychological chess, where suspense and tension are almost unbearable. The intruders in Paradise and the primeval Man and Woman struggle to achieve their ends, in sequences of undescribable beauty and sadness.
As I said at the beginning, this is more a fable than a common novel. I think it is wrong to do what another reviewer here, Bruce Kendall (otherwise an excellent one) did: to concentrate on novelistic technique. Yes, the narrator begins by being a casual follower of the story, and ends by being omniscient. Yes, some of Heyst's and Lena's dialogues are almost corny. Yes, the allusions to Paradise Lost are too obvious. But that's not the content nor the point. This is a powerful, moving, unforgettable tale of innocence violated, of pure evil against goodness, of the pain stupid and useless people can inflict on persons who are only minding their own business. It is also a cautionary tale about the perils of isolation. About the dangers incurred on by giving up on people, on love, on trust. At some point, Heyst wishes he had learned to hope and to fight as a young man. So many subjects, the quality of character development, so beautiful a literature (you will find passages and sentences that are real poetry), make for a great piece of art. Joseph Conrad grows in time as one of the quintessential writers of history.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
One of My Favorite Books, 2007-03-08
Joseph Conrad is my favorite novelist. His characters live and breathe and you don't just read about them, you keep company with them long after the book ends. You're not just reading a story, you are going on an adventure and after the last page is turned you have made a new friend. In this book especially you are brought up short about how Fate turns on the smallest detail and the knowledge that we must find something in life to sustain us other than getting what we want.
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