The Shadow-Line

by Joseph Conrad Narrated by Expatriate

Overview

Written in 1915, The Shadow-Line is based upon events and experiences from twenty-seven years earlier to which Conrad returned obsessively in his fiction. A young sea captain's first command brings with it a succession of crises: his sea is becalmed, the crew laid low by fever, and his deranged first mate is convinced that the ship is haunted by the malignant spirit of a previous captain.

This is indeed a work full of "sudden passions," in which Conrad is able to show how the full intensity of existence can be experienced by the man who, in the words of the older Captain Giles, is prepared to "stand up to his bad luck, to his mistakes, to his conscience." A subtle and penetrating analysis of the nature of manhood, The Shadow-Line investigates varieties of masculinity and desire in a subtext that counters the tale's seemingly conventional surface.

Editorial Reviews

OCT/NOV 04 - AudioFile

At 57, with his son Borys on the Western Front at the start of the Great War, Conrad wrote of another young man embarking on a life-altering adventure, his first command. The youthful but nameless narrator is full of fresh naïveté, and the next three harrowing weeks test every ounce of strength, courage, and humanity the young captain has. Is this Conrad’s letter to his son, encouraging him to face his trials with a manly heart? Possibly. Fred Williams’s mature, gravelly voice carries all the weight of age and experience as surely as if the graying Conrad himself were, years later, telling the tale of his own first command. It is a harrowing but heartwarming story read with the wizened dignity that only an older reader can create. Let’s hear more from Fred Williams. P.E.F. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940176618211
Publisher:	Erika
Publication date:	11/23/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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