![]() ![]() ![]() But in Lord Jim this choice, perhaps intentional, distances Jim from the reader. Critics praise Conrad for innovating the narrative voice of the novel beyond the first-person "I" perspective or the all-knowing, God-like, author's voice. Marlow's perspective and feelings towards Jim are ambivalent and Marlow's long tale, told to an audience of fellow seamen, is supplemented by other characters who at some point cross paths with Jim: his shipmates, the judges, employers, and ultimately the denizens of Patusan, including Jewel his wife, and Captain Brown and his men who intrude upon his rule in the book's final chapters. ![]() The story of Jim is told by Marlow, an older English seaman himself who encounters Jim at his trial, befriends him, and then helps him get on his feet again after facing official censure. I'm glad I did because the book has its rewards if you put in the time, patience, and concentration. ![]() It was choppy waters for me, and I put the book down on page 30 or so, only to give it another try after reading that it is considered one of the best 100 novels of its time. "Lordy lord," what to say about Lord Jim? In an era of short Tik Tok videos, Instagram feeds, and limited character Tweets, this novel, published on the cusp of the 20th Century, is a bit of a slog, at least at first as the reader slowly gets acclimatized to the denser sentences, weightier themes, slower pace, and stylistic narrative convention. ![]()
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