Victory
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.
Stats for nerds
1recommend
4mentions
3people
2019–2026years
25% recommend75% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Victory - Joseph Conrad
Notes from the Underground - Dostoyevsky
Brothers Karamazov - Dostoyevsky (there is a bunch of other brilliant Dostoyevsky books)
- I had begun the 7th Expanse book, Persepolis Rising, but got distracted by a copy of Joseph Conrad's Victory I found lying around, so I'm half way through that.
I recently finished Gibson's Mona Lisa Overdrive.
The Expanse have been great, but I think I will be good and ready to say good bye when I'm done with the mainline novels.
I don't really read long form non-fiction, which is probably a character flaw, but for me reading is a form of escapism. I love Sci-Fi very much (both classical and modern) and I try to mix and match so I read about equal amounts sci-fi and non-sci-fi.
- > I'm in the anything above 400-600 wpm is in the bullshitters club.
Hi there. I am the walking talking proof you're wrong.
But I don't know how I can prove it to you.
I read this: https://www.amazon.com/Victory-Island-Tale-Penguin-Classics/...
In 2-2.5 hours.
I read this:
https://www.amazon.com/Mission-Gravity-Mesklinite-Book-Maste...
In half an hour, and that was for pleasure.
- Yeah, I am a speedreader, and I did used to be able to do circa 3000wpm at a push. Good to know that even as a myopic 55YO I can still do half that without trying.
Points of comparison: I originally read Hal Clement's classic Mission of Gravity in about 25min, and Joseph Conrad's Victory in about 3 hours.
