Book Review: "Victory" by Joseph Conrad

I don't know how to tell you this, but this is my first time reading this one. Regardless of how long I've often spent pouring over Heart of Darkness, not matter how much effort I spent in my teens acquiring a nice copy of Lord Jim, I never even came across Victory. But whilst scrolling Twitter a few weeks back I saw that someone else had read it. The writing '...by Joseph Conrad' after the title was where I basically said that I was sold. Victory was a brilliant read and I hope that I can work this into my 'Why it's a Masterpiece' series soon.

Axel Heyst is probably not the happiest protagonist, but when is a Joseph Conrad protagonist ever truly happy? He wanders around the world almost aimlessly after suffering a childhood of something akin to tough love. Eventually, upon his wanders, he settles in the Dutch East Indies which I believe is now Indonesia. He lives with his Chinese servant, Wang on the island of Samburan after finding a now defunct coal company. The isolated protagonist who lives as a weird myth amongst the locals makes me think of Heart of Darkness and definitely the character of Kurtz - there is definitely an attitude problem which links them both together. I will say that Heart of Darkness felt a bit darker, but maybe the clue is in the name.

Avoiding any entangelements with others, he eventually encounters Captain Morrison whom he lends money to upon impulse. But eventually, after considering him a friend and business partner - the Captain dies leaving our protagonist alone and longing for human connection in a way he didn't when he wandered the earth. But of course, because he's a Joseph Conrad protagonist, he doesn't realise he longs for connection and instead, he becomes a brooding man who suspects everyone and everything. I will say that even though Heart of Darkness is iconic, this book definitely has its moments. There are some great lines and passages within.

Captain Davidson introduces Heyst to Lena and he eventually takes her away to his island and she sees in him the possibility for security. Of course, he sees in her an end to this weird isolation he has found himself in but must deal with the fact that there are other characters that do not appreciate this. The man who was exploiting Lena before sends people to go and get her back under the guise of telling them that Heyst has treasure on his island. Unfortunately, once they reach the island - Heyst recognises they have been on a long voyage and gives them shelter - that's where we the readers get (ghostly voice) conflicted emotions.

One of the men eventually tries to assault Lena but she does actually manage to stab him after a manipulation which is kind of bad-ass. But he'll need more than that to actually die. Unfortunately, Lena is shot by accident and things take a strange, dark and intense turn as Heyst arrives back to try to help Lena. He instead discovers something horrible. Joseph Conrad is probably best here, he writes tragedy and decline in a way that not many other writers can. It definitely reminds me of Kurtz's death in Heart of Darkness and ultimately, I can see similar writing styles between the two.

One thing I really enjoyed about this book though is the way in which we are introduced to this often brooding protagonist who must learn a quite valuable lesson if you're going to live in a dangerous place by yourself. There are some lines in the book where we see him utter his reflections upon this but Joseph Conrad definitely hides true feelings and intentions from us for a long time. It really does prove that he gives us hints and pieces throughout - especially where human connection is concerned.

I didn't expect to enjoy this so much seeing as I found it being read on Twitter but here we are. I hope I find more obscure classics this way because honestly, I'm sick of reading 'obscure classics' lists on the internet and them showing me something like The Island of Dr Moreau by HG Wells (yes I purposely used another book with a brooding isolated guy who's intentions we aren't fully aware of until much later). If you chose to read this book then I hope you enjoy it, it is definitely worth it.