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How many AP and/or college students suffer through the "analysis" of Heart of Darkness and the Secret Sharer as part of literature classes? Do we really need to contemplate why Conrade preferred a semicolon to two sentences at a particular point to appreciate that Conrad was an amazing writer?

Victory was Conrad's personal favorite of all the books he wrote. It is at least as significant in its themes and its significance as his other works, though it was written later in Conrad's life (1906).. He was older and had had time to reflect on the many things he had seen and done. It is a book with something for everyone: pirates,soldiers, deserted islands, Singapore, business in the mines, business in the streets, entertainment,enslavement, murder, kindness, malfeasance, generosity, misery, luxury, carousing, propriety, exotic locales, the home counties of England, dishonesty, rectitude, romance, prostitution, etc.

Parts of the story may seem familiar, and occasionally things may feel like they plod a bit, but one can hardly say that the overall direction of the tale is in any way predictable. It is anything BUT predictable! It is decidedly modern in many regards -- you will find yourself surprised that this is reflective of 19th century thinking -- but then the issues of race and gender show themselves and the 19th century setting is quite apparent. There is plenty of action to keep you enthralled and engaged - enough that I found it hard to put the book down and go to bed! It's definitely deserving of a place on the bookshelf as a "worthy read" and it's a good read, too.

I read this book straight through, and then read it a second time at a much more leisurely pace. I will probably return to read it again a few more times in the years to come,just to see how MY view of it evolves. It's definitely a

I did not finish reading yet but I am a fan of Conrad. He is a basic, a classic of the twentieth century, a soul reader, a narrator of human weaknesses and strengths. All these traits he deals with in a very interesting, rich, prose. His works can be read as simple tales, descriptions, and narrations but they truly give room to a deeper understanding of human souls.

"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.