When "Lord Jim" first appeared in 1900, many took Joseph Conrad to task for couching an entire novel in the form of an extended conversation - a ripping good yarn, if you like. Conrad defended his method, insisting that people really do talk for that long, and listen as well. In fact his chatty masterwork requires no defense - it offers up not only linguistic pleasures but a timeless exploration of morality. The eponymous Jim is a young, good-looking, genial, and naive water-clerk on the Patna, a cargo ship plying Asian waters.He is, we are told, 'the kind of fellow you would, on the strength of his looks, leave in charge of the deck'. He also harbours romantic fantasies of adventure and heroism - which are promptly scuttled one night when the ship collides with an obstacle and begins to sink. Acting on impulse, Jim jumps overboard and lands in a lifeboat, which happens to be bearing the unscrupulous captain and his cohorts away from the disaster. The Patna, however, manages to stay afloat. The foundering vessel is towed into port - and since the officers have strategically vanished, Jim is left to stand trial for abandoning the ship and its 800 passengers.

康拉德（1857～1924）

Conrad，Joseph

波兰裔英国作家。1857年12月3日生于波兰波多利亚一个诗人家庭，1924年8月3日卒于英国坎特伯雷。自幼失去父母，17岁开始当水手，后升大副、船长，其航海生活达20余年。1886年入英国籍。1889年始用英语从事文学创作。1895年第一部长篇小说《阿尔迈耶的愚蠢》出版。到 1924年共出版31部中长篇小说及短篇小说集和散文集。他的作品根据题材可分为航海小说、丛林小说和社会政治小说。他的航海小说出色地传达了海洋上狂风暴雨的气氛，以及水手们艰苦的航海生活和深刻细微的心理活动。代表作有《水仙号上的黑家伙》、《台风》、《青春》、《阴影线》等。他的丛林小说大部分都是由一个叫马洛的人叙述的，以《黑暗的中心》、《吉姆爷》为代表，探讨道德与人的灵魂问题，包含着深刻的社会历史内容。他的社会政治小说《诺斯特罗莫》、《特务》及《在西方的眼睛下》等，表现了他对殖民主义的憎恶。他是英国现代小说的先行者之一。