My progress on Conrad's Victory, which I embarked on towards the end of last month, has been fitful to say the least. Of the obviously great novelists I find Conrad among the most demanding (not quite in the league of Henry James, but getting there) but there's a certain pleasure in reading him at very slow pace to ensure both a genuine grasp of what's going on and why the writer thinks it is important. I suppose that's why I've come so late to this novel, despite having a sense of the high regard in which it is held by some major critics. (I'm thinking F.R. Leavis here.)
Conrad's sombre view of life and human effort can also feel somewhat overwhelming. I've just reached the well known lines: he who forms a tie is lost. The germ of corruption has entered into his soul. I didn't realise that this is actually articulated by the protagonist, Heyst, in dialogue with the woman he gets involved with. And it's so strange that the writer describes his tone as light as he tells her this.
I feel I need to become more serious about life when reading Conrad. A good reason for persevering with his work in a world that often appears to value only what is fleeting and superficial.
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