At Sea With Joseph Conrad

[MULTIZ321]

At Sea With Joseph Conrad - by Maya Jasanoff/ Opinion/ International New York Times/ The New York Times/ nytimes.com

"THE tall ship Corwith Cramer stumbled into the Celtic Sea, engine roaring, 7,500 square feet of sail furled up mute. Its two masts ticked against the horizon like a metronome set to allegro. I joined a row of pallid sailors crouched at the leeward rail. Foam-lathered swell swung for my face, then reeled abruptly away. By the third time I threw up over the side, the “wine-dark sea” of Homer’s poetry just looked like the basin of a billion vomits.

Misery loves blame, so I blamed Joseph Conrad, whose fiction had brought me here. Before Conrad published his first novel in 1895, he spent 20 years working as a merchant sailor, mostly on sailing ships, and fully half his writing — including “Heart of Darkness,” “Lord Jim” and “The Secret Sharer” — deals with sailors, ships and the sea. These loom so large for him that as I have researched a book about Conrad’s life and times, I have felt it essential to travel by sea myself..."

Joseph Conrad, right. Credit Culture Club/Getty Images


Richard

 

[Ty1on]

At Sea With Joseph Conrad - by Maya Jasanoff/ Opinion/ International New York Times/ The New York Times/ nytimes.com

"THE tall ship Corwith Cramer stumbled into the Celtic Sea, engine roaring, 7,500 square feet of sail furled up mute. Its two masts ticked against the horizon like a metronome set to allegro. I joined a row of pallid sailors crouched at the leeward rail. Foam-lathered swell swung for my face, then reeled abruptly away. By the third time I threw up over the side, the “wine-dark sea” of Homer’s poetry just looked like the basin of a billion vomits.

Misery loves blame, so I blamed Joseph Conrad, whose fiction had brought me here. Before Conrad published his first novel in 1895, he spent 20 years working as a merchant sailor, mostly on sailing ships, and fully half his writing — including “Heart of Darkness,” “Lord Jim” and “The Secret Sharer” — deals with sailors, ships and the sea. These loom so large for him that as I have researched a book about Conrad’s life and times, I have felt it essential to travel by sea myself..."

Joseph Conrad, right. Credit Culture Club/Getty Images


Richard

Her opening paragraph is written in stunning language. I wish authors still wrote like that, colorfully descriptive without feeling the need to dumb their prose down to the sixth grade level.
And, sadly, I read Heart of Darkness bot don't remember an iota about it. I sometimes wonder if I am hurdling into Alzheimer's.

 

[taterhed]

Her opening paragraph is written in stunning language. I wish authors still wrote like that, colorfully descriptive without feeling the need to dumb their prose down to the sixth grade level.
And, sadly, I read Heart of Darkness bot don't remember an iota about it. I sometimes wonder if I am hurdling into Alzheimer's.

You're not alone....or hurtling into dementia either. I recently decided to re-read (via audio book) all the classics. I'm a huge fan of Dickens and Bronte and many others. I too, listened to 'Heart of Darkness' and felt like it was a new book, fresh off the NYT bestsellers list. I'm not that old, but it seems that memory fades.

I have found that a really good reader/narrator makes all the difference in listing to a classic. I forced, FORCED, myself to listen to Ayn Rand's 'Atlas Shrugged' due to the many political references over the last few years. Sadly, every time I hear that narrator on a different book, I start to shake uncontrollably. (Atlas Shrugged was Listening Length: 52 hours and 19 minutes--yikes!!! )

It's fun to forget and re-read, re-watch or re-hear old favorites with a new perspective. IMHO>

I'm not sure if this post will make you feel better or worse!

 

[csxjohn]

I recently met the great, great, great, grand daughter of Joshua Slocum, the first man to sail solo around the world.

I just purchased his book telling of this journey. I haven't read enough of it to attest to the quality of his writing but if you like stories about the sea and people who sail them you may want to try this one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_Alone_Around_the_World