Review from a Transgressive Fiction Fan
So much to say about this novel. One one hand it’s an adventure tale, but on the other it’s a harbinger of the modern novel, told from various points of view, creating an almost cubist vision of one man’s struggle with guilt and morality.
The prose is beautiful and the characters fascinating, every one of them plagued by their own inner demons. Jim, himself, is almost a younger version of Kurtz from Heart of Darkness, but my favorite characters were probably Brierly, the forboding sea captain, and Stein amidst all his butterflies.
This novel is steeped in so much beauty and melancholy. The passages about the Patna disaster are devastating. Well worth a read.
“Insightful” Review from a Mainstream Reader
I can’t. I just can’t. I’m sorry.