Youth - Joseph Conrad
Do or Die
Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) was a Polish-born British novelist whose novels deal with the complexities of the human mind within the backdrop of imperialism, isolation, and moral compromise. Famous for his exquisite literary craftsmanship and understanding of the psyche, Conrad’s master novels like Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, Nostromo, Under Western Eyes, The Secret Agent, and Typhoon explore the heart of darkness that lies within human beings as well as civilizations.
His best-known novel, Heart of Darkness, is a journey into the Congo and an exposé of the atrocities of colonialism, leading to a profound questioning of Western values. Conrad’s tales frequently incorporate nautical backgrounds and existential crises, both reflecting his own life as a mariner and his skepticism of the alleged advancement of Western civilization. Today, Conrad is revered as a great modernist, his prose rising “out from the field like the Alps from the Piedmont plain,” as H. L. Mencken quotes.
Recently picked up around 4 works by Joseph Conrad, which i really wanted to read for multiple reasons one being i bought the R.A Gekoski book on Conrad “Conrad: The moral world of the novelist”1 before even knowing who he was (my obsessive book buying habits) i bought it on September of 2022. Another reason is that his Novel Heart Of Darkness2 is considered a must read short classic that explores the human psyche and what not (which yet i have to go figure out for myself) but also the third reason being that one of my favorite characters from my favorite TV-series True Detective3 (which the government will tell you has 4 seasons but is only 1 and that is the first one ) called Rustin Cohle, and there was this Reddit thread which sparked a goodreads list of books that he must have read4 and you guessed it in that list is Conrad.
So youth5, one of Conrad’s short stories which i have never heard of before but came bundled with Heart of darkness the wordsmiths classic edition i bought, which also acted as a great introduction for me to Conrad’s writing style and flow. And as the blurb from the wordsmith editors say:
‘The other two stories in this book - Youth and The end of the Tether - concern the sea and those who sail upon it. a genre in which Conrad reigns supreme.’
Which was giving off what i should expect from those stories, running around in 30 pages this short stories densely written and very well so i might say with a highly descriptive language - recounts a story of a man who sailed the sea in his younger days or youth.
The story revolves heavily around the sea and sailing which included really impressive descriptions of boats and atmospheres and everything in that era (time) I spent of the time asking perplexity words i found while reading which mostly turn out to be ship parts or maybe gods from Greek mythology and what not.
When i say the book was highly descriptive i meant it, i felt like i was there sailing the ships along side Marlow and the captain i felt the cold, the warm the storm and what not, not only descriptive but the prose it was beautifully done, here is a simple excerpt from part of the book:
‘Between the darkness of earth and heaven she was burning fiercely upon a disc of purple sea shot by the blood-red play of gleams; upon a disc of water glittering and sinister. A high, clear flame, an immense and lonely flame, ascended from the ocean, and from its summit the black smoke poured continuously at the sky. She burned furiously, mournful and imposing like a funeral pile kindled in the night, surrounded by the sea, watched over by the stars. A magnificent death had come like a grace, like a gift, like a reward to that old ship at the end of her laborious days. The surrender of her weary ghost to the keeping of stars and sea was stirring like the sight of a glorious triumph.’
Linger on that a bit, cause what. and another thing i loved about the story while reading is there are scenes where after telling a long story Marlow is like ‘pass the drink’ and it creates this detachment from the story once in a while to tell you that this is just a flash back, narration story told and not the real deal.
I loved the reading, and I’m really anticipating diving into the rest of the Conrad novels that I have. Youth really struck me not just due to the beautiful writing, but for the way it so powerfully looks at time, youth, strength, and even the subtle arrogance we have when we’re young—those things we don’t realize we’re taking for granted until they’ve already gone by. So, there’s this enormous wanting in the book—this thing that’s more and out of reach—that really spoke to me strongly. It just captures that feeling of restlessness we all experience from time to time, you know? The desire to push ourselves, set impossibly high expectations, and then chase after them, fueled by dreams and passion.
That contrast between who we are and who we become is so effective. It reminded me of how differently we view our pasts after experience wears off the rough edges. The ocean, also, is more than backdrop—it’s this living, breathing force that pushes and molds the characters. It’s like both a challenge and a lesson, super humbling and life-changing. And the way the whole thing is shared feels really personal, like someone’s just sharing their heart late at night over a chill drink. There’s this mix of feelings in it—nostalgia, pride, maybe a bit of sadness—but never in a way that’s too over the top. Just real and deeply relatable.
Conrad wants to cement that idea in us because after saying something that sounds ambitious or unimaginable Marlow would add the phrase ‘oh youth’ or ‘the beautiful youth’ something along those lines. I really enjoyed the way the story was laid out as well because we are observing from the point of view of the narrator who is also an observer (outsider) to Marlow’s story as-well.
Conrad ends the novel with:
‘And we all nodded at him: the man of finance, the man of accounts, the man of law, we all nodded at him over the polished table that like a still sheet of brown water reflected our faces, lined, wrinkled; our faces marked by toil, by deceptions, by success, by love; our weary eyes looking still, looking always, looking anxiously for something out of life, that while it is expected is already gone - has passed unseen, in a sigh, in a flash - together with the youth, with the strength, with the romance of illusions.’
It was a fun read and do recommend you check it out …
Some things that caught my eyes…
“It seems i knew very little then, and i know not much more now”
“We agreed that the wisdom of rats had been grossly overrated, being in fact no greater than that of men”
“I remember my youth and the feeling that will never come back anymore - the feeling that I could last forever, outlast the sea, the earth, and all men; the deceitful feeling that lures us on to joys, to perils, to love, to vain effort - to death; the triumphant conviction of strength, the heat of life in the handful of dust, the glow in the heart that with every year grows dim, grows cold, grows small, and expires - and expires, too soon, too soon -itself. Before life itself”