6 h 52 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A ship has her own character. The sea offers no friendship. A sailor must learn to face both.
In The Mirror of the Sea, Joseph Conrad gathers memories and reflections from almost twenty years in the merchant navy. These sea pieces follow no single plot. Instead, they bring you among gales, anchorages, ships and crews, where a sailor learns his trade through the daily demands of life afloat.
Conrad recalls old shipmates and vessels whose ways their crews come to know. He tells of the Tremolino and a youthful smuggling venture out of Marseilles, and pays tribute to Nelson and his sailors. Alongside these portraits runs a harder concern: missing ships, anxious waiting on shore, and the honour of seamanship.
What you’ll discover
- Ships with their own ways Meet vessels Conrad describes as docile or wilful, kind or treacherous, each demanding a sailor’s understanding.
- A sailor learns his craft Follow a newcomer’s first steps as unfamiliar work slowly becomes the knowledge older hands take for granted.
- The weight of waiting Feel the anxiety on shore when a ship is overdue and no word comes.
- A youthful smuggling venture Step aboard the Tremolino for Conrad’s account of a smuggling voyage out of Marseilles.
- Duty on an unfriendly sea Explore Conrad’s belief that seamanship carries its own honour amid the sea’s dangers and demands.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who love the sea, sailing ships and well-made prose, and those who know Conrad's novels and want the experience behind them. If you want a story with a plot and a driving pace, you may find it slow.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A sailor looks back on his craft
- The sea is no friend to man
- Ships are living things to sailors
- How a young man learns the trade
- Danger, duty and the end of sail
- Smugglers, Nelson and the lessons of youth
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Le Miroir de la mer
by Joseph Conrad· 1906
A sailor recalls ships, storms, and working life at sea.
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Language: Français
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A sailor looks back on his craft
The author of this book is a man writing about the life that made him. Joseph Conrad left Poland as a young man and went to sea, first in French ships out of Marseilles and then in the British merchant service. He rose through the ranks and earned a master's certificate. When he began to write fiction, he used what he had seen. Novels such as Lord Jim and Nostromo were already behind him when this book appeared.
Here he drops the invented plot and speaks in his own voice. He does not try to teach navigation or give a history of ships. He wants to show what the sea meant to those who lived on it. The title tells you his method. The sea is a mirror, and in it he sees ships, men and the passing of time.
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The author
Joseph Conrad
1857–1924 · Polish-British novelist
Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) was a Polish-British writer born in Berdychiv, then in the Russian Empire and now in Ukraine. He worked at sea before settling in England. He wrote in English. His works include Heart of Darkness (1899), Lord Jim (1900), Nostromo (1904), and The Secret Agent (1907).
“The sea has never been friendly to man. At most it has been the accomplice of human restlessness.”
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What is The Mirror of the Sea about?
It is a set of essays and memories by Joseph Conrad about the sea and the people who work on it. Topics include landfalls, gales, ships, seamanship, the Thames, and the passing of the age of sail.
Is The Mirror of the Sea a true story?
Yes, it is nonfiction. Conrad draws on his own years in the merchant navy, and the chapters were written in the early 1900s and published as a book in 1906.
Who is Dominic Cervoni?
Dominic Cervoni is a Corsican seaman Conrad knew in his youth at Marseilles. He appears in the Tremolino chapter as a skilled and daring companion, and he later inspired characters in Conrad's fiction.
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