14 h 44 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 362 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 362 pagesAbout this book
What if one frightened moment at sea destroys the honour you hope to build your life around?
Jim dreams of being a hero. As chief mate aboard the Patna, he has hundreds of pilgrims in his care. Then fear takes hold, and he abandons the ship he believes is sinking. The passengers survive, but his desertion comes before a formal inquiry. Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim asks what remains when a man fails his own deepest test.
Marlow, an older seaman, meets Jim at the hearing and struggles to understand him. Friendship and work offer possible ways forward, while the merchant Stein opens a path toward distant Patusan. There, Jim hopes to rebuild his honour. Marlow tells his story piece by piece, drawing you into the distance between the man Jim imagines and the choices he makes.
What you’ll discover
- A dream tested by fear Follow a sincere young sailor whose longing for heroism meets the panic of possible disaster.
- An uneasy friendship Watch Marlow seek understanding where the court can only judge Jim’s actions.
- A distant fresh start Enter Patusan, where Jim seeks a life beyond the shame that follows him.
- Honour without easy answers Weigh the claims of courage, guilt, and imagination without a simple verdict.
- A story in pieces Let Marlow’s winding account draw you closer to a man he cannot stop questioning.
Who will love it
For readers who love moral puzzles, thoughtful storytelling, and sea tales with an inner life. It also speaks to anyone who has felt ashamed of an act and wondered how to rebuild their sense of honour.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A parson's son dreams of heroism
- The Patna sails with eight hundred pilgrims
- In one moment Jim jumps
- The inquiry judges the facts, not the man
- Marlow sees himself in Jim
- Friends try to help, and Jim keeps running
- Stein sends Jim to Patusan
- Honour, imagination and the weight of one act
- A story told in loops by Marlow
Who’s who
- JimA tall, sincere young English sailor, raised on dreams of heroism, who wants above all to prove himself honourable in his own eyes.
- MarlowAn older seaman who watches Jim's inquiry, becomes his friend, and tells the story, hoping to understand how a man like Jim could fail.
- SteinA gentle, wise merchant and butterfly collector in the East who offers Jim a fresh start in a distant place.
- The Captain of the PatnaA huge, bullying German who commands the old steamer and cares only for his own safety and comfort.
- Captain BrierlyA proud, successful officer who sits on the court and is disturbed by Jim's case more than he lets others see.
- JewelA young woman of Patusan who becomes close to Jim and fears losing him to the past that follows him.
- DoraminThe old and powerful chief of the Bugis settlers in Patusan, whose son Dain Waris becomes Jim's close friend.
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- Audiobook
- 14 h 44 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Lord Jim
by Joseph Conrad · 1900
A young sailor dreams of heroism, but one frightened moment at sea puts his sense of honour on trial.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
A parson's son dreams of heroism
Jim begins as the youngest son of an English country clergyman. He is a tall, strong, fair young man with a steady look. As a boy he reads sea stories, and they fill his head with scenes in which he is calm, brave and admired. He sees himself saving people from wrecks, facing mutiny, and standing firm while others panic.
He goes to a training ship for officers of the merchant navy and does well there. His fellow students look up to him. Yet even here the book plants a small warning. One day a ship in the harbour is in trouble and a boat is launched to help, and Jim is too slow, caught up in his own imagining. Others go without him, and he watches them do what he had pictured himself doing.
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What is Lord Jim about?
It follows Jim, a young English sailor who abandons a ship full of pilgrims in a moment of fear, faces a public inquiry, and then tries to rebuild his sense of honour in a remote Eastern settlement.
Who is Marlow in Lord Jim?
Marlow is an experienced sailor who attends Jim's inquiry and becomes his friend. He tells most of the story to a group of listeners, and he also narrates Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
Is Lord Jim based on a true story?
It was inspired by a real event, the 1880 abandonment of the steamer Jeddah by its officers. The novel itself is fiction, published in 1900 after magazine serial form in 1899 and 1900.
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).
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