Youth, a Narrative

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Youth, a Narrative (1902) is a public domain work.

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About this book

Around a table shared by men who began their working lives at sea, Marlow recalls his first appointment as second mate. He was twenty, eager for responsibility, and delighted by the prospect of taking a cargo of coal to the East. The aging Judea, with its worn fittings and bold motto, becomes the focus of his youthful pride. Captain Beard and the mate Mahon bring years of seamanship to a voyage already troubled by a fierce North Sea gale and delays at the loading port.

Joseph Conrad tells this short sea story through the voice of an older man remembering the confidence of his younger self. Work in the hold, the habits of fellow sailors, and the confusion following a coal explosion give the adventure its concrete texture. Readers interested in life aboard merchant ships will find physical hardship alongside an account of how ambition and memory shape the meaning of experience.

About the author

Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) was a Polish-British writer regarded as one of the greatest novelists in English, though it was his third language. His works probe moral isolation, colonialism, and the darkness within.