Book Review - Youth and Gaspar Ruiz by Joseph Conrad

 Youth and Gaspar Ruiz by Joseph Conrad

London: J.M Dent & Sons, 1927 reprint (originally published 1920)

It's been a long time since I have read any Conrad. I'd forgotten how good a writer he was. Even in these short stories which were originally written for magazines, Conrad's prose is just as limpid as in his novels, his characterizations are as elusive and his narrative stays with you in ways you don't expect.

Youth is the story of a young man's first command at sea, in the ship  Judea. The man is Marlow, who re-appears throughout Conrad's fiction, in Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, and Chance. In his little afterword Conrad explains that Marlow is one of his favourite literary creations, and Youth is chronologically the first in this character's life. 

The Judea is an unlucky ship, destined to sink in the Java sea, but for Marlow his first taste of command outweighs all the trials and tribulations. He tells his story years later to a table of other old salts, and while the narrative is of the ship and his adventure in it, the story is really about the attitudes of youth - "...I remember my youth and the feeling that will never come back any more - the feeling that I could last for ever, 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 - before life itself." There is a poignancy to this statement, coming from an old man remembering his youth surrounded by others his age. 

I also wondered while reading this story, whether Conrad had read Moby Dick - the determination of the captain of the Judea reminds me a little of Ahab. The story of the ship and it's prolonged demise is riveting, and apparently based on some of Conrad's real experiences. 

Gaspar Ruiz, although longer, is perhaps less of a story - an exciting tale of treachery, loyalty and heroism, again told in a flashback style. Gaspar is a man who escapes execution as a deserter, and is rescued by Erminia, whom he then rescues from an earthquake. Together they forge their own path through the South American revolutions, Gaspar giving his life for Erminia, and Erminia taking her life rather than live without Gaspar.

If you like Conrad, I think Youth is a must-read.

Cheers for now, from

A View Over the Bell