The Rescue: A Romance of the Shallows

Conrad is one of those authors whose books I read years apart in order to make his oeuvre last the course of my lifetime, and because they are emotionally disturbing. This book is one that I would put in the same category as his book titled 'The Rover.' Although the themes of the two books are dissimilar, they pull upon the same heartstrings in their treatment of love, loyalty and duty. 'The Rescue' expands these themes beyond the merely personal and places them within the context of the clash of cultures; social, historical, and political. Enough of pretentiousness. What happens is that a magnificent specimen of a man gets caught up in native intrigue in the Indonesian Archipelago as he seeks to make good on a promise made years ago to a native prince intent upon restoring his claim to the throne. Problems arise when the personal yacht of a British diplomat enroute from Manila to Singapore runs aground at precisely the spot where our hero's promise is to be kept. Suffice it to say that the yacht and its contents become the objects of desire to all the parties involved for various conflicting reasons. Resolution of these conflicts invariably ends in tragedy, as Conrad himself predicts numerous times in the course of his narration. Anyone who has been smitten by love at first sight will find this story especially engaging and sad and wonderful. I take especial pleasure in Conrad's wonderfully improbable sentence structure and eccentric word play. His are the only sentences that I can take pleasure from reading repeatedly to myself in order to fully appreciate or comprehend the thought being conveyed. I call this novel prescient because it appears obvious to me that F. Scott Fitzgerald borrowed heavily from this book when writing 'The Great Gatsby,' as the underlying themes of the two books are too similar and non-universal for there not to be a connection. Read them both and see if you don't agree.

As an avid Conrad fan, I found it refreshing to come across a book which I didn't know existed. Not his best work, but well worth reading because Conrad always comes through with descriptive scenery, and interesting character interaction. KLM

The familiar Conrad hero Captain Tom Lingard(Outcast of the Islands) comes to the rescue of an English pleasure yacht that has foundered in the shallows just as war is about to break out between Malay tribes. Tom has war supplies including gunpowder stored in his own boat that has been turned into a fort and Tom's decisions will greatly effect the outcome of the war. Meanwhile though there is the English problem which Tom sees as being just that until he spies on board a lovely woman. Thats enough to distract our hero from his more pressing war time duties. Romantic Tom recalls Lord Jim and is in fact Jims brother, but he is not as complex or as troubled as Jim was so this is more a tale of pure adventure. External events take precedence over internal conflicts and so the adventure can be enjoyed for just that. Not one of Conrads most important works but still it exerts a lot of appeal. Anything by the best writer ever of sea and island tales is worth my time.

Author writes about true piracy in Caribbean ca. 19th cent. Conrad writes with historical and experiential knowledge.