The Michael and Cathryn Borden Memorial Book of the Day.*

The Nigger of the Narcissus by Joseph Conrad

The Nigger of the Narcissus, his third novel, describes a homeward voyage from India rounding The Cape in winter, with the ship Narcissus getting knocked down on her beam ends. It is also a story of troubled inter-personal relationships, an exploration of compulsion, obsession and neurosis - most of the characters can be seen as either weirdly hysterical or Hollywood-heroic. And it is a heavy exploration of Conrad's gloomy Slavic soul. Even in a ship romping across tropical seas before a favourable monsoon Conrad sees dark despair and regret: “like the earth that had given her up to the sea, she [the ship] had an intolerable load of hopes and regrets”. - Nick Burningham

If you would rather not buy the book, you may read it here for free, courtesy of the University of Virginia.

* Who? Look here.