The Shadow-Line

The Shadow-Line, written in 1915, is based on memories and occasions from 27 years previously, to which Conrad incessantly returned in his writing. A rookie sea captain's first command is accompanied by a series of crises: the sea is calm, the crew is sick with a fever, and his insane first mate believes the ship is being haunted by the evil spirit of a former captain.In fact, Conrad is able to demonstrate how the whole intensity of existence may be felt by a person in this work full of "sudden passions," in the words of the elder Captain Giles, who is willing to "stand up to his bad luck, to his mistakes, to his conscience."