Lord Jim (AmazonClassics Edition)

When Jim, a young merchant seaman, joins a ship carrying Muslims to Mecca, he’s flush with heroic daydreams. But after only a few days aboard, the Patna hits something in the night and begins to take on water. In a crucial moment that tests his courage, Jim cowers and abandons ship rather than risk his life to save the pilgrims. Tried for shameful dereliction of duty, the guilt-ridden Englishman sets forth to make amends for his past in the remote territory of Patusan.

As the curious Captain Marlow now attempts to understand Jim’s history through various fractured narratives, Jim becomes defined by the memories of others—some true, some invented, and all inescapable.

Upending the expectations of nautical fiction, Joseph Conrad created a profound exploration of one’s perception of self, of time as both healing and destructive, and of trying to know the unknowable.

AmazonClassics brings you timeless works from the masters of storytelling. Ideal for anyone who wants to read a great work for the first time or rediscover an old favorite, these new editions open the door to literature’s most unforgettable characters and beloved worlds.

Revised edition: Previously published as Lord Jim, this edition of Lord Jim (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.