Jim is the chief mate on a ship called Patna, full of pilgrims at sea in Eastern waters. He is young, idealistic and a bit of a dreamer. The narrator Marlow tells the story of how the ship gets into difficulties to the point of sinking. With all the crew and officers in the lifeboats, Jim finally joins them at the last moment eventhough the ship is in fact saved. Jim is charged in the courts over the incident but he decides to redeem his reputation by going to a remote trading station in Patusan. There the local community hails him as Lord Jim and he soon faces a band of thieves coming to plunder the station.
Joseph Conrad was born in Poland in 1857 as Teodor Korzeniowski, and died in 1924 after a long career as a sailor. He took British nationality in 1886, a master mariner in 1894 after twenty years at sea. This is a fine but somewhat dated adventure story, stylishly constructed.