Lunchtime read: The Shadow-Line post III

Lunchtime came and went and the afternoon was spent with my sons watching Flushed Away, which was a great film, so here is the delayed thoughts on what was meant to be a short story choice for this week.

The minute that Conrad used his own author’s notes to challenge the idea that the book was a supernatural story you knew that you were in for some content that would cause some people to think that way and the evidence for it starts coming in chapter three.

Highlights from chapter three
* Now installed as captain the first task is to get briefed on the boat and find out what happened about the former captain from the first mate a man called Burns who seems to have taken an instant dislike to the new captain

* Burn tells the story of how the captain, a 65 year old violin player, went slowly mad and was in the process of taking the ship and crew on an impossible voyage to Hong Kong before Burns confronted him and made him see sense although the captain cursed him and the ship

* As they wait in port one by one the crew start to fall ill until Burn’s himself is taken off the ship and taken to a hospital where he begs for the boat not to sail without him and he is returned aboard and the boat limps out to sea waiting for a breeze to come

More tomorrow...