The Shadow-Line

Written at the start of the Great War, when his son Borys was at the Western Front, The Shadow-Line is Conrads supreme effort to open mans eyes to the meaning of war through the stimulus of art. In many ways an autobiographical narrative, this masterpiece relates the story of a young and inexperienced sea captain whose first command finds him with a ship becalmed in tropical seas and a crew smitten with fever. As he wrestles with his conscience and with the sense of isolation that his position imposes, the captain crosses the shadow-line between youth and adulthood. The qualities needed to confront the ships crisis symbolize the very qualities needed by humanity, not only to face evil and destruction, but also to come to terms with life. [A] harrowing but heartwarming story. Lets hear more from Fred Williams. AudioFile. Williamss narration is almost elegiac in pacing and tone[he] gives the characters voice a moral weight, reflective of his growing maturity. Booklist.