Typhoon, by Joseph Conrad (Novella)

Typhoon is a novella by Joseph Conrad, begun in 1899 and serialized in Pall Mall Magazine in January-March 1902. Its first book publication was in New York by Putnam in 1902; it was also published in Britain in Typhoon and Other Stories by Heinemann in 1903. Plot summary Typhoon is a classic sea yarn, possibly based upon Conrad's actual experience of seaman's life, and probably on a real incident aboard of the real steamer John P. Best. It describes how Captain MacWhirr sails the Siamese steamer Nan-Shan into a typhoon-a mature tropical cyclone of the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean. Other characters include the young Jukes - most probably an alter ego of Conrad from the time he had sailed under captain John McWhirr - and Solomon Rout, the chief engineer. The novella classically evokes the seafaring life at the turn of the century. While Macwhirr, who, according to Conrad, "never walked on this Earth" - is emotionally estranged from his family and crew, and though he refuses to consider an alternate course to skirt the typhoon, his indomitable will in the face of a superior natural force elicits grudging admiration. Characters Captain MacWhirr, an empirical man without imagination. Captain Wilson from "Melita", the "storm-strategist". Jukes, the first mate (with no first name). Jukes' absent friends - second mate Jack Allen and another mate from trans-Atlantic liner (addressee of Jukes' letter). Solomon Rout, the chief engineer, an experienced seaman. Second engineer Harry and third engineer Beale. The boatswain. The second mate. Sailors, steward and cook of the "Nan-Shan". The coolies, hired workers from India and China. The clerk for Messrs. Bun-Hin Co. Mrs Lucy MacWhirr, the Captain's wife. Lydia MacWhirr, the Captain's daughter. Mrs Rout, the chief engineer's wife. Messrs Sigg and Son, the owners of the boat. Owners and foremen from the building yard. Joseph Conrad (Polish pronunciation: born Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski; 3 December 1857 - 3 August 1924) was a Polish-British writer regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English language. He joined the British merchant marine in 1878, and was granted British nationality in 1886. Though he did not speak English fluently until he was in his twenties, he was a master prose stylist who brought a non-English sensibility into English literature. He wrote stories and novels, many with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit in the midst of an impassive, inscrutable universe...........