[COMPLETE] Nostromo (Version 2) - dc

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TheBanjo
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Post by TheBanjo »

Sunrise2020 wrote: June 18th, 2021, 11:18 am In section 15 I lingered over the scene of Antonia and Martin leaning on the window sill, dusk slowly falling, and the passers-by who are scandalized by those two unchaperoned young people. Of course, I couldn't keep my eyes glued to the page but I keep thinking about the scene...
It's really lovely, isn't it, that scene?

There's a very famous passage in his Preface to "Nigger of the Narcissus" where Conrad writes "My task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word to make you hear, to make you feel—it is, before all, to make you see." He achieves this stunningly in sequence after sequence in Nostromo, I think.

You can read that whole Preface (it's relatively short, and focusses entirely on what he considers his art, as a novelist, to consist of) here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/17731/17731-h/17731-h.htm#link2H_PREF

I have uploaded section 16: https://librivox.org/uploads/craigdav1/nostromo_16_conrad_128kb.mp3 (33:15)
TheBanjo
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Sunrise2020
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Post by Sunrise2020 »

TheBanjo wrote: June 19th, 2021, 12:45 am
Sunrise2020 wrote: June 18th, 2021, 11:18 am In section 15 I lingered over the scene of Antonia and Martin leaning on the window sill, dusk slowly falling, and the passers-by who are scandalized by those two unchaperoned young people. Of course, I couldn't keep my eyes glued to the page but I keep thinking about the scene...
It's really lovely, isn't it, that scene?

There's a very famous passage in his Preface to "Nigger of the Narcissus" where Conrad writes "My task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word to make you hear, to make you feel—it is, before all, to make you see." He achieves this stunningly in sequence after sequence in Nostromo, I think.

You can read that whole Preface (it's relatively short, and focusses entirely on what he considers his art, as a novelist, to consist of) here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/17731/17731-h/17731-h.htm#link2H_PREF

I have uploaded section 16: https://librivox.org/uploads/craigdav1/nostromo_16_conrad_128kb.mp3 (33:15)
Thanks for sharing the link! I enjoyed the insides from that preface for your current reading.
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Susanne
Sunrise2020
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Post by Sunrise2020 »

PL of sections 16 and 17 are okay.
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Susanne
TheBanjo
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Post by TheBanjo »

TheBanjo
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Post by TheBanjo »

In his memoir "Thus to revisit", Ford Madox Ford writes (p. 58) that, for Conrad, it was essential that "a Subject must be seized by the throat until the last drop of dramatic possibility was squeezed out of it."

I have just uploaded section 19, and I think I can say with some confidence there's a fair bit of that Conradian throat seizing and drama squeezing going on now: https://librivox.org/uploads/craigdav1/nostromo_19_conrad_128kb.mp3 (42:15)
TheBanjo
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Post by TheBanjo »

It was NOT a dark and stormy night, but nonetheless...

I have uploaded section 20: https://librivox.org/uploads/craigdav1/nostromo_20_conrad_128kb.mp3 (39:00)

In terms of word count, we're now just slightly beyond half way.
Sunrise2020
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Post by Sunrise2020 »

TheBanjo wrote: June 23rd, 2021, 1:33 am In his memoir "Thus to revisit", Ford Madox Ford writes (p. 58) that, for Conrad, it was essential that "a Subject must be seized by the throat until the last drop of dramatic possibility was squeezed out of it."

I have just uploaded section 19, and I think I can say with some confidence there's a fair bit of that Conradian throat seizing and drama squeezing going on now: https://librivox.org/uploads/craigdav1/nostromo_19_conrad_128kb.mp3 (42:15)
Absolutely, and even the drifting on the quiet ocean was captivating!

Today, I walked on Calle Nostromo and took it as a good omen.
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Susanne
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Post by TheBanjo »

Sunrise2020 wrote: June 24th, 2021, 6:05 am Today, I walked on Calle Nostromo and took it as a good omen.
Oh, how wonderful, Susanne! It's so special to get a little 'sign from heaven' like that sometimes. I wonder if they sell silver buttons there? No likely, I know, but one can always hope...

I've just realised there was in error in the way I introduced section 20 yesterday. I have now fixed that error, and if you download section 20 right now, you should get the correct version (which mentions, at both the head and the tail, that this is SECTION 1 of chapter 8, a detail I originally omitted). The new version of https://librivox.org/uploads/craigdav1/nostromo_20_conrad_128kb.mp3 is a tad longer, at 39:06.

I'm about to edit today's recording of section 21, and should have that up on the forum before another hour has passed.
TheBanjo
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Sunrise2020
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Post by Sunrise2020 »

TheBanjo wrote: June 25th, 2021, 12:31 am
Sunrise2020 wrote: June 24th, 2021, 6:05 am Today, I walked on Calle Nostromo and took it as a good omen.
Oh, how wonderful, Susanne! It's so special to get a little 'sign from heaven' like that sometimes. I wonder if they sell silver buttons there? No likely, I know, but one can always hope...

I've just realised there was in error in the way I introduced section 20 yesterday. I have now fixed that error, and if you download section 20 right now, you should get the correct version (which mentions, at both the head and the tail, that this is SECTION 1 of chapter 8, a detail I originally omitted). The new version of https://librivox.org/uploads/craigdav1/nostromo_20_conrad_128kb.mp3 is a tad longer, at 39:06.

No silver buttons but a lot of Spanish naval glory which is also very appropriate!

I’m glad you caught the error in the introduction because I surely would have missed that one. PL of section 20 is okay.

I'm about to edit today's recording of section 21, and should have that up on the forum before another hour has passed.
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Susanne
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Post by TheBanjo »

Thanks Susanne. Hopefully between the two of us we'll catch the most monstrous mistakes. I love that Calle Nostromo has such associations!

I have uploaded section 22: https://librivox.org/uploads/craigdav1/nostromo_22_conrad_128kb.mp3 (28:55)
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Post by TheBanjo »

I have uploaded section 23: https://librivox.org/uploads/craigdav1/nostromo_23_conrad_128kb.mp3 (37:31)

After reading this today, I found myself thinking about Captain Mitchell's half-chronometer, and to what superb effect Conrad uses that little object here, giving us through that watch a succinct image of what Captain's Mitchell's values are.
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Sunrise2020
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Post by Sunrise2020 »

Wonderful! Now I’ve two sections for tomorrow’s walk and I’ll listen carefully to the description of Captain Mitchell’s half-chronometer. I must admit the dictionary definition hasn’t helped much :roll:
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Susanne
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