Lord Jim and Paulliver's Travels
"Some, very few and seen there but seldom, led mystrious lives, had preserved an undefaced energy with the temper of buccaneers and the eyes of dreamers. They appeared to live in a crazy maze of plans, hopes, dangers, enterprises....the majority were men who, like himself, thrown there by some accident, had remained officers of country ships. They now had a horror of home service, with the harder conditions, severer view of duty, and the hazard of stormy oceans...they loved short passages, good deck chairs, large native crews, and the distinction of being white. They shuddered at the thought of hard work, and lead precariously easy lives, always on the verge of dismissal, always on the verge of engagement, serving Chinamen, Arabs, half-castes, would have served the devil himself had he made it easy enough."
Such words Joseph Conrad wrote in his Lord Jim, and it sounds awfully familiar. I'm not entirely sure which group I'm in, with my crazy dreams of writing and my precariously easy life. I know I don't want to come back to the American job market, and even if I did, I know I couldn't find a part time job that would pay for an apartment, my life, and my lifestyle of writing novels in cafes and not worrying about the price of tea. I know I tend to look down on some Westerners here as slackers, just here for the easy beer money; others are learning Chinese or working as engineers, both of which I can respect.
And the "distinction" has helped me overcome my shyness, since lots of people do want to talk with me, just because they want to practice their English. When I come back to the States, I feel that loss from no longer being the center of attention, because in the States I'm just some ordinary looking guy.
I actually decided to reread a couple of Conrad novels (Lord Jim and Nostromo) just to see what I thought of them; I haven't read them in twenty years. I don't think I understood them well enough as a teenager to form any opinion at all, really. Now I see patterns of history and personal ironies. Maybe some books just shouldn't be read until you'd lived a little yourself.
Such words Joseph Conrad wrote in his Lord Jim, and it sounds awfully familiar. I'm not entirely sure which group I'm in, with my crazy dreams of writing and my precariously easy life. I know I don't want to come back to the American job market, and even if I did, I know I couldn't find a part time job that would pay for an apartment, my life, and my lifestyle of writing novels in cafes and not worrying about the price of tea. I know I tend to look down on some Westerners here as slackers, just here for the easy beer money; others are learning Chinese or working as engineers, both of which I can respect.
And the "distinction" has helped me overcome my shyness, since lots of people do want to talk with me, just because they want to practice their English. When I come back to the States, I feel that loss from no longer being the center of attention, because in the States I'm just some ordinary looking guy.
I actually decided to reread a couple of Conrad novels (Lord Jim and Nostromo) just to see what I thought of them; I haven't read them in twenty years. I don't think I understood them well enough as a teenager to form any opinion at all, really. Now I see patterns of history and personal ironies. Maybe some books just shouldn't be read until you'd lived a little yourself.