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The Tale
"The Tale brings together in one collection four stories by the celebrated author of Heart of Darkness. Set onboard a ship during an unnamed war, the title story is a harrowing account of guilt and responsibility, showing Conrad at his most accomplished as a master of psychological penetration. Accompanying this is another study of the brutal turns of fortune visited on the unwary by war: 'The Warrior's Soul' takes place during Napoleon's invasion of Russia, and traces the interweaving relationship between a beautiful woman and the two men who love her. 'Prince Roman', meanwhile, is one of Conrad's earliest stories, and the only piece in his entire oeuvre that touches on his homeland, Poland. The collection concludes with 'The Black Mate', a witty and light-hearted illustration of life aboard ship." "Spanning Joseph Conrad's entire literary career, these four stories touch on some of his major interests - war, imperialism, life at sea - showing him at his most intimate and ambitious."
107 pages, Paperback
First published January 18, 1917
10 people are currently reading
174 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Conrad
3,094 books4,860 followersJoseph Conrad was a Polish-British novelist and story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language and, although he did not speak English fluently until his twenties, he became a master prose stylist who brought a non-English sensibility into English literature. He wrote novels and stories, many in nautical settings, that depict crises of human individuality in the midst of what he saw as an indifferent, inscrutable, and amoral world.
Conrad is considered a literary impressionist by some and an early modernist by others, though his works also contain elements of 19th-century realism. His narrative style and anti-heroic characters, as in Lord Jim, for example, have influenced numerous authors. Many dramatic films have been adapted from and inspired by his works. Numerous writers and critics have commented that his fictional works, written largely in the first two decades of the 20th century, seem to have anticipated later world events.
Writing near the peak of the British Empire, Conrad drew on the national experiences of his native Poland—during nearly all his life, parceled out among three occupying empires—and on his own experiences in the French and British merchant navies, to create short stories and novels that reflect aspects of a European-dominated world—including imperialism and colonialism—and that profoundly explore the human psyche.
Conrad is considered a literary impressionist by some and an early modernist by others, though his works also contain elements of 19th-century realism. His narrative style and anti-heroic characters, as in Lord Jim, for example, have influenced numerous authors. Many dramatic films have been adapted from and inspired by his works. Numerous writers and critics have commented that his fictional works, written largely in the first two decades of the 20th century, seem to have anticipated later world events.
Writing near the peak of the British Empire, Conrad drew on the national experiences of his native Poland—during nearly all his life, parceled out among three occupying empires—and on his own experiences in the French and British merchant navies, to create short stories and novels that reflect aspects of a European-dominated world—including imperialism and colonialism—and that profoundly explore the human psyche.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 2, 2021
Title Story only - The Tale
A story about choices, responsibility, and the hardship of command in war. Conrad packs a lot into this tale and its ending was well conceived; however, the tale is framed as a story within a story, and that element did not work well for me. The conversation that opens this story between the commander and a woman added nothing and, in fact, was almost confusing.
A story about choices, responsibility, and the hardship of command in war. Conrad packs a lot into this tale and its ending was well conceived; however, the tale is framed as a story within a story, and that element did not work well for me. The conversation that opens this story between the commander and a woman added nothing and, in fact, was almost confusing.
December 21, 2017
3.5 stars
I came across this four-story paperback only one left at a booth in our Book Expo 2017 held last October (from 18th-29th) in Bangkok. Since the title The Tale has simply been taken from its third story, the book itself did not interest me at first sight. Having a look in the contents, I was relieved I hadn't read the stories before; this is their first publication data. (p. iv)
The Warrior's Soul first published in Land & Water, 1917
Prince Roman first published in Oxford and Cambridge Review, 1911
The Tale first published in Strand Magazine, 1917
The Black Mate first published in London Magazine, 1908
Surprisingly, there is no synopsis of each story in the wikipedia so the following paraphrase front the front flap and my reading ('Prince Roman') would be the guide: 1) 'The Warrior's Soul' explores the triangle relationship between a beautiful woman and two men during Napoleon's invasion of Russia, 2) 'Prince Roman' reveals a story of a noble Polish prince who for some reason decides to fight for his homeland as a common officer, 3) 'The Tale' reveals a distressing account of guilt and responsibility on a ship in an unnamed war, and 4) 'The Black Mate' is a seemingly humorous and enjoyable revelation of life aboard ship.
Obviously, we can see that they were published more than 100 years ago, in the early 20th century; there are two exact centenarians, that is, The Warrior's Soul and The Tale. As for his style, I have found some words used uniquely then and, I think, quite rare nowadays as we can see from the extracts:
etc.
The first sentence is unique due to an adjective modified by an adverb 'prodigiously old' (plus two more like this in the story, pp. 32, 33), the second is due to the noun 'oldsters'; it is my first time to see them interestingly used in each story's context. There are two reasons related to the words in questions. It might be regarded as his kindness to the elderly by his view of seeing those in their old age capable of being in a prodigious manner instead of contemptous words. (I wonder if it is his praise or satire, truly.) Then, the word 'oldsters' has amusingly reminded me of its twin-like antonym, that is, 'youngsters'.
As famously known as an author who has masterly written his works in English as his third language, Conrad wrote superbly, that is, his English being tinged with unexpected pleasant words is simply a delight to read, for example:
To continue . . .
I came across this four-story paperback only one left at a booth in our Book Expo 2017 held last October (from 18th-29th) in Bangkok. Since the title The Tale has simply been taken from its third story, the book itself did not interest me at first sight. Having a look in the contents, I was relieved I hadn't read the stories before; this is their first publication data. (p. iv)
The Warrior's Soul first published in Land & Water, 1917
Prince Roman first published in Oxford and Cambridge Review, 1911
The Tale first published in Strand Magazine, 1917
The Black Mate first published in London Magazine, 1908
Surprisingly, there is no synopsis of each story in the wikipedia so the following paraphrase front the front flap and my reading ('Prince Roman') would be the guide: 1) 'The Warrior's Soul' explores the triangle relationship between a beautiful woman and two men during Napoleon's invasion of Russia, 2) 'Prince Roman' reveals a story of a noble Polish prince who for some reason decides to fight for his homeland as a common officer, 3) 'The Tale' reveals a distressing account of guilt and responsibility on a ship in an unnamed war, and 4) 'The Black Mate' is a seemingly humorous and enjoyable revelation of life aboard ship.
Obviously, we can see that they were published more than 100 years ago, in the early 20th century; there are two exact centenarians, that is, The Warrior's Soul and The Tale. As for his style, I have found some words used uniquely then and, I think, quite rare nowadays as we can see from the extracts:
He seemed to me to be prodigiously old. (p. 31)
He, for one, didn't want any oldsters on board his ship. (p. 76)
etc.
The first sentence is unique due to an adjective modified by an adverb 'prodigiously old' (plus two more like this in the story, pp. 32, 33), the second is due to the noun 'oldsters'; it is my first time to see them interestingly used in each story's context. There are two reasons related to the words in questions. It might be regarded as his kindness to the elderly by his view of seeing those in their old age capable of being in a prodigious manner instead of contemptous words. (I wonder if it is his praise or satire, truly.) Then, the word 'oldsters' has amusingly reminded me of its twin-like antonym, that is, 'youngsters'.
As famously known as an author who has masterly written his works in English as his third language, Conrad wrote superbly, that is, his English being tinged with unexpected pleasant words is simply a delight to read, for example:
The Prince approached respectfully, told his story and stated his desire to enlist; . . . (p. 41) [Such a prince admiringly deserves more respect due to his prior respect toward others.]
Such was supposed to be the compelling example of one's man's quiet intrepidity in facing every form of danger and terror. (pp. 43-44) [The brave do not boast.]
He was delighted to observe this over bearing ruffian humbled to the dust by the moralising agency of the spirits. (p. 97) [In some situations, some people learn to be as humble as possible.] etc.
To continue . . .
December 8, 2018
Sounds like Conrad, anyway, but his home is the novel.
June 5, 2020
Magnificent!
A man faced with a hard decision and duty bound to see that justice is served.
He is a lover of truth, hates deceit and finds himself in a situation where suspicion abounds and the truth is indiscernible.
Conrad sets the "tale" in a cloud of fog, punctuating the lack of clarity.
The man makes the hard decision, one that he cannot have vindicated until he meets the Almighty.
Everyone finds themself in this man's shoes at some point in life.
A man faced with a hard decision and duty bound to see that justice is served.
He is a lover of truth, hates deceit and finds himself in a situation where suspicion abounds and the truth is indiscernible.
Conrad sets the "tale" in a cloud of fog, punctuating the lack of clarity.
The man makes the hard decision, one that he cannot have vindicated until he meets the Almighty.
Everyone finds themself in this man's shoes at some point in life.
November 22, 2009
Conrad...is...so *a dark shadow falls upon my keyboard*...elusive...*a dense fog is forming outside my window*...such a mystery...
Sometimes, I just want to know what the hell is going on!
Sometimes, I just want to know what the hell is going on!
May 25, 2020
Only read this because it comes up in a song that I can't stop playing at the moment.
May 14, 2021
The Tale
Really into stories about stories at the moment, This one hit the spot.
in around 20 pages he manages to weave a story for our narrator and how the world has shaped his stories, along with a tale of a ships captain(?) and the choices he has to make in times of war.
Really into stories about stories at the moment, This one hit the spot.
in around 20 pages he manages to weave a story for our narrator and how the world has shaped his stories, along with a tale of a ships captain(?) and the choices he has to make in times of war.
November 12, 2022
Riscattata dal finale che sinceramente non mi aspettavo e da alcune frasi decisamente epigrammatiche. Ciononostante, per la maggior parte il racconto è composto da descrizioni e dettagli irrilevanti ai fini dello stesso, cosa che mi ha abbastanza annoiata.
March 29, 2022
Shorter than a short story, a bit chilling, but can't begin to compare to what Joseph Conrad can achieve in a full length novel.
January 11, 2019
"She knew his passion for truth, his horror of deceit, his humanity."
I saw a push and pull in placing judgment over a person based on (1) the facts provided (2) how we see them and (3) how they make us see them. This short story tackled the three (I believe) and what's horrifying with this tale - based on the decisions and consequences bound to them - is not knowing what the truth of the matter is. Were the actions done justified?
And so the guilt would always haunt the doer of the action in bringing another to their doom with only a wavering judgment as the proof.
I saw a push and pull in placing judgment over a person based on (1) the facts provided (2) how we see them and (3) how they make us see them. This short story tackled the three (I believe) and what's horrifying with this tale - based on the decisions and consequences bound to them - is not knowing what the truth of the matter is. Were the actions done justified?
And so the guilt would always haunt the doer of the action in bringing another to their doom with only a wavering judgment as the proof.
June 17, 2013
recommended reading.
April 12, 2015
Dull short story that hints at being more than it is.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews