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Ο μαύρος υποπλοίαρχος
Μέσα σε ένα κλίμα καχυποψίας αλλά και ευπιστίας από μέρους του καπετάνιου, εξελίσσεται η ιστορία μας πάνω στο καράβι, με τον κυβερνήτη του πλοίου όχι μόνο να ασχολείται ο ίδιος συνεχώς με τα πνεύματα και τα φαντάσματα, αλλά και να ενοχλεί, αφάνταστα και επίμονα, τον υποπλοίαρχό του. Ο καπετάνιος Τζονς, ένας άνθρωπος που δεν εμπνέει στους άλλους σεβασμό, ούτε συμπάθεια, και που είναι τόσο σκληρός όσο πρέπει, για να είναι αρεστός στους πλοιοκτήτες του, και ο υποπλοίαρχος Μπάντερ, ένας αξιοπρεπής, έντιμος και συνεπής στη δουλειά του αξιωματικός είναι τα δύο βασικά πρόσωπα του αφηγήματος.
Μέσα από μια σειρά γεγονότα που διαδραματίζονται μεταξύ του καπετάνιου του πλοίου και του υποπλοίαρχου, και με δύο ευφυή τεχνάσματα του Μπάντερ, ο Κόνραντ χρησιμοποιώντας ένα ευφάνταστο, πονηρό, αλλά και καλοκάγαθο χιούμορ, οδηγεί σε ένα αποκαλυπτικό τέλος την ιστορία μας, που πραγματικά εκπλήσσει ευχάριστα τον αναγνώστη.
Μέσα από μια σειρά γεγονότα που διαδραματίζονται μεταξύ του καπετάνιου του πλοίου και του υποπλοίαρχου, και με δύο ευφυή τεχνάσματα του Μπάντερ, ο Κόνραντ χρησιμοποιώντας ένα ευφάνταστο, πονηρό, αλλά και καλοκάγαθο χιούμορ, οδηγεί σε ένα αποκαλυπτικό τέλος την ιστορία μας, που πραγματικά εκπλήσσει ευχάριστα τον αναγνώστη.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1908
2 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Conrad
3,099 books4,855 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 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 28, 2020
3,5 ίσως. Μικρό το βιβλίο, κι αγαπώ τον Κόνραντ. Δεν είναι κάτι ιδιαίτερο, μα πέρασα όμορφα όταν το διάβαζα ❤️
November 13, 2024
VOTO = 3,5
Dalle note esplicative nella quarta pagina di copertina si legge che questo romanzo breve di Joseph Conrad [1857-1924] è una delle sue iniziali prove letterarie perché fu scritto una prima volta nel 1886 e solo successivamente, nel 1908 riscritto e pubblicato in una raccolta intitolata “Racconti sentiti dire”: come la maggior parte delle sue opere anche questa è ambientata in mare e racconta la difficile convivenza umana, durante una lunga navigazione ai tropici, tra il capitano Johns, ossessionato dallo spiritismo e dalla possibilità di incontrare i morti e intrattenersi con loro e l’ufficiale in seconda, signor Bunter, uomo tutto d’un pezzo, poco incline a lasciarsi distrarre dalle sue occupazioni e dai suoi pensieri; un incidente occorso proprio all'ufficiale permetterà a quest'ultimo di escogitare un piano semplice ma efficace che lo liberi definitivamente dalle ossessive attenzioni del suo comandante che rischiano di far precipitare i rapporti tra i due e il loro equilibrio mentale. Racconto che mette in mostra la pulizia di scrittura e l’essenzialità della prosa di Conrad perfettamente a suo agio nel narrare gli incontri e gli scontri dialettici tra i personaggi descritti in maniera essenziale ma efficace nell’onnipresente scenario di una nave in mezzo all’oceano e un equipaggio in balia degli imprevisti non necessariamente solo metereologici.
Dalle note esplicative nella quarta pagina di copertina si legge che questo romanzo breve di Joseph Conrad [1857-1924] è una delle sue iniziali prove letterarie perché fu scritto una prima volta nel 1886 e solo successivamente, nel 1908 riscritto e pubblicato in una raccolta intitolata “Racconti sentiti dire”: come la maggior parte delle sue opere anche questa è ambientata in mare e racconta la difficile convivenza umana, durante una lunga navigazione ai tropici, tra il capitano Johns, ossessionato dallo spiritismo e dalla possibilità di incontrare i morti e intrattenersi con loro e l’ufficiale in seconda, signor Bunter, uomo tutto d’un pezzo, poco incline a lasciarsi distrarre dalle sue occupazioni e dai suoi pensieri; un incidente occorso proprio all'ufficiale permetterà a quest'ultimo di escogitare un piano semplice ma efficace che lo liberi definitivamente dalle ossessive attenzioni del suo comandante che rischiano di far precipitare i rapporti tra i due e il loro equilibrio mentale. Racconto che mette in mostra la pulizia di scrittura e l’essenzialità della prosa di Conrad perfettamente a suo agio nel narrare gli incontri e gli scontri dialettici tra i personaggi descritti in maniera essenziale ma efficace nell’onnipresente scenario di una nave in mezzo all’oceano e un equipaggio in balia degli imprevisti non necessariamente solo metereologici.
November 30, 2024
Compilate una lista di cento-e-uno caratteristiche ed elementi necessariamente necessari affinché l'opera letteraria possa definirsi eccellente e/o capolavoro e/o cinque stelle. Fatto? Ecco: in queste cinquanta paginette quei cento-e-uno ci sono
tutti
.
N.d.R.: nei cento-e-uno sono inclusi "il vero significato dell'espressione amico geniale" e "il vero significato dell'espressione back in black".
N.d.R.: nei cento-e-uno sono inclusi "il vero significato dell'espressione amico geniale" e "il vero significato dell'espressione back in black".
October 27, 2020
Ένα από τα πρώτα διηγήματα του Κόνραντ, που όμως φανερώνει τη στόφα του μεγάλου συγγραφέα. Βασισμένος στην αγαπημένη του θεματολογία - αυτή της θάλασσας και των ναυτικών - ο Κόνραντ γράφει ένα απλό στη βάση του διήγημα, με μια έξυπνη ανατροπή στο τέλος, το οποίο εν τέλει διαβάζεται ευχάριστα και γρήγορα.
Η μανία του καπετάνιου Τζονς με τα φαντάσματα και η γνωριμία του με τον Μαύρο Υποπλοίαρχο είναι μια ιστορία που αξίζει να τη διαβάσει κάποιος μια νύχτα με ημίφως!
4/5
Η μανία του καπετάνιου Τζονς με τα φαντάσματα και η γνωριμία του με τον Μαύρο Υποπλοίαρχο είναι μια ιστορία που αξίζει να τη διαβάσει κάποιος μια νύχτα με ημίφως!
4/5
February 3, 2017
Conrad Showing His Sense of Humour
My best New Year’s Resolution, and probably the only one I have any chance of fulfilling because doing so does not require any will power and self-discipline at all, is to (re-)read all of Joseph Conrad’s short stories in the course of the year, and that’s how I came to reading The Black Mate for the very first time. According to Conrad, it was written in 1886, even though it was first brought before the public in 1906, which would make it his very first tale.
Since it is not a particularly well-known story and a lot of the enjoyment it provides depends on the surprise the twist in the tale will give its reader, I cannot really go into detail as to its plot here but will just make one or two more general remarks.
What is typical Conrad in this story?
One may not be too surprised to find the setting of his first tale the world of seafaring men, The Black Mate being a certain Winston Bunter, who has signed up as First Mate on the Sapphire, a vessel bound for Calcutta. Its commander, Captain Johns, is described as an extremely unpleasant man, querulous and cranky, who holds the view that sailors above the age of forty are no good anymore and who always goes on about ghosts and ways of getting into contact with them. For all the wry humour that dwells within the lines of this tale, one can certainly sense that the narrator is quite sceptical about Johns’s view that older sailors are no longer any good, for he makes a cutting remark of grey-haired tars are being desperately on the look-out for a berth in English ports. Another feature that we are going to find in most of Conrad’s works is the intricacy of narrative voices here. We have a first-person narrator, who introduces himself as a friend of Bunter’s but much of the story is later told in the omniscient narrator’s voice before finally the first-person narrator returns. He is also rather intrusive in that he frequently refers to a secret on Bunter’s part and then says that he will not divulge it yet. Conrad really plays fast and loose with narrative perspective here, when we suddenly find ourselves at a dinner table among different captains, or in the shop of a tobacco-vendor, with the story making one extra-looping after the other. This is still not happening to the extent most other Conrad tales will run wild to but it is certainly very entertaining.
What is slightly unusual?
This can be answered very quickly. It’s the humour. Of course, we get some humour in most of Conrad’s tales, but here the humour is less bitter and pessimistic at first sight – even though there is a very serious message at the core of the tale. However, one of the typical Conrad sentences – Bunter’s “Every man has his own ghosts” – will prove rather … ah, you’d better read the story yourself.
My best New Year’s Resolution, and probably the only one I have any chance of fulfilling because doing so does not require any will power and self-discipline at all, is to (re-)read all of Joseph Conrad’s short stories in the course of the year, and that’s how I came to reading The Black Mate for the very first time. According to Conrad, it was written in 1886, even though it was first brought before the public in 1906, which would make it his very first tale.
Since it is not a particularly well-known story and a lot of the enjoyment it provides depends on the surprise the twist in the tale will give its reader, I cannot really go into detail as to its plot here but will just make one or two more general remarks.
What is typical Conrad in this story?
One may not be too surprised to find the setting of his first tale the world of seafaring men, The Black Mate being a certain Winston Bunter, who has signed up as First Mate on the Sapphire, a vessel bound for Calcutta. Its commander, Captain Johns, is described as an extremely unpleasant man, querulous and cranky, who holds the view that sailors above the age of forty are no good anymore and who always goes on about ghosts and ways of getting into contact with them. For all the wry humour that dwells within the lines of this tale, one can certainly sense that the narrator is quite sceptical about Johns’s view that older sailors are no longer any good, for he makes a cutting remark of grey-haired tars are being desperately on the look-out for a berth in English ports. Another feature that we are going to find in most of Conrad’s works is the intricacy of narrative voices here. We have a first-person narrator, who introduces himself as a friend of Bunter’s but much of the story is later told in the omniscient narrator’s voice before finally the first-person narrator returns. He is also rather intrusive in that he frequently refers to a secret on Bunter’s part and then says that he will not divulge it yet. Conrad really plays fast and loose with narrative perspective here, when we suddenly find ourselves at a dinner table among different captains, or in the shop of a tobacco-vendor, with the story making one extra-looping after the other. This is still not happening to the extent most other Conrad tales will run wild to but it is certainly very entertaining.
What is slightly unusual?
This can be answered very quickly. It’s the humour. Of course, we get some humour in most of Conrad’s tales, but here the humour is less bitter and pessimistic at first sight – even though there is a very serious message at the core of the tale. However, one of the typical Conrad sentences – Bunter’s “Every man has his own ghosts” – will prove rather … ah, you’d better read the story yourself.
September 23, 2024
I can't tell you what it was like; every man has his own ghosts.
This short story on the imaginative otherness leading to a fleeting alienation allows the reader or listener to experience the monkey-trick-themed dynamics that may occur aboard during a long, tedious voyage.
This short story on the imaginative otherness leading to a fleeting alienation allows the reader or listener to experience the monkey-trick-themed dynamics that may occur aboard during a long, tedious voyage.
November 19, 2025
El oficial negro, de Joseph Conrad, es una novela que me ha sorprendido con su mezcla de realismo y superstición. La historia sigue a un joven oficial británico que se ve envuelto en una situación complicada en un barco, donde el capitán, un hombre excéntrico y supersticioso, cree firmemente en la existencia de fantasmas.
La narrativa de Conrad es detallada y precisa, y logra crear una atmósfera tensa y opresiva que se ajusta perfectamente al tema. Aunque la lectura puede ser un poco lenta en algunos momentos, el libro es una buena opción para aquellos que buscan una lectura clásica.
El giro al final es inesperado y divertido, y agrega un toque de humor a una historia que de otro modo sería bastante seria.
La narrativa de Conrad es detallada y precisa, y logra crear una atmósfera tensa y opresiva que se ajusta perfectamente al tema. Aunque la lectura puede ser un poco lenta en algunos momentos, el libro es una buena opción para aquellos que buscan una lectura clásica.
El giro al final es inesperado y divertido, y agrega un toque de humor a una historia que de otro modo sería bastante seria.
January 29, 2021
65/100.
'The Black Mate' puede funcionar como un primer acercamiento a Conrad bastante interesante. Es una historia corta que no conocía, pero que ha mantenido la intriga hasta el final. Con inteligencia, Conrad combina en esta historia a sus narradores para mantener al lector en vilo hasta el final. Creo que lo mejor de estas paginillas es el narrador en primera persona, alejado por completo de la historia, y tomando su voz hacia el final de nuevo.
'The Black Mate' puede funcionar como un primer acercamiento a Conrad bastante interesante. Es una historia corta que no conocía, pero que ha mantenido la intriga hasta el final. Con inteligencia, Conrad combina en esta historia a sus narradores para mantener al lector en vilo hasta el final. Creo que lo mejor de estas paginillas es el narrador en primera persona, alejado por completo de la historia, y tomando su voz hacia el final de nuevo.
March 14, 2020
Ευφυέστατο και διασκεδαστικό διήγημα, ομολογώ ότι ο Κόνραντ "μου την έφερε" κατά το κοινώς λεγόμενο, δεν περίμενα με τίποτα την ανατροπή. Η έκδοση απαράδεκτη, σε κάποιες σελίδες η εκτύπωση ήταν τόσο κακή που με δυσκολία διάβαζα.
August 24, 2021
Probablemente deba leerlo en físico la próxima vez, en vez de en audiolibro :/
Creo que el primer cap fue el que más entendí, a medida avanzaba más me distraía, aunque logré captar los plot twist más interesantes. No fue mi mejor libro escuchado, pude haber prestado más atención uu
Creo que el primer cap fue el que más entendí, a medida avanzaba más me distraía, aunque logré captar los plot twist más interesantes. No fue mi mejor libro escuchado, pude haber prestado más atención uu
March 22, 2022
This is Joseph Conrad's first short story. I listened to the Audible Royal Theatre 1952 radio production. Not sure if Olivier is in this or not... It's a 20 minute ghost story turned into a joke. Pretty good prank!
December 6, 2018
Really awful acted-out version with the trebly music ten times the volume of the speaking parts.
March 3, 2021
“Most of it you suggested to him yourself 😃”
April 7, 2021
A VERY UNEXPECTED ENDING.
September 9, 2025
El plot twist del final fue lo que elevó la trama y le dió todo el sentido
March 8, 2016
Hm, clever black sailor. Nice one.
September 16, 2016
Nice short story, well written, a surprising end. It casts doubt on all those people that claim to have had paranormal experiences.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews