Freya of the Seven Isles

by Joseph Conrad

A Conradian romance: a sweeping saga set in the Indian Ocean basin, against a turbulent background of barely suppressed hostilities between Dutch and British merchant navies, told by one of Conrad's classic detached narrators. In the end, the unique perspective of the sharply etched character of Freya is one of Conrad's most piercing studies of how the lust for power can drive men to greatness—or its opposite.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Novella, Romance, Short Stories, British Literature, Literature

118 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1912

About the author

Joseph 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.

Reviews

[صان · Rating 4 out of 5]

نثر شاعرانه و جذابی داشت. این اولین چیزی بود که جذبم کرد. سنگین و سخت‌خون نبود با این حال. به خودم امیدوار شدم که هنوز می‌تونم تمرکز کنم روی متن‌های یکم سنگین‌تر.
قصه‌ی عشق مردی به زنی قوی و زیبا بود و فرد سومی که مشکلاتی این بین به وجود میاره. به نظرم داستان عناصر نمادین خیلی جذابی داشت، مثلا موقعیت کشتی در انتهای داستان یا چند چیز دیگه که وقتی به آخرهای داستان می‌رسیدی تازه برات روشن می‌شد که چرا نویسنده داشته یه تاکیدهایی روی یک جزئیاتی می‌کرده. مشخص بود که متن فکر شده است و ادبیات قرن بیستمیه نه معاصر. البته نمی‌گم معاصر فکر شده نیست، اما انقدر مهندسی شده نیست شاید.

کلا هم جزئی‌پردازی‌های زیادی در رفتار و توصیفات موقعیت‌ها و آدم‌ها داشت. شخصیت زن، شخصیت قوی‌ای بود که جذاب بود از این نظر به عنوان داستانی که در اوایل قرن بیستم نوشته شده و اون زمان فمنیسم به شکل امروزیش وجود نداشته. مخصوصا صحنه‌ی رویارویی پساپیانوزدن با مرد سوم که شخصیت زن رو خوب می‌ساخت و حرف‌های توی دلش در صحنه‌های بعدی. البته بازتاب دیدگاه‌های جنسیت‌زده‌ی دوران خودشم توی کتاب کم نبود. پایان‌بندی خوبی به نظر من داشت، من می‌پسندیدم این مقدار از رئالیسم و به قول بعضیا سیاه‌نمایی رو. هرچند با واژه سیاه‌نمایی موافق نیستم و همه‌ی اینا رو واقعیت تلخ زندگی دسته‌ندی می‌کنم.

ماجرای شروع کردن این کتاب برای من داستان شخصی جذابی داشت و مصادف شدن اتفاقات زندگیم با این داستان خیلی تصادف جالبی بود.

شیوه‌ی روایت داستان هم برام خیلی جذاب بود. مردی که یه زمانی با این شخصیت‌ها بوده و حالا از اون زمان گذشته و از خلال نامه‌ها و گفتگوهایی داره قسمت‌های دیگه‌ی ماجرا رو برامون تعریف می‌کنه و به قول مترجم در موخره‌ای که در انتهای کتاب اومده، یه حالت هزار و یک شبی داره. فصل پایانی هم سیالیت و جریان و ریتم خیلی مناسب و جذابی داشت و یکی از بهترین شیوه‌های روایتی بود که در انتهای یک کتاب خوندم. البته حس می‌کنم باید دوباره اون فصل رو بخونم و ببینم نظر واقعیم همینه یا نه، چون حس می‌کنم خیلی تحت تاثیر بودم که اینطوری برام درخشان دیده شده.

ممنون از بیدگل با قطع خوشگل و جیبی کتاب‌هاش. در ضمن کتاب خیلی کوتاه بود و سریع خونده می‌شه در دو سه نشست.

[Mohammad · Rating 3 out of 5]

تصور می‌کنم شب‌هایی که کنراد و بقیه خدمه‌ی کِشتی اسیر طوفان و خشم دریا می‌شده‌اند، در آن لحظات یأس‌آور احتمالا هرگونه گرایش به امید از میان می‌رفته و همین خصیصه در آثار کنراد بازتاب یافته. در این کتاب ضدقهرمان داستان به سزای عمل خود نمی‌رسد و قهرمان داستان باید تنها و خالی از امید با سرنوشت‌اش روبه‌رو شود

[Shabnam_wr · Rating 2 out of 5]

تنها دلیلی که کپشن کوتاه مینویسم اینه که خیلی وقته که کتاب رو تموم کردم.
فریا در اسطوره های اسکاندیناوی الهه عشق و زیبایی است.
فریا نلسون دختری هستش که عاشق میشه و عشقش(جاسپر ) یه کشتی( بونیتو) خیلی خفن داره ،  که قراره  این دونفر برن تو کشتی زندگی کنند. بعد یه شخصیت رو مخ وجود داره به اسم هیمسکرک .
فریا منتظره که تولد ۲۱ سالگیش برسه و بعد بتونه با عشقش فرار کنه . بعد یه اتفاق هاییییی میوفته ....
پایان تراژیکی داره
زاویه دید: فکر کنم من راوی هستش ولی ، منِ راوی که شخصیت فرعی هستش. راوی گویا دوستی مشترک بین فریا و جاسپر هستش.

[Laleh · Rating 3 out of 5]

در اساطیر اسکاندیناوی، فریا ایزدبانوی عشق و یکی از زیباترین الهه‌های اساطیر و ادبیات نورس به شمار می‌رود.در داستان کنراد نیز فریا دختری زیبا،برفراز جزیره‌ای،در انتظار دیدار یار تجسم شده است.
کنراد داستانی را روایت می‌کند با دو عاشق دلباخته،شخصیتی شرور،عشقی مثلثی و پایانی تلخ و تراژیک.
در داستان فضاسازی‌های ناتورالیستی از دیالوگ‌های پر معنا و مفهوم پیشی گرفته‌اند و توصیفات،تصویر‌سازی‌ها و نثری شاعرانه و بسیار اصیل را رقم زنده‌اند.
در نهایت با اثری متوسط روبرو هستیم که خواندنش خالی از لطف نیست.

[Rojin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8⭐

"گاهی وقت ها که آدم ها وانمود می کنند از راه و رسم زندگی چیزی می فهمند، دست تقدیر با طعنه به رخشان می کشد که چقدر خام دست و نا آزموده اند."

"There are occasions when the irony of fate, which some people profess to discover in the working out of our lives, wears the aspect of crude and savage jesting."

درسته که بعضی ریویو های دیگه که کتاب رو ضعیف دونستند همش می پرسند "خب که چی؟ هدفش چی بود!؟" و می تونم درک کنم که چرا این نظر رو ممکنه داشته باشن، اما من واقعا از روند و فضای داستان لذت بردم و کل" که چی؟ "ِ قضیه رو هم شاید توی همین یک جمله بشه پیدا کرد.


"نمی توانستم جاسپر را بابت اینکه وقتش را با نامه نوشتن برای فامیل وقیحش هدر نداده سرزنش کنم. اما چرا برای من نمی نوشت؛ هر چه باشد ما رفیق شفیق هم بودیم، آیا بهانه فراموشی از یک دوست بابت سکوتش پذیرفتنی است؟ همان فراموشی ای که وقتی غرق در سعادتیم امری طبیعی است؟ هرچه صبر کردم خبری نشد. به نظر می رسید شرق از زندگی ام خارج می شود، بی هیچ پژواکی، همچون سنگی که درون چاهی بی نهایت عمیق فرو بیفتد."

[Arina · Rating 3 out of 5]

«گویی شعله‌ قلبش توان آن را داشت که شب های تاریک تمامی دریاهای ناشناخته را روشن کند و خیال فریا فانوسی راهگشا بود.»

[Nastaran Masoomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

شاید تو هم فریای هفت جزیره‌ی کسی باشی...

[Nika Vardiashvili · Rating 2 out of 5]

ეჰ...
კარგად საკითხავი, ძალით ჩახლართული დრამატული წიგნია.
ყველაზე კარგი რა თქმა უნდა ამ წიგნის სათაურია, შემდგომ ირმა ტაველიძის წინასიტყვაობა...
ერთი დიდი ეჰ არის ეს წიგნი.
ეჰ...

[Nada Saleh · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's a very boring novella. Joseph Conrad moves from using first person narratives to third person narratives and to other ways that I couldn't understand and this is so complicated, confusing, and distracting. I felt totally lost when reading it. I can say that it's the worst thing I've ever read.

[بسام عبد العزيز · Rating 1 out of 5]

وجدت النسخة وسط 5 كتب ثمنها جميعا 5 جنيهات.. أي أنها لم تكلفني سوى جنيها واحدا.. كانت صفقة جيدة بالنسبة لي..
حسنا.. الآن أعلم أن الجنيه كان أكثر مما تستحقه هذه الرواية!

جوزيف كونراد مرة أخرى بأسلوبه السمج الممل. يحكي هذه المرة عن فتاة تحب بحارا انجليزيا.. لكن في نفس الوقت هناك بحار هولندي يحبها.. فيقوم البحار الهولندي بإتهام الانجليزي بتبديد السلاح و بذلك يفرق الهولندي بين الحبيب و حبيبته.. ممممم... هذا كل شئ!!

الثلاثة سطور الماضية ... بقدرة قادر -ولا تخرج قبل ان تقول سبحان الله- ... تم مطهم إلى أكثر من 120 صفحة من القطع الكبير!!!!!! لا تسألني كيف حدث هذا! ألم أقل لا تخرج قبل أن تقول سبحان الله؟!!

تعذبت طويلا حتى نهاية الصفحات.. كان لدي أمل بحدوث شئ ما.. بحدوث تغير ما في نقطة ما في الرواية.. لكن فجاة وجدت الكتاب انتهى.. و تلك هى القصة!
علاقة حب و "عزول" يحاول التفرقة بين المحب و حبيبه! ما أهمية هذا الهراء؟ ما الفائدة؟!
حتى اللغة كانت غاية في الملل.. و الراوية نفسه كان شديد السماجة بتعليقاته التي يحاول أن يجعلها "فكاهية" و لكنها كانت تخنقني كلما قرأتها!

أندم بشدة على الجنيه...

[Sepanta · Rating 2 out of 5]

از کنراد چیز دیگه‌ای نخوندم. زندگی جالبی داشته خوندن چندسطر از زندگیش برام جذاب بود اما این کتاب نتونست شگفت‌زدم کنه‌. به نظرم خیلی معمولی و فراموش شدنی بود داستان. یه عاشقانه کلاسیک کم‌حجم و روون که برای من جذاب نبود.

[Aida E.i · Rating 3 out of 5]

در عیش مدام به سر می‌برد. عیشی که شاید زیبنده‌ی آسمان هفتم بود. نه دنیای نا امن ما.

[Siv30 · Rating 3 out of 5]

יש משהו מאוד מבלבל בנובלה הזו: מחד עימות איימתני בין 2 גברים בני תרבויות שנלחמו על שטחי כיבוש, בפרק יוצא מן הכלל על הגילוי שפרייה אוהבת את האנגלי שלה. ומאידך הסתמיות של הנקמה והחורבן שמושת על הדמויות לא פרופורציונלי לאירועים המתוארים בה.

חורבן סופי ומתמשך דווקא של הדמויות החיוביות מעין צדיק ורע לו.

חלק מהנובלה הזו גם משעמם והיא צוברת תנופה ועוצמה בפרקים השלישי והרביעי. אחר כך שוב היא מאבדת נפח. אבל לפעמים צריך חהסתפק בשני פרקים עוצמתיים בלבד.

[Emily]

I'd forgotten how much I enjoy Joseph Conrad, with his tropical marine settings and his thoughtful, melancholy narrators. Spending a sunny afternoon with Freya of the Seven Isles kindled my interest in revisiting Lord Jim, Victory and Heart of Darkness, and in exploring the rest of his work that I haven't read.

Freya is a classic tragedy of the kind the reader sees coming from the opening pages due to the flaws-which-are-often-actually-virtues of the characters, yet still hopes will turn out right in the end. As we open, the narrator tells us he has just received a letter from an old sea buddy of his, who asks if he remembers "old Nelson"—an Englishman and former settler in the Dutch East Indies who, it turns out, is actually named "Nielsen." The narrator continues to call his old acquaintance by both names—"Nelson (or Nielsen)"—throughout the novella, and the this double moniker, marking him as somewhat English, or at least cozy with the English (Nelson) but also somewhat Scandinavian (Nielsen), turns out to be key to his character and the unfolding action. Nelson (or Nielsen) is Scandinavian enough to be permitted to settle in the Dutch-controlled Seven Isles group, but not Dutch enough to feel secure there, and is so perpetually terrified of the Dutch "authorities" that he allows himself and his daughter Freya to be walked all over by a petty officer named Heemskirk. Add into the mix the pride and attractiveness of Freya herself; the high-spirited English man she actually loves and who loves her; and the failure of the characters to communicate at key moments, and you have the makings of an inevitable love-triangle-cum-disaster. In case we were not getting the message, the narrator gives us passages like this one, in which he's talking with Freya's secret fiancé Jasper Allen:

"Mind you don't come to grief trying to do too much," I admonished him. But he dismissed my caution with a laugh and an elated gesture. Pooh! Nothing, nothing could happen to the brig, he cried, as if the flame of his heart could light up the dark nights of uncharted seas, and the image of Freya serve for an unerring beacon amongst hidden shoals; as if the winds had to wait on his future, and the stars fight for it in their courses; as if the magic of his passion had the power to float a ship on a drop of dew or wail her through the eye of a needle—simply because it was her magnificent lot to be the servant of a love so full of grace as to make all the ways of the earth safe, resplendent, and easy.

Oh man, the kid is doomed. "Nothing could happen to the brig," indeed. It's pretty plain that the earth will not remain for him safe or resplendent, and least of all easy. Still, with his parallel constructions and heightened imagery Conrad manages to elicit (in me, at least) a bit of the soaring feeling Jasper describes, even as my gut sinks with the dismal knowledge that his confidence is about to be crushed.

In contrast to Jasper's romanticism we have Freya's supposed "sensibleness," which her father believes will prevent her from falling in love with anyone in the first place, and which in reality means that even when she has fallen in love, she still wants a well-planned and executed elopement rather than a rushing off pell-mell into the wide blue yonder. Conrad's attitude toward Freya's seeming sensibleness is interesting to me. The narrator seems to admire it, contrasting it favorably with the "absurdity" (fearfulness in Nelson, jealousy in Heemskirk, impetuousness in Jasper) of all the men around her, and in a way it's refreshing to read a 1911 novella where the most down-to-earth character is the single woman. On the other hand, though, one wonders about how positive this quality really is; after all, had Freya simply consented to run away with Jasper earlier in the book, the couple would probably have had a happy life together—or at least some kind of life, which is more than either one ends up with in the end. Freya is a managerial type, and although her insights into others' characters—her father's likelihood to descend into anxiety attacks if she tells him her marriage plans ahead of time, for example—are spot-on, her fatal flaw is, perhaps, taking too much on her own shoulders and failing to communicate to any of the other characters until it's far too late. As the narrator laments,

And yet there was something she might have told a friend. But she didn't. We parted silently.

Freya's extreme self-sufficiency is part and parcel of her sensibleness, and is indeed opposite of the frailties so often laid at female doors (hysteria, clinginess, indecisiveness, etc.). Yet Conrad depicts even this as something that can be taken too far, however admirable it might be.


Notes on Disgust
(for more information on the disgust project, see here)

Disgust is mentioned twice in Freya of the Seven Isles, and in both cases it's used to underline the mutual aversion felt between the Dutch and English traders. As in Pamuk's Snow , this is very much a disgust marking the boundaries of "us versus them." In the first instance, the narrator is speaking about the Dutch attitude toward Freya's lover Jasper:

They considered him much too enterprising in his trading. I don't know that he ever did anything illegal, but it seems to me that his immense activity was repulsive to their stolid character and slow-going methods.

One senses here that the narrator is being slightly flip here: the Dutch are probably not literally repulsed by Jasper's level of industry. Still, as Willian Ian Miller points out, the rhetoric of disgust is still strong even when used in jest. The Dutch may not quite retch when they see Jasper approach in the Bonito, but they are averse to him; they distrust him. His way of being in the world does not accord with their own. To the Dutch "we," in other words, he is a "they." The narrator's own lightness in this paragraph perhaps mimics Jasper's own lack of seriousness around Heemskirk and the Dutch in general, while at the same time foreshadowing the tale's tragic end. In any case, the reader is certainly not supposed to share the Dutch disgust for Jasper. The boy may be a little foolish, but he's essentially a sympathetic, if doomed, character. Thus the Dutch revulsion against him makes them less sympathetic generally, or at least signals a tragic lack of understanding between the two parties.

In the second instance, Freya thinks of Heemskirk as "odiously...absurd" and a "grotesquely supine creature" as he sits sulking that she prefers Jasper, and she avoids going to talk with him, instead sitting down at the piano to play. Here the reader is meant to share her revulsion, especially since we have seen his thoughts and they are petty, selfish and vindictive. Disgust here marks true moral flaws in the person eliciting the disgust, reflecting our own opinion of Heemskirk and confirming Freya as a good judge of character. Given the passage quoted above, it's probably not irrelevant that Heemskirk is Dutch and dark-complected (that is, in opposition to the fair-haired, attractive English characters who would otherwise find happiness on the island). Conrad isn't above a bit of jingoism (infamously). Still, he makes Heemskirk a sufficiently loathsome and petty little man in his own right that I felt justified in sharing Freya's view. At the same time, her disgust in this scene prevents her from sweet-talking Heemskirk out of his funk, which might potentially have saved the entire progression of events from veering out of control.

[Rana Heshmati · Rating 2 out of 5]

واقعا سوالم اینه که: که چی؟ داستان برام بیهوده بود. جز چند جمله و توصیف حالات. و هرچی فکر می‌کنم از چه چیزش باید خوشم بیاد به نتیجه‌ای نمی‌رسم و دلم می‌خواد بدونم کسایی که ازش خوششون میاد، چه دلایلی میارن. :)) در ادامه می‌خوام کل داستان رو لو بدم. و اگر قصد خوندن دارید و فاش نشدن کتاب براتون مهمه نخونید خط بعد رو.
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مرد الف عاشق دختری است و قرار است با کشتی‌اش با هم فرار کنند. مرد ب هم عاشق دختر است. مرد ب از لحاظ مرتبه شغلی و اجتماعی بالاتر است. مرد ب، مرد الف را برای ساعاتی دستگیر می‌کند، کشتی‌اش را به صخره می‌زند و می‌رود. مرد الف تا سال‌ها توی ساحل می‌نشیند و به جنازهٔ کشتی‌اش که روی صخره مانده خیره می‌ماند. پایان.

[Phrodrick slowed his growing backlog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joseph Conrad’s Freya of the Seven Isles is a short novella. Barely 97 pages in my edition. It is one of the classic variations of the Love Triangle. Its location in the Dutch colonies of the South Pacific is critical. This time and place combine the exotic local and the isolation from civilization that make the story credible. The fact that the Dutch, a people with a warm and welcoming reputation in Europe had a terrible reputation as colonial masters may or may not be important. That is, I do not think Conrad is attempting to make a symbolic allegory.

The Triangle. The woman is Freya. Daughter to an English tobacco planter. She is very strong willed and independent minded. Add in her beauty and personal values and we, the reader love her. The Lover, (Capital T and L) is the captain of a smart and smartly handled Brig. His name is Jasper Allen. He is a classic lover straight from central casting. He almost does not matter, he is the Love Interest. The interloper is Lt. Heemskirk. He commands a small naval vessel and is pretty much the sole representative of colonial government and answers to no one.

It has been years since I hated a fictional character as much as I hate this squalid little tyrant. I would have finished the book much sooner except that I had to stop, several times, to dream of elaborate punishments and humiliations for this man. The only reason to finish the book is on the hope that he will be exposed and brought down.

Joseph Conrad has managed, in a very few pages to create a powerful effect on this reader. A good reason to read and admire Freya of the Seven Isles.

[aLena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joseph Conrad, čovjek koji je engleski naučio tek u dvadesetim kao svoj treći jezik (nakon maternjeg poljskog i francuskog), a na istom počeo da piše tako divne rečenice i postao jedan od najvećih i najznačajnijih pisaca engleskog modernizma je za mene, bez imalo pretjerivanja, fascinantna ličnost. Iako je bio veliki realistički pisac, u njegovim djelima susrećemo i elemente romantizma. Priče o dalekim zemljama i pustolovinama u egzotičnim sredinama zasnovane su na njegovim ličnim doživljajima moreplovca i velikog avanturiste.

Freja sa Sedam ostrva je priča o pokvarenoj ljudskoj prirodi. Prekratka da bi bila roman, preduga za kratku priču, ova novela, netipično za Conrada, za glavni lik ima jednu mladu ženu.

Dvadesetogodišnja Freja zaljubljuje se u engleskog moreplovca i trgovca Džaspera Alena, kapetana broda Bonito. Hemskirk, omaleni ćudljivi zaposlenik u holandskoj vladi, želi Freju za sebe. Neprijateljstvo između dvije države, ljudska zloba, ljubomora i egoizam još jednom (oh, kakvo čudo!) uništavaju živote onih koji su najmanje krivi.

Ovo djelo, možda i najmanje poznato u Conradovom opusu, u sebi nosi poruku za sva vremena; U želji da najprije zadovoljiš sve druge, ne uspiješ da zadovoljiš sebe. U želji da zadovoljiš samo sebe, uništiš druge. Život je ili sredina, ili ništa, doslovno.

[Hana · Rating 2 out of 5]

همیشه دوست داشتم آثار کنراد رو بخونم ولی این کتاب به وضوح انتخاب بدی بود (حداقل برای اولین آشنایی با نویسنده) با این وجود ترجمه ی فرزانه دوستی (نشر بیدگل) عالی بود و به متن اصلی وفادار.
- داستان عاشقانه ای که در اون برخلاف خیلی از داستا�� های عاشقانه، زن منفعل نیست
- بیان نمود هایی از نژاد پرستی، حسادت، ترسو بودن
- با اینکه نمیشه این کتاب رو در حوزه فمنیسم دونست(حتی یه جاهایی دقیقا برعکسشه) ولی فریا از زمانه خود جلو بود و به دنبال آزادی و استقلال برای خود تلاش میکرد

[Adrianne Mathiowetz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my favorite kind of book: beautifully written with hilarity snuck in. The heroine is mythically stunning and slowing waving her handkerchief at you from the pier, her pale skin glowing in the setting sun. The one she loves is a mischievous but lovable rapscallion beneath her social class. Her father is adoring and blissfully ignorant, tending his tobacco. The narrator, in one slip, confesses he just wants to smooch the maid. Essentially, everyone is breathtakingly lovely and constantly living out some Celine Dion music video on their boats except for the villain, who is very evil, and also fat and whose body is often described as a carcass.

This book is an escape: the best kind you could ask for, because in it you are the most attractive thing around and you're doin' crazy shit on the high seas in between making out with your admirable suitor and mocking your ugly one via piano. Then some bad shit happens, bla blah, but the tragedy is pretty too and makes life seem important so it's cool.

I was so jazzed to give this book five stars, I was going to give it five stars so hard.

And then the last line happened.

:(

[Mohammad · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

فریای هفت جزیره یک رمان کوتاه ملودرام هستش که در بین توصیفات کنراد از روی عرشه کشتی تا تماشای دریا و قدم زدن بر روی جزیره، فضاسازی می‌شه. جنس عاشقانه‌ش اون زرق‌و‌برق آثار دیگه رو نداشت و متوجه شدم که تنها باری بوده که کنراد شخصیت‌ اصلی زن داشته در داستان و می‌شه گفت در پرداخت شخصیت زن آنچنان مهارت نداره. حکایت یک مثلث عشقی که زود هم جمع‌و‌جور می‌شه و این عشق با کشتی‌ای که به گِل می‌شینه به نقطه‌ی پایان خودش هم می‌رسه. توصیفات اثر نقطه قوت کار بودن و کمی حس‌و‌حال محیط رو به آدم منتقل می‌کردن و احساس می‌کردی که خودتم روی عرشه نشستی و فریا داره پیانو می‌زنه و صدای باد توی جزیره پیچیده.

ترجمه داستان خیلی خوب بود، اونقدری که حس می‌کنم حیف شده! و دوست داشتم به‌خاطر ترجمه به داستان ۳ بدم. در نهایت به‌نظرم برای آشنایی با نثر و فضای آثار کنراد، نقطه محکِ خوبی باشه.

[Beka Adamashvili · Rating 3 out of 5]

მგონი, ამ რომანის ყველა პერსონაჟი თავისებურად შტერია და მათ შორის, ერთი - გარეწარი შტერი.

[mehran · Rating 4 out of 5]

نکته مهم کتاب ترجمه روان فرزانه دوستی است که بسیار حائز اهمیت است و تجربه خوبی به جای می‌گذارد.

[Heather Clitheroe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another of the Melville House 'Art of the Novella' series, and this will be one that I keep instead of passing on to the community bookshelf at work. Conrad is fast becoming one of my favourite authors, and Freya does not disappoint: the florid prose is quite beautiful.

I started to all on him on one of those January days in London, one of those wintry days composed of the four devilish elements, cold, wet, mud, and grime, combined with a particular stickiness of atmosphere that clings like an unclean garment to one's very soul. Yet on approaching his abode I saw, like a flicker far behind the soiled veil of the four elements, the wearisome and splendid glitter of a blue sea with the Seven Islets like minute specks swimming in my eye, the high red roof of the bungalow crowning the very smallest of them all.

It's a short novella, but very well worth the reading...and the ending was perfection.

Recommended.

[Pardis · Rating 2 out of 5]

در فریای هفت ‌جزیره همه‌چیز برای تبدیل شدن به ملودرامی کلاسیک مهیاست ولی کنراد جهان را این‌گونه نمی‌بیند و همیشه ذکاوت و مقید بودن کنار هم نمی‌نشینند و نمی‌توانند از پس شر بربیایند.
فریا که به نوعی اولین زن مدرن در قصه‌های کنراد است، از زمانه‌ی خود پیش است ولی همین به تنهایی کافی نیست و برای سعادتمندی فراهم شدن خیلی چیزها لازم است.
فریای هفت ‌جزیره فقط یک داستان عاشقانه نیست و مسائل همیشگی کنراد مثل استعمار، بی اخلاقی، نژادپرستی، خودبرتربینی و ضد انسانی بودن بسیاری از رفتارهای انسان سفیدپوست غربی بی محابا در آن مهیب می‌خورد و از این نظر نیز این داستان عجیب خواندنی و به یاد ماندنی‌ست.
مهم‌ترین مشخصه این رمان، تصاویر ژرف و شاعرانه‌ایست که کنراد آن را به لحنی طنزآلود در هم آمیخته است به نحوی که در بخشی‌هایی از داستان درست در جایی که لازم است خواننده در شکوهی بی‌نظیر غرق شود کنراد با خلاقیت مثال‌زدنی خود کلمات را جوری کنار هم چیده که گویی ورای واژه‌‌ها تصویری مجلل را مشاهده می‌کنیم اما این تصاویر درخشان در جوار لحن شوخ‌ راوی قرار گرفته تا ریتم داستان دلنشین و جذاب از آب درآید.

[Nika Meleksishvili · Rating 2 out of 5]

რაღაცნაირი წიგნია, ცუდი ნამდვილად არაა, მაგრამ არც აღმაფრთოვანებელი და საინტერესო არაა. თუ გაინტერესებთ ძველებური სტილის სასიყვარულო სამკუთხედი, რომელშიც ერთი ქალი სამი კაცის შუა იხლიჩება, სწორედ მოსულხართ. ეგზოტიკურ, ოკეანურ კუნძულებზე მეტად სადღაც ნისლიან ნორვეგიაში უფრო წარმოვიდგენდი ამ წიგნის მოქმედებას, მაგრამ კონრადმა არაო, აზია-ავსტრალიას შორის გაჩხერილ უკაცრიელ კუნძულებზე ვწერო

[Andrew Orange · Rating 3 out of 5]

Human stupidity, cowardice, meanness and malice against love.
No happy end here.

[Davit Oniani · Rating 3 out of 5]

25/200 - "შვიდი კუნძულის ფრეია"
"შვიდი კუნძულის ფრეია" XIX-XX საუკუნეების უდიდესი პოლონური წარმომავლობის ინგლისელი მწერლის, ჯოზეფ კონრადის ნაკლებად ცნობილი ნაწარმოებია, რომელიც 1910 წლის დეკემბრისა და 1911 წლის თებერვლის შუალედში დაწერა, ხოლო 1912 წელს გამოაქვეყნა. სიუჟეტის ცენტრში შორეულ აღმოსავლეთში მცხოვრები დანიელ-ინგლისელი მოხუცი ნესლსონის (თუ ნილსენის) ქალიშვილი, ფრეიაა, რომელსაც ინგლისელი კონტრაბანდისტი მეზღვაური ჯესპერ ალენი უყვარს.

კითხვის პროცესში არ მტოვებდა ის აზრი, რო თითქოს ნაწარმოები ჰგავდა მერიმეს "კარმენს". ალბათ, მსგავსება წყვილის მიერ ჩაფიქრებული ის სანატრელი მომავალია, რომელიც ნაწარმოების ანტაგონისტთა, თუ გარემოებათა მსხვერპლი ხდება.

3/5, იმ მარტივი მიზეზის გამო, რო not really my style. დასასრული კი იყო მძიმე, მაგრამ თან თითქოს მეტის მოლოდინიც მქონდა. სხვა არაფერი წამიკითხავს კონრადის, მაგრამ მგონია რო სხვები უფრო გამაოცებენ.

P.S.
ანტაგონისტი - ჰოლანდიელი ლეიტენანტი ჰეემსკრიკი
"ბონიტო" - ჯესპერ ალენის ბრიგო. ბოლოს რიფს შეეჯახება.
"ნეპტუნი" - ჰეემსკრიკის დაქვემდებარების ქვეშ მყოფი გემი.
სიუჟეტი, სადღაც ინდონეზიაში ვითარდება.

[Kowsar Bagheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

خیلی چیزها نوشتم و پاک کردم. کافی نبود انگار. شاید یه زمانی که الکن نبودم بتونم از فریا بنویسم. از اینکه هر چقدر شجاع و محق باشی، بازم قدرت بی‌رحمانه‌ی دیگری می‌تونه ببلعتت. و این سیاه‌نمایی نیست. واقعیت تلخ دنیاست صرفاً.‌ شاید هم هیچ‌وقت اینجا ننوشتم، شخصی‌تر از این حرف‌ها ممکنه بشه.
و کاش یه سرگذشت‌نامه‌ی درست‌وحسابی بتونم از خود کنراد پیدا کنم. زندگی عجیبش واقعاً کنجکاوی‌برانگیزه.

[Mohamadreza Baseri · Rating 4 out of 5]

داستانی عاشقانه‌ اما مرموز و ماجراجویانه با تمِ دریایی که در اغلب آثار کنراد هست.
دوستش داشتم و تا آخرین صفحه من را مجذوب داستان و شخصیت‌ها نگه داشت.

[Teal Veyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, forget what I said about Typhoon, THIS is now my favorite Joseph Conrad story.

It's incredibly how much insight and compassion Conrad had for the female experience. Freya has to worry about everyone else's feelings. She constantly puts the feeling of her father above her own, even when she is forcefully kissed and groped by Heermshir (or whatever his name was-fuck, I think I'm screwing it up). He scolds Freya after she was just assaulted, because she's laughing at the guy. If tht isn't some kind of patriarchy bullshit...

She loses the great love of her life out of fear of disappointing her father. She dies of heartbreak, because she's always putting his feelings over hers.

And even in her death, her father is disappointed in her for having the gall to have her own feelings, to be her own autonomous being. "I thought she was a sensible girl!" ie "How dare this bitch not just be a prop to enhance my life. How dare a woman be fully human."

Bravo, Conrad! This is an absolute masterpiece.