Typhoon (novella)

Typhoon

File:TyphoonNovel.jpg First UK book edition
Author	Joseph Conrad
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Adventure story
Publisher	Pall Mall Magazine
Publication date	1902
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
OCLC	2312277

Typhoon is a novella by Joseph Conrad, begun in 1899 and serialized in Pall Mall Magazine in January–March 1902. Its first book publication was in New York by Putnam in 1902; it was also published in Britain in Typhoon and Other Stories by Heinemann in 1903.

Plot summary

Typhoon is a classic sea yarn, possibly based upon Conrad's actual experience of seaman's life, and probably on a real incident aboard of the real steamer John P. Best. It describes how Captain MacWhirr sails the Siamese steamer Nan-Shan into a typhoon—a mature tropical cyclone of the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean. Other characters include the young Jukes - most probably an alter ego of Conrad from the time he had sailed under captain John McWhirr - and Solomon Rout, the chief engineer. The novella classically evokes the seafaring life at the turn of the century. While Macwhirr, who, according to Conrad, "never walked on this Earth" - is emotionally estranged from his family and crew, and though he refuses to consider an alternate course to skirt the typhoon, his indomitable will in the face of a superior natural force elicits grudging admiration.

Characters

• Captain MacWhirr, an empirical man without imagination.
• Captain Wilson from "Melita", the "storm-strategist".
• Jukes, the first mate (with no first name).
• Jukes' absent friends - second mate Jack Allen and another mate from trans-Atlantic liner (addressee of Jukes' letter).
• Solomon Rout, the chief engineer, an experienced seaman.
• Second engineer Harry and third engineer Beale.
• The boatswain.
• The second mate.
• Sailors, steward and cook of the "Nan-Shan".
• The coolies, hired workers from India and China.
• The clerk for Messrs. Bun-Hin Co.
• Mrs Lucy MacWhirr, the Captain's wife.
• Lydia MacWhirr, the Captain's daughter.
• Mrs Rout, the chief engineer's wife.
• Messrs Sigg and Son, the owners of the boat.
• Owners and foremen from the building yard.

External links

• Typhoon and Other Stories, available at Internet Archive (1921 edition)
• Typhoon at Project Gutenberg
• Typhoon public domain audiobook at LibriVox
• Typhoon, available as a printer-ready PDF from Ria Press.