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La Flèche d'or: Un récit entre deux notes
Par amour pour la somptueuse Rita, et après mille péripéties, Monsieur George va devoir se sacrifier. Rita s'est enfuie, laissant à son amant le bijou qu'elle portait dans les cheveux, une flèche d'or que George, le narrateur, perdra dans un naufrage.À partir de faits réels et de ses propres souvenirs de contrebandier, Conrad relate les circonstances qui l'amenèrent, au prix de tous les dangers, à découvrir la vie passionnelle comme une épreuve tragique.
480 pages, Pocket Book
First published January 1, 1919
35 people are currently reading
450 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Conrad
3,210 books4,925 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 - 30 of 38 reviews
July 26, 2023
The Arrow Misses Its Aim
The Arrow of Gold, a story set in the Carlist wars, is one of the lesser known novels written by the great Joseph Conrad, and now that I have read it, I can well see why: The unnamed hero finds himself fascinated with Doña Rita, a young woman who serves as a screen for men to project their longings and urges onto. What seems mysterious to the protagonist is all too clear to the reader, and the lengthy conversations between the hero and Doña Rita do not atone for the lack of historical context which characterizes this historical novel.
All in all, this is a novel which falls simply flat, not only with regard to the high standards commonly set by Conrad, but also if it had been written by a less skilful author.
The Arrow of Gold, a story set in the Carlist wars, is one of the lesser known novels written by the great Joseph Conrad, and now that I have read it, I can well see why: The unnamed hero finds himself fascinated with Doña Rita, a young woman who serves as a screen for men to project their longings and urges onto. What seems mysterious to the protagonist is all too clear to the reader, and the lengthy conversations between the hero and Doña Rita do not atone for the lack of historical context which characterizes this historical novel.
All in all, this is a novel which falls simply flat, not only with regard to the high standards commonly set by Conrad, but also if it had been written by a less skilful author.
February 23, 2014
The experience of reading a Conrad novel is the same every time. You start it, think it's going to be so turgid, get muddled with the characters, wonder if there's going to be a plot, and suddenly you find you're totally hooked,and desperately involved, knowing it's going to end badly but hoping it won't. Or as he puts it,
"It is the subtleties of personalities, and contacts, and events, that count for interest and memory."
There is something from every Conrad I have read that has stayed with me, sometimes the big event - Jim jumped - and sometimes just a tiny description or incident - in this one, I think it may be the final appearance of the Arrow of Gold itself. And if that makes you want to read this book and find out what that means, then that's excellent. You're in for a treat.
"It is the subtleties of personalities, and contacts, and events, that count for interest and memory."
There is something from every Conrad I have read that has stayed with me, sometimes the big event - Jim jumped - and sometimes just a tiny description or incident - in this one, I think it may be the final appearance of the Arrow of Gold itself. And if that makes you want to read this book and find out what that means, then that's excellent. You're in for a treat.
November 22, 2016
The Arrow of Gold is a non-political book about politics, and a study of a woman that offers no great insights into femininity. The first of those points is intentional and the second is not. It might have been a better book if the opposite had applied, i.e. if it had been a book about political issues, and not a book about a woman.
The book is set in Marseilles during the third Carlist revolt. The story is narrated by an anonymous narrator, known only as Monsieur George, though this is not his real name. George signs up for the Carlist cause, and helps to secretly transport goods to them by ship.
He falls in love with Rita da Lastiola, a young woman of some wealth and mystery who supports the Carlist cause, and who has inherited a fortune from a wealthy man that took her as a mistress. She is of peasant origin, and her motives and feelings are the subject of endless debate. George assumes that she is in love with Captain Blunt, who is certainly in love with her.
However, Rita makes clear that she does not return Blunt’s affections, and it is clear to the reader that it is George that she loves. The lovers are only united when Rita’s hypocritical nun-like sister allows a jealous admirer of Rita (from her peasant days) in the house, and George protects her. However, after George is injured in a duel with Blunt, Rita deserts him again.
To take the first of the two points that I began with, the story is almost resolutely non-political. Whilst the hero (of course) takes the Royalist side, his interest in the conflict is purely romantic, and he scorns political motives, as indeed do all the best characters, notably Rita and Dominic, George’s partner in his shipping ventures.
The characters who do take politics seriously (including the Blunts) are distinctly unsympathetic and dangerous. Rita’s zealously religious sister Therese is also a dubious character, her piety acting only as a veneer for her material pursuits. She is even willing to plot her sister’s death to gain her ends.
This is in accord with the pessimism regarding belief systems that Conrad expresses elsewhere in his writings, and notably the ventures of Carlism come to nothing in the end, and are soon dismissed. Perhaps the problem with making the book so apolitical is that it removes a good deal of interest from it. Many characters are introduced, only to pass off the pages without really contributing much, leaving a good many loose ends.
This puts the emphasis on the love affair between George and Rita, and this is hardly a strength in the book. It has its own loose ends, e.g. the fate of the jealous Ortega, last seen wounded, but not dead. Worse still, it bogs the book down in endless passages of description and talking, often of a rather clichéd romantic nature. We wait in vain for something exciting to happen, but it never does.
Much of the book hinges on the character of Rita, but ultimately there seems to be little real mystery about her, and she finally emerges as an almost childlike character caught in a world of intrigue. Her affection for George is so transparent that his constant rejection of her seems only obtuse and irritating.
When they are finally allowed to come together, Conrad performs his characteristic trick of spitefully pulling the rug out from under the happy ending and separating the lovers forever. Perhaps this is ultimately the danger of Conrad’s excessively romanticised characters. It is inconceivable to imagine them settling in to the more mundane chores of married life, and so only a romantic separation is possible.
The Arrow of Gold is not without its interesting passages. On the whole though we must class this with Romance as one of his weaker works. It is overly verbose and excessively romantic in the worst kind of way. Conrad himself acknowledged this, and thought rather poorly of the novel. Fortunately for his reputation, Conrad still had one great novel left in him, which was The Rover.
This book is of some interest to Conrad completists who will find some of the familiar themes and characters of his works. However, it is likely to be of only mild interest even to them, and very little interest to anyone else.
The book is set in Marseilles during the third Carlist revolt. The story is narrated by an anonymous narrator, known only as Monsieur George, though this is not his real name. George signs up for the Carlist cause, and helps to secretly transport goods to them by ship.
He falls in love with Rita da Lastiola, a young woman of some wealth and mystery who supports the Carlist cause, and who has inherited a fortune from a wealthy man that took her as a mistress. She is of peasant origin, and her motives and feelings are the subject of endless debate. George assumes that she is in love with Captain Blunt, who is certainly in love with her.
However, Rita makes clear that she does not return Blunt’s affections, and it is clear to the reader that it is George that she loves. The lovers are only united when Rita’s hypocritical nun-like sister allows a jealous admirer of Rita (from her peasant days) in the house, and George protects her. However, after George is injured in a duel with Blunt, Rita deserts him again.
To take the first of the two points that I began with, the story is almost resolutely non-political. Whilst the hero (of course) takes the Royalist side, his interest in the conflict is purely romantic, and he scorns political motives, as indeed do all the best characters, notably Rita and Dominic, George’s partner in his shipping ventures.
The characters who do take politics seriously (including the Blunts) are distinctly unsympathetic and dangerous. Rita’s zealously religious sister Therese is also a dubious character, her piety acting only as a veneer for her material pursuits. She is even willing to plot her sister’s death to gain her ends.
This is in accord with the pessimism regarding belief systems that Conrad expresses elsewhere in his writings, and notably the ventures of Carlism come to nothing in the end, and are soon dismissed. Perhaps the problem with making the book so apolitical is that it removes a good deal of interest from it. Many characters are introduced, only to pass off the pages without really contributing much, leaving a good many loose ends.
This puts the emphasis on the love affair between George and Rita, and this is hardly a strength in the book. It has its own loose ends, e.g. the fate of the jealous Ortega, last seen wounded, but not dead. Worse still, it bogs the book down in endless passages of description and talking, often of a rather clichéd romantic nature. We wait in vain for something exciting to happen, but it never does.
Much of the book hinges on the character of Rita, but ultimately there seems to be little real mystery about her, and she finally emerges as an almost childlike character caught in a world of intrigue. Her affection for George is so transparent that his constant rejection of her seems only obtuse and irritating.
When they are finally allowed to come together, Conrad performs his characteristic trick of spitefully pulling the rug out from under the happy ending and separating the lovers forever. Perhaps this is ultimately the danger of Conrad’s excessively romanticised characters. It is inconceivable to imagine them settling in to the more mundane chores of married life, and so only a romantic separation is possible.
The Arrow of Gold is not without its interesting passages. On the whole though we must class this with Romance as one of his weaker works. It is overly verbose and excessively romantic in the worst kind of way. Conrad himself acknowledged this, and thought rather poorly of the novel. Fortunately for his reputation, Conrad still had one great novel left in him, which was The Rover.
This book is of some interest to Conrad completists who will find some of the familiar themes and characters of his works. However, it is likely to be of only mild interest even to them, and very little interest to anyone else.
January 26, 2018
When I read Conrad, I feel like I'm in his world. He's truly a writer, and he has such heart. His native language is Polish, and I don't know enough to know why he chose to write in English, but I feel lucky that he did. Hunter Thompson said he learned to write by typing pages from Conrad's books on his typewriter. I love that image, and I'm glad to have read this.
November 28, 2025
"The Arrow of Gold' is based on a bad concept and the execution is quite dreadful. It has had the fate that it so richly deserves. At the time that I am writing this review which will be the 237th on "The Arrow of Gold" to be posted on GR, there are 554,075 reviews of "The Heart of Darkness". Another 21,726 GR members indicate that they are currently reading "The Heart of Darkness". Despite its obscurity, "The Arrow of Gold" still offers certain pleasures to Conrad's fans as the experts argue that the novel was highly autobiographical and close to Conrad's heart.
"The Arrow of Gold" is very similar to Henry James' "The Portrait of a Lady" in that both have at the centre a "femme de mystère" or "femme fatale" who seems to bewitch every man that crosses her path. James' heroine, Isabel Archer, and Conrad's Doña Rita are pursued both for their looks and their money. Their male admirers neither understand them nor see their true qualities.
Where the two novels differ in that Isabel Archer endeavours to play the roles of wife and mother to the best of her abilities, while Doña Rita who during the third Carlist War is at the heart of a conspiracy supporting Carlos VII in his efforts to replace Amadeo I as king of Spain. Conrad never properly integrates the story of the "femme de mystère" with the that of the Third Carlist War. Amadeo I's supporters are typically described as being liberal centralizers while the Carlists are characterized as being Catholic supporters of regional autonomy.
Conrad stresses the fervent Catholicism of the Carlists. Doña Rita is from the Basque country where support for the Carlists was strong. Conrad's political analysis, however, goes no further. This is surprising. Conrad is thought to have been strongly pro-Carlist and may have even been a Carlist gun-runner at one point in his youth. He presumably had much to say on the topic. Moreover, Conrad in other works notably "Nostromo" writes with great mastery on political issues. The reader is both perplexed and disappointed that Conrad says so little about the Carlist cause.
Conrad's handling of Doña Rita's story is also disappointing. Wishing to emphasize the fact that the men in love with her never truly understand her, he never tells the reader enough about her personal drama to allow the reader to take an interest in her.
Despite several good passages, "The Arrow of Gold" never works and has fallen into obscurity. It is for hard-core Conrad fans only.
"The Arrow of Gold" is very similar to Henry James' "The Portrait of a Lady" in that both have at the centre a "femme de mystère" or "femme fatale" who seems to bewitch every man that crosses her path. James' heroine, Isabel Archer, and Conrad's Doña Rita are pursued both for their looks and their money. Their male admirers neither understand them nor see their true qualities.
Where the two novels differ in that Isabel Archer endeavours to play the roles of wife and mother to the best of her abilities, while Doña Rita who during the third Carlist War is at the heart of a conspiracy supporting Carlos VII in his efforts to replace Amadeo I as king of Spain. Conrad never properly integrates the story of the "femme de mystère" with the that of the Third Carlist War. Amadeo I's supporters are typically described as being liberal centralizers while the Carlists are characterized as being Catholic supporters of regional autonomy.
Conrad stresses the fervent Catholicism of the Carlists. Doña Rita is from the Basque country where support for the Carlists was strong. Conrad's political analysis, however, goes no further. This is surprising. Conrad is thought to have been strongly pro-Carlist and may have even been a Carlist gun-runner at one point in his youth. He presumably had much to say on the topic. Moreover, Conrad in other works notably "Nostromo" writes with great mastery on political issues. The reader is both perplexed and disappointed that Conrad says so little about the Carlist cause.
Conrad's handling of Doña Rita's story is also disappointing. Wishing to emphasize the fact that the men in love with her never truly understand her, he never tells the reader enough about her personal drama to allow the reader to take an interest in her.
Despite several good passages, "The Arrow of Gold" never works and has fallen into obscurity. It is for hard-core Conrad fans only.
February 14, 2013
Suppose you wanted to write a novel about your experience falling in love with a woman adored by everyone for her strange beauty and charm, but older and more experienced than you. Also, suppose you were Joseph Conrad. Then the novel would not just be a romance novel, but also about a political intrigue where the main character is a world-weary gunrunner in love with a femme-fatale escaped from Paris who is at the very center of the intrigue. And has a piano player friend named Sam! Ooops, sorry about the "Sam" bit... somehow I confused the novel with "Casablanca".
RickMonsieur George is a young but cynical sailor in-between boats until he is targeted by a couple of talent spotters in Marseilles. They are looking for someone to run guns for a Royalist revolution in Spain. The bank-roller (I assume she is fronting the money, it isn't exactly said) is a divorcee who has conquered society with her looks and bearing that belie her peasant heritage. Monsieur George has absolutely no interest in running guns, but has absolutely some interest in running IlseDona Rita!
So it then becomes a romance novel, with not a lot of Conradian plots. In fact it is almost like he is channeling Henry James or Edith Wharton with the intricate society drama involved. There are a lot of almost turgid drawing room scenes where I could swear the grey old lady Henry James was dictating into the ear of Joseph - so much not being said in all that being said.
So it then becomes a romance novel, with not a lot of Conradian plots. In fact it is almost like he is channeling Henry James or Edith Wharton with the intricate society drama involved. There are a lot of almost turgid drawing room scenes where I could swear the grey old lady Henry James was dictating into the ear of Joseph - so much not being said in all that being said.
September 28, 2008
This may sound weird, but the story itself I found to be a slow read at times, however the author is almost like a painter of words. He has such a unique and special gift of being able to put you into a scene with his descriptive words! I really have never read a book that kept my attention solely by the use of the english language but I loved the way he was able to describe people or scenery! Very interesting as this book was written in the 1900's to see the differences of the use of the english language. What I found even more interesting is that english was not his first language. Amazing because I thought he was able to manipulate it with an extreme level of expertise. Regardless of the slow pace of the story I loved the underlying love that connected the two main characters. I am not sure that others would enjoy reading a book that in my opinion was carried solely by the authors penmanship, but I do not regret reading this book so therefore would recommend it to others who enjoy language!
September 4, 2012
I love Conrad and have read most of his major novels, but I never got around to this one until now. It's considered one of his lesser works, and now I know why. It's supposedly a romantic tale of adventure, but there's an awful lot of sitting around talking, eloquently and at great length, about feelings and perceptions. Conrad wrote that his task was "...before all, to make you see." Somehow he lost sight of that in this one.
July 9, 2014
I never thought I would say this about a Conrad novel, but this one's an overwrought drawing-room romance. There's still some amazing writing in it, but there's not much story. It reads like a first novel, which is weird, because it's supposedly one of his later ones. My guess is he dug out an old manuscript that he hadn't been able to sell until he got really famous for all the good novels he wrote. Unless you're a die-hard Conrad fan like me, read one of those instead.
April 4, 2020
Monsieur George's new girlfriend turns into a disappointment.
Want to read
January 14, 2026A Book Owned by F. Scott Fitzgerald: https://static-prod.lib.princeton.edu...
May 31, 2017
In the last chapter, "Second Note", the author says discusses a book saying that it "might appear merely a lot of vapid verbiage in the morning." That's what this books seemed to be. I couldn't follow the story until the third part! It was not what I was expecting, since Joseph Conrad was a sea captain, & I expected a sea story, not a love story!
July 7, 2020
Maybe romance is not Joe's strong suit. Still, it kept me engaged to the end. Three Stars.
September 8, 2021
For all of Conrad's ability to suspend time in exacting commentary of supreme emotion and internal ambivalence, almost nothing happens in this novel until the very last chapter, and then it is anti-climactic. The elevation of almost ridiculous bourgeois erotic love and sentiments twisted by greed, false bravado and vacant religiosity makes for a trying, and very dated reading. The whole seems finally both vapid and childish, and smacks of something worse: the unshakeable feeling that Conrad had no sympathy, no empathy for his readers. He was writing to himself, and the selfishness of the book, even to its idiosyncratic beginning and ending "notes" is startling. In many ways it is reminiscent of the early Nabokov, who apparently was slavishly devoted to similar projects. Had there been something to learn of the details of the Carlist conspiracy, or the ongoing post-Commune fights between the Reds/Liberals and the Legitimists it might have spared the reader some of the pain of endless internalized introspections of love and the will to power between two very facile lovers in the making. But this never happens. Conrad avoids detail deliberately and leaves one feeling, as they might after any long-ish melodrama, that their time could have been better spent reading the phone book. In short: a brilliant, dense and nearly oracular nothing resolves itself with a whimper. We are dismissed not to happiness, but to the extraneous. Better to read the earlier works (Lord Jim, Nostromo, etc.) where the author's disdain for events and repercussions is not so pronounced.
August 9, 2022
While I personally love Conrad as a writer and I enjoy piecing together the clues in his writing and seeing the bigger story, this novel was just too oblique, even for Conrad. By the end of the story I still felt like I didn't really know any of the characters (except maybe Blunt), that or maybe the characters never had more depth than their respective tropes. Conrad is quite possibly my favorite sentence writer ever, so I still enjoyed this novel, but it is far from his best.
June 24, 2025
This is very different from most of Conrad’s novels.
Parts of the book read like a satirical drawing room comedy, characters hurling witty barbs and insults at each other. Other parts follow complicated emotional dramatics and explore the natures of love and hate.
Sea voyages are mentioned, but not shown or dramatized.
The title turns out to be a symbolic piece of jewelry and plays a part in the novel’s conclusion.
Parts of the book read like a satirical drawing room comedy, characters hurling witty barbs and insults at each other. Other parts follow complicated emotional dramatics and explore the natures of love and hate.
Sea voyages are mentioned, but not shown or dramatized.
The title turns out to be a symbolic piece of jewelry and plays a part in the novel’s conclusion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2022
Comencé a leer leerlo tras descubrir una cita extremadamente bien escrita, en el prólogo de otro libro. La Flecha de oro es un relato de aprendizaje de la existencia y de la vida, que transcurre entre dos presuntas notas de autor. Listas notas, para mi entender, completan y redondean libro con una sabiduría que trasciende la historia.
March 14, 2023
Hmm. I understand now why this is one of Conrad's most obscure works. It really hasn't aged well. Basically, every man in the book is obsessed with a woman who is too "independent" (read: hardened by constant sexual harassment, and possibly a sex-trafficking survivor?) to want them, and much I-will-go-crazy-for-love!-ishness ensues. It swung between boring and downright uncomfortable for me.
December 18, 2023
Not sure how I got through this -- much of the dialogue was beyond me -- a case where every character had the vocabulary and eloquence of Conrad, thus stretching credulity. I tend to think of Conrad as a less than stellar storyteller, but always worth it for the various inevitable gems of genius. Yet there weren't as many of those here, and I'm glad it's over.
May 15, 2025
A wonderful little-known Conrad novel set during the Carlist Wars. Set during the Carlist Wars, mostly in Marseilles with debrief diversions to the sea, memories of Spain, Paris.
About ideals, love, maturity, motivations…
As always, writing and narrative structure are exquisite, mysterious like a gilded stage obscured by a smoke machine…
About ideals, love, maturity, motivations…
As always, writing and narrative structure are exquisite, mysterious like a gilded stage obscured by a smoke machine…
July 1, 2025
"The Rita that haunted me had no history; she was but the prinicple of life charged with fatality. Her form was only a mirage of desire decoying one step by step into despair." Story? Not so much - but so masterly written that one shouldn't care.
October 26, 2018
The first 2/3 were plodding, the last, however, was well worth the effort! An exciting and acceptable conclusion
Read
February 7, 2023A modernistic trash romance, but he pulled from his earliest sea voyages in the Mediterranean which was neat.
April 14, 2025
Surprisingly forgettable for a Conrad novel. The prose is still beautiful, but this is probably a one-time read.
March 24, 2015
It's hard not to give a Conrad novel 5 stars; he's my favourite author. Arrow of Gold loses a star for me because I found I was getting bogged down in the intricacies of the relationship between Monsieur George and Dona Rita. Sometimes the emotions of love is a difficult thing to explain, and the feelings of both characters must be taken into account.
Set against the background of the third Carlist war, our man 'Monsieur George'(Joseph Conrad; this is based on a true story) is a sea-faring adventurer who takes on the risky business of running guns from France into Spain. One of the supporters of the Carlist cause is Dona Rita, a beautiful woman with a sketchy past and a large inherited fortune. Our man falls in love with her but there is another suitor (Captain Blunt) which causes some conflict. Then there are the men from her past....
The book has a very well-written fast-paced climax, totally unforeseen (by me) and well worth the perseverance needed to get through some of the preceding text (although those familiar with Conrad's style will have no problem).
For more information on this period in Conrad's life see: The Mirror of the Sea and The Sea Years of Joseph Conrad for an in-depth look at the main characters and their true identities and backgrounds.
Set against the background of the third Carlist war, our man 'Monsieur George'(Joseph Conrad; this is based on a true story) is a sea-faring adventurer who takes on the risky business of running guns from France into Spain. One of the supporters of the Carlist cause is Dona Rita, a beautiful woman with a sketchy past and a large inherited fortune. Our man falls in love with her but there is another suitor (Captain Blunt) which causes some conflict. Then there are the men from her past....
The book has a very well-written fast-paced climax, totally unforeseen (by me) and well worth the perseverance needed to get through some of the preceding text (although those familiar with Conrad's style will have no problem).
For more information on this period in Conrad's life see: The Mirror of the Sea and The Sea Years of Joseph Conrad for an in-depth look at the main characters and their true identities and backgrounds.
August 6, 2015
I’ve read four novels by Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, Almayer’s Folly and The Secret Agent). My fifth, The Arrow of Gold, is surprisingly different. The other four are action-driven, full of excitement and intrigue, with revolutions, high sea adventures, colonial enterprises and suspenseful and mysterious spies. The Arrow of Gold is a love story with the focus on characterization. Set in Marseille in the 1870s during the Third Carlist War the story is a love triangle which comprises the unnamed young narrator, Doña Rita and the Confederate veteran Captain Blunt. The characters are supporters of the Spanish Pretender Carlos, Duke of Madrid. Doña Rita finances the operations of the narrator's vessel, Tremolino which smuggles ammunition to the Carlist army. The plot, however, is never developed, only alluded to. Instead, the reader is set with the task of deciphering the puzzling characters with their multilayered motives and complex principles. In all cases passion overrules reason and frustration is the dominant feeling. I dare say that in all of literature there is no woman like Dona Rita. She was a complete mystery to me as she was to the narrator. This is not my favorite Conrad book. The Arrow of Gold was originally titled The Laugh and was published serially in Lloyd's Magazine from December 1918 to February 1920.
August 27, 2011
I enjoyed this book. It's more a picture than a real story, the portrait of a woman who captured the heart of the writer (written in the first person) and his own reactions to that capture. A little on the fatalistic side but interesting in its portrayal of the time and place.
Most of the characters are warm and vivid; Madame Léonore was my favorite although she has a small role. He brings very realistic, very human traits to his stage while at the same time holding them up to be admirable and inspiring. Well-written - certain descriptions are unbeatable. Worth the read!
Most of the characters are warm and vivid; Madame Léonore was my favorite although she has a small role. He brings very realistic, very human traits to his stage while at the same time holding them up to be admirable and inspiring. Well-written - certain descriptions are unbeatable. Worth the read!
August 30, 2013
Certainly, not Conrad's best work. If you haven't read Conrad before, don't start with this book. I thought the setting descriptions and the characters were well written and really give you a sense of actually being a direct witness to the events. I found the end to be disappointing. In his other novels, he gives you excellent character descriptions and builds a really dramatic story around it. This novel lacked that dramatic style that I expected. I recommend Victory, The Rescue, and Heat of Darkness.
August 3, 2012
The Arrow of Gold [1919]. I'm almost sure this book is very out of print. It was Conrad's try at War time pulp fiction. His publisher probably pushed him into writing it. This story has the classic subtle Conrad Punch line and some people hate him for that! It's actually an interesting story and probably way before it's time! Not one of my favorite Conrad's though!
You can read "The Arrow of Gold: online: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/c/conra...
You can read "The Arrow of Gold: online: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/c/conra...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews