Lord Jim

No ISBN Lord Jim is the life-history of a man who lost his honor. First he is plain 'Jim,' a sailor guilty of one spectacular piece of cowardice when, as the mate of an ancient vessel carrying pilgrims across the Indian Ocean, he deserts the ship (along with the rest of the crew) thinking that she has struck a submerged object and is about to sink. The ship does not sink; she is brought safely and shamefully to port by more determined hands; and Jim, along with the other deserters, has to live with this horrible legend for the rest of his life. He came to be called 'Lord' Jim because eventually he did go a long way towards retrieving that honor, rising to rescue, rule, and redeem a subject tribe on the other side of the world. But always he had to keep moving on, because his story followed him; at the first knowing smile, the first contemptuous recognition, he had to disappear, seeking out of places to run away to; he gave in to the nemesis of the story, convinced at last that cowardice can never be redeemed.--Excerpt from the Introduction by Nicholas Monsarrat