In Joseph Conrad’s autobiographical short narrative of “Youth: A Narrative”, the narrator describes Charles Marlow’s first journey to the East. The truth of a past is revealed that only the years of maturity could provide:
“…I remember my youth and the feeling that will never come back any more—the feeling that I could last for ever, outlast the sea, the earth, and all men; the deceitful feeling that lures us on to joys, to perils, to love, to vain effort—to death; the triumphant conviction of strength, the heat of life in the handful of dust, the glow in the heart that with every year grows dim, grows cold, grows small, and expires—and expires, too soon—before life itself.”
“O youth! The strength of it, the faith of it, the imagination of it!”
Conrad has once again, chosen the frame narrative as his literary technique that has been used in other stories such as “Heart of Darkness” and “The Tale”. Conrad’s storytelling is not only original and poetic, but also timeless.
Russell McCall illustrates “Youth: A Narrative” with his abstract paintings in a way that captures the adventurous spirit of the story.
