Reviews for The Secret Sharer

The average rating for The Secret Sharer based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-03-07 00:00:00 Etienne Cornu The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad is a short story / novella of less than 100 pages, yet in it Conrad demonstrates as many great writers do, the simple, elegant power of the short work. Here the writer can succinctly deliver a forceful message in economic fashion. The Secret Sharer is like many of his works (most?) about the seas and a man's command of a vessel. Also like many of his works, the setting is in the South Seas and we find our narrator taking his first command near the Gulf of Siam. The strange young captain finds a stowaway and shelters the other man and the two strike an odd friendship. This story evokes many psychological reactions from the reader, and coming from the author of the Heart of Darkness, the effect is no doubt intensely deliberate. First of all, the title has a double meaning. It could mean a "sharer" of something who is kept secret and it also means a "sharer of a secret". The young captain risks great loss by aiding the wayward seaman and Conrad, in spare words, illustrates the culture of the seas masterfully. Anyone who has ever been to sea, and not just as a tourist, but one who has worked on a boat, must enjoy reading Conrad and he makes me consider his comparison to the American Melville. It is astounding to realize that English was his second or third language and yet he again demonstrates a virtuosity of ours.

Review # 2 was written on 2021-02-22 00:00:00 Gerald Broom The narrator of this novella is captain of a ship in the Gulf of Siam, preparing to sail west to England. This will be his first voyage in command of a ship and, having been appointed only a couple of weeks before and unfamiliar with the ship and crew, he's unsure of himself and tentative in his thoughts and actions. The plot thickens when, alone on deck at night, while pulling up a rope side ladder, he discovers a naked man in the water hanging on to it, instantly deciding to provide some of his clothes to him and hide him from his officers and crew in his own quarters. He learns that the man, Leggatt, is a fugitive from another ship, having killed a mate. From this situation, Conrad crafts an interesting psychological drama, as the two decide what to do, setting each on course "for a new destiny".