After reading this tale about a young man who lost his honour, and who spends the rest of his life trying to reclaim that honour, I felt sad. This is a sad story about a man that we know only as Jim. Jim committed an act of cowardice when he was a mate on a ship. He was only nineteen years of age, and he made a decision to abandon what he thought was a sinking ship and he leaves about 800 passengers to face their fate alone. He can never forgive himself for this, and he personally exiles himself from his own family back in England. This may sound a bit melodramatic, but the book is not. It is beautifully written, rich, evocative and compelling. We see the type of man that Jim becomes as he's trying to get over this big mistake. He appears to be a strong and decisive man but we the readers get glimpses of the chinks in his armour. Until his final ignominious fall - What a waste of a man's life, and what a great story!