They are called typhoons . . . The mate did not seem to like it . . . Not in books . . . Couldn't think of letting it go on. . . .”

The boatswain, "an ill-favoured, undersized, gruff sailor of fifty, coarsely hairy, short-legged, long-armed, resembing an elderly ape." A Chinese national and fluent English-speaker, claiming to be a university professor, with information of vital importance to the British governor, was caught on the coastline of the New Territories by a Scots Guard and taken to a safe house in Kowloon. Joe is to establish his bona fides, and after a long, long night, is relieved by Lenan, 2IC at the SIS station, and told to get some rest. When he awakes, he learns that the professor has been spirited away and returned to mainland China. By chance he discovers that Miles had a hand in it and challenges him.

TYPHOON

Le esperienze di un certo tipo fortificano il nostro carattere; ma forse troppo spesso ce ne accorgiamo solo noi che le viviamo.

In 1887, Conrad worked as chief mate on the Highland Forest under Captain John McWhir, whom he portrays in the novel as "McWhirr". [2] He drew upon this six months voyage for the novel. [3] He was hired to take a steamship into Africa, and according to Conrad, the experience of seeing firsthand the horrors of colonial rule left him a changed man. Joseph Conrad pertenece al linaje de aquellos escritores que forjaron parte de su carrera escribiendo novelas cuyo escenario se desarrolla en el mar. Puntualmente podríamos formar un equipo entre Joseph Conrad, Herman Melville y Robert Louis Stevenson. Cada uno de ellos, según su estilo nos han regalado numerosos relatos en donde los barcos, los marineros y el eterno mar son los elementos de los que se nutre la acción. I didn't set out thinking I'll write a book I set out thinking I'll just write up these diaries and with a bit of encouragement from friends and family it became a book. People see the jets taking off, they see them land but maybe what they don't know is what is going through the pilot's mind at various different points before you go, if you're nervous about something, the relationships, the importance of teamwork all of those themes. That is really what I hoped to bring out when I was writing the book." I listened to the audiobook version of this novella, in which a ship is caught in a typhoon in the South China Sea. The audio was just over 3 hours long and was offered as “included” in my Audible membership (i.e., it didn’t require me to use credits).Conrad left his native Poland in his middle teens to avoid conscription into the Russian Army. He joined the French Merchant Marine and briefly employed himself as a wartime gunrunner. He then began to work aboard British ships, learning English from his shipmates. He was made a Master Mariner, and served more than sixteen years before an event inspired him to try his hand at writing. El azote del temporal que no les da tregua, mientras que el autor plantea un contrapunto psicológico entre McWhirr y Jukes, siendo este último sobre el que más recala. Las peleas, sentimientos y vapuleos emocionales son lo que más afecta el tifón, incluso más que a la misma nave. For whatever reason I seem to read quite a few ship/boat books. Normally non-fiction, but nevertheless, it is a bit strange, as I am not in the slightest interested in going sailing/boating. I don't mind a bit of fishing, but on a boat it is normally balanced with an hour of looking a bit green, and staring at the horizon, regretting eating breakfast prior to fishing. My worst nightmare would be one of those Southern Ocean Antarctic stormy sea in a small boat 'adventures', few people, freezing cold, soaking wet, god I feel like I have pneumonia already, etc...

Typhoon', Charles Cumming's 4th spy novel, is yet another winner for my candidate for Current World's Greatest Spy Novelist. It's complicated, many names of people and places are unpronounceable, and the CIA is exposed taking actions that we Americans probably think they wouldn't do, but on the other hand it's beautifully written with a great plot and interesting characters, is set in exotic locations, and has one of those endings that are sort of in the gray area, with neither the good guys or bad guys escaping cleanly. What I found somewhat tedious in the telling was the fact that so much of this novel is just matter-of-fact dialogue between the main characters. Very little actual activity or action until near the end. No doubt, that's actually a more realistic portrayal of an MI6 or CIA operative's lifestyle! Fair enough, but it's not what I usually find entertaining about these stories. Captain MacWhirr sails the Nan-Shan, a British-built steamer running under the Siamese flag, into a typhoon—a mature tropical cyclone of the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean. Other characters include the young Jukes—most probably an alter ego of Conrad from the time he had sailed under captain John McWhir—and Solomon Rout, the chief engineer. While MacWhirr, who, according to Conrad, "never walked on this Earth"—is emotionally estranged from his family and crew, and though he refuses to consider an alternative course to skirt the typhoon, his indomitable will in the face of a superior natural force elicits grudging admiration. Typhoon is a short novel by Joseph Conrad, begun in 1899 and serialized in Pall Mall Magazine in January–March 1902. Its first book publication was in New York by Putnam in 1902; it was also published in Britain in Typhoon and Other Stories by Heinemann in 1903. El barco transporta además, decenas de mano de obra esclava china, llamados culíes, quienes en medio del tifón arman una dantesca trifulca a causa de un montón de miles de dólares, que tienen escondidos, mientras el barco se va despedazando de a poco.A fabulous insight into the mind of an accomplished fighter pilot and leader as he takes on the biggest challenge of his career' FLYER Look, I am not hip on exciting adventure stories, so I have had to ask myself why in the world I have enjoyed this as much as I do. Writing the review has helped me think this through. I hope my thoughts will help others decide if they will enjoy the book too. The ship has been assaulted by a powerful storm. The wind intensifies, the position of the Nan-Shan and its crew becomes more and more dangerous. Some passengers seem to be more affected by the terrible storm than others. Hope, however, remains for the people and for the ship. Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski) was a Polish-born English novelist who today is most famous for Heart of Darkness, his fictionalized account of Colonial Africa. There were no pleasantries, no gentle probings to establish the other man’s character and credentials. Wang Kaixuan had spent eight years dealing with spies: they were all the same to him now. ‘I have told your people I have nothing left to say. I have abandoned the struggle. I wish to live my life in peace.’