From that evening when James Wait joined the ship-late for the muster of the crew-to the moment when he left us in the open sea, shrouded in sailcloth, through the open port, I had much to do with him. He was in my watch. A negro in a British forecastle is a lonely being. He has no chums. Yet James Wait, afraid of death and making her his accomplice was an impostor of some character-mastering our compassion, scornful of our sentimentalism, triumphing over our suspicions. But in the book he is nothing; he is merely the ...
Read More
From that evening when James Wait joined the ship-late for the muster of the crew-to the moment when he left us in the open sea, shrouded in sailcloth, through the open port, I had much to do with him. He was in my watch. A negro in a British forecastle is a lonely being. He has no chums. Yet James Wait, afraid of death and making her his accomplice was an impostor of some character-mastering our compassion, scornful of our sentimentalism, triumphing over our suspicions. But in the book he is nothing; he is merely the centre of the ship's collective psychology and the pivot of the action. Yet he, who in the family circle and amongst my friends is familiarly referred to as the Nigger, remains very precious to me. For the book written round him is not the sort of thing that can be attempted more than once in a life-time. It is the book by which, not as a novelist perhaps, but as an artist striving for the utmost sincerity of expression, I am willing to stand or fall. Its pages are the tribute of my unalterable and profound affection for the ships, the seamen, the winds and the great sea-the moulders of my youth, the companions of the best years of my life. After writing the last words of that book, in the revulsion of feeling before the accomplished task, I understood that I had done with the sea, and that henceforth I had to be a writer. And almost without laying down the pen I wrote a preface, trying to express the spirit in which I was entering on the task of my new life. That preface on advice (which I now think was wrong) was never published with the book. But the late W. E. Henley, who had the courage at that time (1897) to serialize my "Nigger" in the New Review judged it worthy to be printed as an afterword at the end of the last instalment of the tale.
Read Less
Add this copy of The Nigger of the Narcissus (in Slip Case) to cart. $15.06, very good condition, Sold by West Coast Bookseller rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Moorpark, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1965 by The Heritage Press.
Add this copy of The Nigger of the Narcissus to cart. $17.54, good condition, Sold by Dailey Ranch Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Tucson, AZ, UNITED STATES, published 1956 by Doubleday & Company, Inc.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. USED Good Former Library book Hardcover in Dust jacket in Mylar cover. It has normal library markings including card holder/reference sticker and library call number on spine. Some cover scuff/indents on cover with some bumped corner and edge wear showing cardboard, folded or wrinkled pages. Has school and/or library name blacked out with marker or white blackout sticker on page edges, cover and inside.
Add this copy of The Nigger of the Narcissus to cart. $335.94, good condition, Sold by RARE BOOK CELLAR rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Pomona, NY, UNITED STATES, published 1949 by Doubleday & Company, Inc.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good+ in a Very Good price clipped dust jacket. All four corners of front and rear flaps clipped. Front hinge starting. Open tears on top front and rear panel and spine crown. Sunning on spine.
Add this copy of The Nigger of the Narcissus to cart. $450.00, like new condition, Sold by Olde Patrick's rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fairfax, CA, UNITED STATES, published by Blackie and Son.
