Youth, a Narrative

A red light flickers in the darkness—and a steamer’s bow crashes into the Judea just as twenty-year-old Marlow is about to begin his first voyage to the East. The ship has not even left the dock.

In the England of merchant sailors and working ships, Marlow looks back on a voyage that seemed to test what a young man could endure. He joins the old, battered Judea as second mate, thrilled by the promise of Bangkok and the words “Do or Die” beneath her stern. But before the coal ship can make for the Far East, a gale drives her into trouble, and a collision threatens to derail the voyage at its very start. Marlow believes youth can meet any challenge; can this stubborn old barque carry him to his longed-for destination?

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