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Chance: A Tale in Two Parts

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Chance: A Tale in Two Parts

By: Joseph Conrad
Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
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About this listen

“Being a woman is a terribly difficult trade since it consists principally of dealings with men." (Joseph Conrad, Chance)

Flora de Barral, the daughter of a bankrupt businessman and swindler, must find her own way in the world when her father is convicted of financial speculation. Unfortunately, this is no easy thing for a single and vulnerable young woman in turn-of-the-century London.

Originally published serially starting in 1912, Chance is told chiefly by Conrad’s regular narrator Charles Marlow, who is helped along by some other very observant characters. Together, these narrators unfold the story of Flora’s desperate attempts to navigate society and contend with the difficulties of forever relying on the compassion of others for her welfare, a compassion that rarely comes without certain strings attached.

Flora must find a way to maintain her dignity and find happiness in a world that, frankly, does not seem to want her to have either. A commercial success thanks to Conrad’s timely focus on “the New Woman” and his exploration of the new fad of financial speculation, Chance explores what a woman can and must do in such a world when she has “no resources but in herself. Her only means of action is to be what she is”.

Public Domain (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing Classics Compassion

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All stars
Most relevant  
Conrad has better known works but this is still worth a listen. Essentially a psychological thriller told by a sailor with second or even third hand knowledge of the events. There may be other ways to tell this story but Conrad’s version works for me.

Sailor’s Yarn meets Pscychodrama

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… in his lifetime, at least. As so often with Conrad, the joy of the tale is in the telling, though for once he even allows a sniff of happy ending.

Stefan Rudnicki has a voice perfectly suited to the material, sober and weighty. I wasn’t sure at first just how I’d get on with him, but I quickly got used to it and ended up enjoying it immensely.

I knocked off a star only because, while I’m happy to Conrad’s narrator, Marlow, discourse on colonialism or the flawed character of Jim, here he frequently gives us his thoughts on Woman and feminism, and to be frank they haven’t dated as well.

That apart it’s a great listen, thoroughly recommended.

Conrad’s Most Popular Book

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