Typhoon

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. Captain MacWhirr sails the SS 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 McWhirr-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