Typhoon

'Typhoon' is a novella by Joseph Conrad, a Polish-British writer regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English language. The novella began in 1899 and serialized in Pall Mall Magazine in January-March 1902. 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.