Earlier this year there was a lot of talk of taking the N word out of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. While I don't condone the use of the N word in our day in age, taking it out of a book written in the 19th century just doesn't make sense to me. Doing so would be like something out of another book; George Orwell's 1984. So when I came across a book with the N word in the title itself I thought I'd give it a read to see how Conrad felt about African Americans. And while the word is used early and often, Conrad meant absolutely no disrespect by it. The main character of the novel Jimmy Wait, is the only African American sailor aboard a ship. He is liked and respected by virtually the entire crew. Early in the novel a number of men risk their lives to save Jimmy's life during a severe storm. Later the crew mutinies after The Captain comes down hard on Jimmy. And at the end after Jim falls ill and becomes bed ridden,the entire crew goes out of their way to console and take care of him. The book clearly shows there's no need to go around censoring 19th century literature. Let sleeping dogs lie. ( )