The Point of Honor

Also published as The Duel, Joseph Conrad's 1908 short novel The Point of Honor was adapted to film as the elegant The Duellists, Ridley Scott's 1977 film debut. Fans of the film will find Joseph Conrad's book a bit softer, but no less entertaining, than the brutal, uncompromising Napoleonic-era vendetta of animalistic Feraud against gentle, sensitive D'Hubert. A "point of honor" is defined as a "concern that seriously affects the perception of your honor," yet it is hard to discern which point of honor began the twenty-year series of duels between the two officers. Reportedly based on the repeated battles of a real pair of Napoleon's staff, Joseph Conrad's masterful plotting and deep human insight and empathy are at their best in this short, satisfying tale of revenge, survival, and, at the end, pity. Master translator Constance Garnett considered The Point of Honor to be a "perfect whole" and "worthy of Turgenev."