The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Oxford World's Classics)

click here for more details, find new or used items	Joseph Conrad New from £2.41 Used from £1.50 Pages: 304 (Paperback) Editor: John Lyon ISBN: 0192801694 Pub: OUP Oxford Pub date: 2004-03-11 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 153205

Reader Reviews:

Black, Black Comedy (1/1 people found this helpful)

In this book Conrad gave us one of the darkest and blackest comedies ever written. Although called 'The Secret Agent' it is really about an agent provocateur and how he has settled down and wants to live a relatively quiet life. Conrad used a real event to base his story around and shows that he understood the way that this country allowed persons to act against other countries from the safe confines of Britain, at the turn of the century. The characters are completely believable as are the situations they find themselves in in this story. There is a deep understanding of psychology and how we can find ourselves in awkward situations. Ultimately this book is very funny but at the same time scary and shows how terrorism and diplomacy work in the real world and what can happen when things go a bit wrong. Also Conrad looks at murder and greed that can spur people's actions. Some people find this novel a bit long-winded but for someone who wasn't even writing in their own native language it is fantastic. Ultimately this novel has not aged, especially with radical terrorist cells active in this country, and it is a deeply thoughtful and, blackly comic look at a subject that most steer clear of. If you like a good read or are interested in terrorism and or international diplomacy you will love this book.

a satisfying read (0/6 people found this helpful)

Found this book forgotten on my shelf, and, as I enjoyed Heart Of Darkness, I thought I'd have a go. I was not displeased with the read, and there were some really humourous parts, especially in the human interactions between the Verloc extended family members. Conrad again portrays the characters in his very vivid descriptive sense.
One may find this short novel quite thick and hard going in places, and that is why I have left the rating at three stars.

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