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The Secret Agent (RED) (Penguin Classics: Red) [Paperback]

Joseph Conrad (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: 20 May 2010 | ISBN-10: 0141194391 | ISBN-13: 978-0141194394 | Edition: Reprint

Adolph Verloc leads a double life. As well as running his seedy Soho shop, he is also a secret agent, operating for an underground anarchist cell - and his job is about to get far more dangerous. When his leaders instruct him to plant a bomb at Greenwich Observatory, his plans go terribly awry, with tragic repercussions for him and his family.

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Product details

  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Classics; Reprint edition (20 May 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0141194391
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141194394
  • Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 1.6 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,066,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Joseph Conrad
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Review

'Elevated the spy story into literature in a way that would inspire Greene and le Carré' (Observer )

Book Description

The Secret Agent (1907) is a compelling tale of espionage and terrorism set in Edwardian London. This new edition is based on a painstaking comparison of the original manuscript of the work. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Passage to Blighty 16 May 2001
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
E.M. Forster apparently said something to the effect that Conrad's London in 'The Secret Agent' was too dark a place: a foreigners projection of European anxieties onto, in reality, a far more benevolent scene. It's true, Conrad's vision of England's capital is dark, but you'd have to say that it is no darker than, say, moments in Dickens', or even T.S. Eliot's 'Wasteland'. Developments in both the world of Crime Thrillers, and in the reality of terrorism and espionage suggest that Conrad was certainly onto something. Indeed, many now current clichés of the genre can be seen to originate from Conrad's book: mainly that the criminal and the policeman; the terrorist and the 'keeper of the peace' are not worlds apart. Few contemporary writers, however, are quite as keen and scrupulous as Conrad, who is never shy of taking us into the deepest and darkest places in the modern political psyche. Conrad's prose is as intensely atmospheric, as psychologically penetrating, and as layered with ironies as anything you will read in English. Sometimes it takes an 'outsider view' to tell you hard things about your beloved little Island. You won't get Merchant Ivory touching Conrad.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Not all that simple 10 Jan 2007
By Jonathan Birch VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Conrad's prose is dense, difficult and gorgeous. Before you pick up a book like this, you need to prepare yourself for an author who will happily write eight pages or so of prose between two lines in a conversation and not apologise (in fact there is, as is customary for Conrad, a self-justifying foreword). Patience will reward you with a surprising and darkly humorous tale of anarchists learning that real sources of chaos, anarchy and violence have little to do with abstract ideas.

It's not much like Heart of Darkness. Heart of Darkness is perhaps more important in the history of literature, but this is bigger, richer and more enjoyable. Read both.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Clever and involving story of "terrorist" action gone wrong 5 Dec 2000
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Verloc is an Embassy spy in London at the end of the nineteenth century, who is informed by his (rather shady) employers that it is time he earned his pay by doing more than just submitting reports. The choice of action he chooses to appease those at the Embassy forms the basis of the book, and we see how other characters are affected by what he decides.

At times "The Secret Agent" is a little heavy-going - a section near the middle of the book discussing the Assistant Commissioner of Police and a Chief Inspector enlightens us as to these characters but the circular nature of their conversations grates a little and I felt anxious for the action to return to the far more interesting Mr. Verloc & family. Indeed in Verloc, his wife, brother - and mother - in law, Conrad creates entirely credible, very human characters, and their pain is conveyed to the reader in a manner which made me think: "Yes, that's exactly what people are like."

The ending of the book is a little predictable, but skillfully executed. My major criticism would be the depiction of the shadowy revolutionists - I was never quite sure what they were rebelling against, or why, and they were not as credible as the other characters. This, however, may have been Conrad's aim.

On the whole, an original story which is at times very involving. It also has some very funny moments which are usually quite unexpected, but which seem to work, nonetheless.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars A Tour de Force
Very atmospheric.

As relevant polically as it was when published in 1907. Has been defined as the model novel. A must for Conrad fans.
Published 1 month ago by J. W. B. Richmond
5.0 out of 5 stars A funny and compelling tale with hidden depths
I've just re-read Conrad's The Secret Agent and found it as fresh and relevant today as when I first read it about thirty years ago. Read more
Published 19 months ago by A Common Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Good graded reader for English (EFL) students
I've assigned this graded reader with cd for homework (it's a simplified version of the original) for my intermediate/upper-intermediate English-as-a-foreign-language students. Read more
Published on 23 Mar 2011 by Steven H. Starry
5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic
This book is part of the Penguin series that is helping to support fighting AIDs in Africa. Part of the proceeds from this will be going to charity, so while you are settled down... Read more
Published on 28 May 2010 by M. Dowden
4.0 out of 5 stars A fine piece of work
Although this novel is a departure from the tropical localities of his other classics,it is still a masterpiece of prose and vocabulary and reading it can only strengthen your... Read more
Published on 2 Nov 2009 by nicholas hargreaves
2.0 out of 5 stars Ran out of steam
According to Mr Conrad himself this is not one his best works and I have to agree with him. Although based in London there is very little feel of the place and it really could have... Read more
Published on 24 July 2009 by Officer Dibble
5.0 out of 5 stars Conrad's Finest Novel
According to many this is Conrad's best work and I have to agree. This is a superb novel which shows Conrad at his best. Read more
Published on 21 Jun 2009 by I. M. Knight
4.0 out of 5 stars A favourite classic
For some years, this intriguing novel has been a favourite of mine. Conrad leads the reader through a cunning series of plots and subplots, all the while creating an atmosphere of... Read more
Published on 23 Jun 2008 by GreenMan
2.0 out of 5 stars Precisely too many words
I read another review that describes Conrad's prose as dense, difficult and gorgeous. I'm not sure about the last adjective. This is Conrad at his most dense and difficult. Read more
Published on 7 May 2008 by Greshon
5.0 out of 5 stars Black, Black Comedy
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... Read more
Published on 23 Sep 2007 by M. Dowden
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