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KalebergPost at 2010-3-9 03:13 | Only View Author

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

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Book Details

ISBN-10: 019953635X
Paperback: 304
ISBN-13: 978-0199536351
Publisher: OxfordUniversityPress,USA(August1,2008)
Language: English
Book Dimensions: 7.5x5x0.6inches
Shipping Weight: 7.8ounces

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The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Oxford World's Classics)--- Product Description
Mr Verloc, the secret agent, keeps a shop in London's Soho where he lives with his wife Winnie, her infirm mother, and her idiot brother, Stevie. When Verloc is reluctantly involved in an anarchist plot to blow up the Greenwich Observatory things go disastrously wrong, and what appears to be "a simple tale" proves to involve politicians, policemen, foreign diplomats and London's fashionable society in the darkest and most surprising interrelations.

Based on the text which Conrad's first English readers enjoyed, this new edition includes a full and up-to-date bibliography, a comprehensive chronology and a critical introduction which describes Conrad's great London novel as the realization of a "monstrous town," a place of idiocy, madness, criminality, and butchery. It also discusses contemporary anarchist activity in the UK, imperialism, and Conrad's narrative techniques.

About the Author

John Lyon has previously edited Conrad's Youth/Heart of Darkness/The End of the Tether
for Penguin Twentieth Century Classics, and novels by Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, and D. H. Lawrence.

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

The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Oxford World's Classics) About [Books] The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Oxford World's Classics) by Kaleberg's review
a grim view of the anarchists
This is a grim, gritty, cynical tale set in the world of the anarchists and secret agents around the start of the 20th century. There are no blind romantics, no overwhelming causes,and no anarchistic politics. As is often the case with Conrad, this is a story about people, people in an exotic world.

The setting is London, the crime an attempt to blow up the Greenwich Observatory. The motives are far from pure: money, careerism, hack value, a peaceful mind. Mrs. Verloc, an anarchist's wife, is at the center of the tale. As Conrad tells us, and shows us repeatedly, she is not a woman to look beneath the surface of things, but she is a woman of some depth.

The story is sad. It is a tragedy, and the ending seems inevitable given the players Conrad has set in motion. This is probably appropriate given the subject matter.

The writing is excellent. The tale is well told. I would have given it a full five stars save for the sheer grimness of the tale. If you are a reader who gives extra points to depressing stories, you should consider this ranking a five.

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[Books] The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Oxford World's Classics) Rating:8 Points
Best:10 Points
Votes:100 People
Count:10 Reviews

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brewster22Post at 2010-3-12 15:54 | Only View Author

The First Political Thriller
Joseph Conrad's novel "The Secret Agent" is referred to in many places as the prototype of today's political and espionage thrillers. Except that it's not really much of a political thriller at all. The agent of the title, Mr. Verloc, has grown complacent in his role as an informant to a foreign embassy in London and is pressured by his superiors into pulling off a shocking act of terrorism in order to prove his worth to his colleagues. The novel is mostly about the domestic repercussions that occur when things go badly wrong.

This novel effectively toys with the reader's expectations, but it does so in a somewhat dubious way. Conrad introduces several characters and sets the stage for what appears to be a thriller with political overtones: several people have a vested interest (personally or politically) in the outcome of Mr. Verloc's actions. However, none of these characters ends up being of any importance, and nearly all of them drop out of the narrative altogether. The novel ends up being much more about Mrs. Verloc than it does about anyone else (including Mr. Verloc). This effectively pulls the rug out from under the reader's feet, but I would have received more satisfaction if Conrad had been able to keep suspense alive while still juggling a larger cast of characters. Maybe I should have been ready for this narrative sleight of hand, given the novel's subtitle, "A Simple Tale," but as it was the novel didn't take focus until it was 3/4 over and by that time too late for me to shift my sympathies.

What the novel does well, however, is to give its reader a deliciously tangible sense of the seedy underworld at play in late 19th-century London. Conrad personifies the mist, funk and squalor of London until the city itself nearly becomes a character in the action. Also, for anyone who maybe knows Conrad for being an obtuse, thick writer (especially if your previous knowledge of him comes from reading "Heart of Darkness" and "Lord Jim"), "The Secret Agent" is refreshingly straight forward.

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DavidS_McIntoshPost at 2010-3-16 04:35 | Only View Author

A Sad, Funny Portrait of a Terrorist as a Big Loser

A hundred years ago, Joseph Conrad wrote this splendid novel about a terrorist. I think it's easy to forget that terrorists have bosses and families; their horrible work happens in a context. The book is often funny, although I wasn't really aware of that until I had finished it. And it's also sad. The bad guys in The Secret Agent, and probably most terrorists here and abroad, are a sorry lot. If Conrad were writing today, he surely would have used the word "losers" to describe them. Novels like this one are more informative than anything you'll see on the news.

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H_SchneiderPost at 2010-3-19 17:15 | Only View Author

Idiots and convicts

The secret agent of the title is an agent provocateur, paid by a foreign power, who is supposed to animate anarchist terrorists in the London of the late 19th century towards violence. It seems that the story itself and its personnel are realistic depictions of a certain milieu.

Conrad's sympathy for that milieu was perfectly non-existent. He wastes no time with serious discussions of their politics. All members of the anarcho-scene are described as utter idiots, unless they are promoted a little to the status of criminals. Of course the action that ensues in the course of the plot is utterly idiotic. And apparently based on a real case.

The novel owes much to Dickens and his vision of London, but it transcends Dickens towards a more modern narrative concept. Conrad is the truest anarchist of this mini-universe, his approach to time is pure anarchy, leaping and jumping and leaving us with holes and gaps.
And it is irony pure and simple -- to the extent of being called a simple story in its title subline as well as in its dedication to H.G.Wells. One wonders if that dedication was not itself a piece of irony, considering that Wells was an active socialist.

The world view of the novel is pessimistic, but there are few funnier pessimists than Conrad. I used to think the man had no sense of humour. How wrong! He is hilarious, but he is never joking.
Not only the bad guys are idiots, the 'good' guys are not much better, ie the cops and politicians get a lot of bad vibes here. Prime target of scorn is the wealthy mentor of political revolution, frequently female.

Don't compare it to modern espionage novels, as the title may suggest. These are different worlds. This is something else.

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AndresC_SalamaPost at 2010-3-23 05:56 | Only View Author

Great novel by Conrad

Anarchism was a big thing in the late 19th century and early 20th century (you can compare it with the situation of Islamic terrorism today). Several kings, presidents and other politicians were killed by anarchists during that epoch (US president McKinley and Austrian Empress Sissi was among them). Conrad's book is one of the best novels about the anarchist world, dealing with an anarchist cell working in London during that time. The protagonist, Verloc, is the head of the cell and also an informer for the police and an agent for an unnamed foreign country (thus, he is a triple agent) and his attempt to blow up the Greenwich observatory ends tragically for an unwitting member of his family. Note: Conrad amusingly says in the prologue that he never personally met an anarchist himself, but the main story is based on real events he probably picked up from the press of the time.

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JuanCarlosUribePost at 2010-3-26 18:37 | Only View Author

It will not dissapoint you.

Its important to remember, that the novel is written at a time when democracy is not exactly well spread through Europe, and most of the continental countries are having a hard time trying to understand why the English shelter anarchists and Marxists and even allow them to publish their works.

No doubt that Conrad met a few of them in literary or social circles and found them amusing in their contradictions. That is why the "criminal mastermind" Mr. Verloc is portrayed more as a very lazy bourgeois than someone whose mind is set upon creating the conditions to change society.

On the other hand, Conrad is faithful to its belief on the perennial existence if not preeminence, of a dark side of the soul in everyone. So the atmosphere in which every character dwells is gloomy, sad and purposefully shows that no motivation is really beyond a person's self interest, even if you claim that you are doing it for God and country, to save the planet or your mother.

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GuangWuPost at 2010-3-30 07:18 | Only View Author

A very uninteresting book
This book makes me sick because it contains few actions but many, even too, too many descriptions on these too few actions although the author was able to use so many uncommon words to show his ability in describing something.

Such endless descriptions are tortures for anyone who reads this 5-page action novel. I really wonder if I need to read other books by this author.

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RobertMoorePost at 2010-4-2 19:59 | Only View Author

Powerful and despairing

I must admit to having a love-hate relationship with Conrad. His novels possess an undeniable power, and I have read each of his novels with the utmost fascination. Yet, I can't say that actually reading a Conrad novel is an enjoyable experience. His vision of the world is a tad too bleak, his confidence in human nature way too despairing, and the overall atmosphere way too gloomy for me to derive pleasure from reading Conrad.
Although not set in one of the exotic locales which we associate with Conrad, THE SECRET AGENT is both one of his finest and one of his most typical novel, with one exception. In most of his books, the plot revolves around situations which inevitably lead to tragedy and disaster, but in which a central character is often able to somewhat redeem his life by an act or acts of personal heroism. The feel is usually quite similar to that of Norse mythology, in which Gods and men will struggle at the end of the world against the forces of evil, but will lose. The challenge is to oppose the evil heroically. But in THE SECRET AGENT, the central character is anything but heroic, and is in no truly important way opposed to the powers of evil.

I have to admit to being perplexed by claims that Conrad was a great prose stylist. I will confess that I find that with his prose, the sum is greater than its parts. If you examine his sentences, he is without question, along with Theodore Dreiser, perhaps the worst constructor of sentences in the English language. Perhaps having learned English only after reaching adulthood is to blame. Many of his sentences are grammatically opaque. Frequently his sentences are incomplete or badly constructed. Almost never does Conrad seem to sense the rhythm of the language. Perhaps this lack of rhythm is what many mistake for a great prose style. I have spent a fair amount of time in the secondary literature on Conrad, and so far I have yet to find a single Conrad scholar who felt that he possessed a command of the English language. The consensus seems to be that he is a great writer despite his struggle with the English language, not because of any mastery he possesses over it.

Overall, I hold this to be one of Conrad's most important novels, on a par with UNDER WESTERN EYES, HEART OF DARKNESS, VICTORY, and NOSTROMO.

Ironically, Alfred Hitchcock filmed a version of THE SECRET AGENT, but it was not the movie with the same name. Hitchcock's THE SECRET AGENT was actually based on Maugham's Ashenden stories (which Maugham says were based upon his own experiences as a secret agent; he claims to have been one of the more inept agents in history). Hitchcock's version of the Conrad novel was SABOTAGE. Hitchcock changed many of the details, and his religious beliefs never allowed him to engage in the despair one finds in Conrad (Hitchcock was a devout Catholic). Although his version resembles Conrad, it isn't a very faithful adaptation either in plot or in spirit.

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RobertS_NewmanPost at 2010-4-6 08:40 | Only View Author

Dastardly Deed of Double Dealing Dooms Dull Duo

Perhaps "Verloc" wasn't even his name, perhaps he wasn't English or French either.He didn't stand out, he didn't attract attention.In Conrad's day, the phrase, "banality of evil" had not been invented, but the novel he wrote illustrates it brilliantly.A vague man of no strong personality or convictions, but of lazy temperament, winds up as a German agent in London, dealing with all the anarchist/radical leftist groups that existed there in the 1880s.This man works as an informer for the British police as well.He runs a pornography shop as a cover and lives with a pretty, but unexceptional woman of lumpen background who finds him a secure, reliable partner.She has a weak, mentally-retarded brother.Verloc's German `handler' demands a particular outrage to force the British government, by dint of subsequent public opinion, to crack down on terrorist/anarchist groups and individuals that found Britain a convenient refuge from severe repression on the Continent.After great strain, Verloc manages an effort at the required "outrage", but with dire consequences for the family.Nobody gets out of this alive.The British police, in the persons of two officers of very differing backgrounds and mentalities, soon piece together what has happened.

As in other of Conrad's novels like "The Heart of Darkness", "The Secret Sharer", and "Almayer's Folly", the main beauty of THE SECRET AGENT is its psychological sophistication.Each character, even minor ones, is drawn in brilliantly accurate strokes, so that the reader understands the inevitability of the actions of each.....the plodding, scheming Verloc, the unquestioning wife, the lost, pathetic brother-in-law, the sharp man of action (Chief Inspector), and the more thoughtful, careful Assistant Commissioner, not to mention a society lady, and an assortment of crazy, lecherous terrorists who can't organize their way out of a paper bag.Conrad is no doubt one of the greatest writers in English.This novel of the seedy side of Victorian London---not by dint of fast moving action...is one of his best.This is not a beach read.It is a classic of world literature.

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GiordanoBrunoPost at 2010-4-9 21:20 | Only View Author

Bleak, Mordant, Beautifully Written, Funny...

... and wildly under-appreciated, judging by the other reviews here on amazon! This is so archetypical a spy novel that frankly no other spy novel needed ever to be written. Conrad has said it all. It's tightly plotted, completely plausible except perhaps for a few too-convenient chance meetings on the street, and profoundly insightful into the "politics" of terror. And it's freshly pertinent, even to the point of including an inadvertent suicide bomber. There are no "good guys," it's true, and nobody of any alignment with impressive physical or mental abilities. Every single personage is physically, picturesquely grotesque, and every character considers himself cleverly invulnerable yet reveals himself to be irremediably foolish. The descriptions of these moral clowns and the deplorable world of mucky squalor and gilded corruption in which they move are the best writing, sentence by sentence, that Conrad ever did -- worthy of Dickens or Dostoyevsky. There's a sardonic, scornful humor in every scene, however grizzly. This is the darkest picture of human nature I've ever read. Even love and loyalty are degenerative psychoses. One expects a certain fatalistic pessimism from Conrad, sprawling across an ungainly plot, with complicated narrative overlays and ambiguous judgments. The Secret Agent is utterly different; it's as terse and unified as its subtitle claims; it's "a Simple Tale."

"Mr. Verloc, going out in the morning, left his shop nominally in charge of his brother-in-law. It could be done, because there was very little business at any time, and practically none at all before the evening. Mr. Verloc cared but little about his ostensible business. And, moreover, his wife was in charge of his brother-in-law."

That's the first paragraph; if you don't already feel in the presence of a master of subtle indirection just from that much, perhaps you'll be as unresponsive to this great novel as the hapless fools would be who populate its pages.

Hitchcock made a film of it in the 1930s. I've never seen the film, but I can imagine that Hitchcock would have read the novel with sardonic glee and captured its humor. It's Hitchcock in prosody. Yo! Peeps, if I tell it's totally NOIR, will you give it a ride?

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