The Secret Agent
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The Secret Agent
Acheter pour 17,71 €
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Lu par :
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Peter Joyce
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De :
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Joseph Conrad
Inspired by an actual terrorist attack on Greenwich Laboratory in 1894 ‘The Secret Agent’ is arguably Conrad’s greatest work. Mr. Verloc, the spy, is roused to action by his masters. He is to instigate an act ‘of destructive ferocity so absurd as to be incomprehensible, inexplicable, almost unthinkable; in fact, mad’. All does not run smoothly however and leads to Mr Verloc’s wife, Winnie, demonstrating how quickly rational equilibrium can change to frenzied destruction. Setting his story in a subterranean grimy London peopled by deceptive, dishonourable characters, Conrad not only reminds us of the futility of mindless aggression but also of how near it is to the surface of human behaviour.
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‘The Secret Agent” is almost entirely set in London and exoticism is limited to things Parisian. Though it turns out that all characters (except a simpleton and a crippled old lady) have a very dark side, many are quite engrossing. Unexpectedly, since the plot is quite noir, there are frequent comical elements.
The prose is exceptional with descriptions at times worthy of Dickens and a suspense that is quite constant. It is unfortunate, however, that certain strings are not attached in the end, regarding for instance what happens to the grandmother or how the shop is (presumably) uncovered and searched by the police.
Written before World War I, the novel presents an uncanny number of features that ring a contemporary bell: anarchists plotting against democracy, Russia trying to pull strings to destabilize the West, terrorists killing themselves with their own bombs, etc.
Overall, it is a very worthy read.
Forceful!
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