The Secret Agent
Decide its fate
The record
Time
An eveningA season272 pages, about 5 hours: four-fifths the length of a typical book on the shelf.
Getting in
Walk right inSteep climbVerloc is summoned by his embassy contact and pressured into planning a bombing.
What it gives
Plot and actionIdeas to live byIn 14 reviews from critics and book blogs, none credit the plot and 8 credit the ideas or a change in how they live.
One of a kind
Others do thisNothing else doesOne review calls it an echo of Heart of Darkness and Crime and Punishment, both on the shelf.
The case for it
on the narrative style
“claustrophobic, psychologically astute and told in a wonderfully laconic narrative style”
a book blog on Winnie Verloc
“a combination of vulnerability and strength”
a book blog on the chapter structure
“Each chapter is a different view, through a different set of eyes”
a book blog on the characters
“a wonderful, character-driven story of people caught up in things they don’t fully understand”
five stars · a book blog
The case against
on the chronology
“digresses and falls back on itself chronologically”
a book blog on the time shifts
“jumped between the past and present without warning”
a book blog on Conrad’s style
“it feels more like a chore than a pleasure”
a book blog on the portraits
“sometimes the portraits tend towards the simple and melodramatic”
a book blog
