The Secret Agent (Abridged) Audiobook

" After adjusting to Conrad's "wordiness" in this novel I began to appreciate the genius of the story and writing. At times I lost myself; at times I was lost. But in the end the weight of his powerful skill at characterization, his refusal to create a whodunit, and chilling reminder of humanity/ the flaws of humanity that permeate the 'terrorist' and the government I found myself quite glad at reading the book through. "

" Another certified Conrad classic. In the public domain with a free electronic copy available here. "

" This is an excellent & fascinating book. Conrad outdoes himself and probably produces a better book than he did in Nostromo. But I love Nostromo, I respect The Secret Agent. "

" Ultimately a rewarding read, although it took a while to hook me totally. Edwardian London is the setting for a range of anarchists, from the society dreamer Michaelis to the poisonous bomb making Professor. Verloc, a self-important low grade double agent, is cajoled into committing an outrage which has tragic consequences. Conrad's genius is in focusing the drama of the situation only on Verloc's domestic situation, in particular Winnie, his conventionally-behaved wife. The political games and posturing of ministers and embassies sit uncomfortably on members of the proletariat they are supposed to serve. "

" This book was a slow start for me. It's a style of writing I'm not used to these days, but once I got into it, the story flowed nicely and it was a thoughtful, interesting read. I enjoyed having to read and think about what I was reading. The characters were interesting, the story well-crafted and tragic. Mr Verloc, the spy, caught in a tragic situation and his wife Winnie, taking care of him, her simplish brother Stevie and her mother, having to deal with unexpected death... Also an interesting, if unresolved interplay between the Assistant Commissioner (unnamed) and Chief Inspector Heat, each with his own motives and thoughts on dealing with the key 'incident'. I'm glad I worked my way through the story, it was quite excellent. "

" I really don't know what to say about this except that it's brutally comic a depiction of the absurdities and futilities of people and the conniving institutions that some of them serve. Joseph Conrad may be one of the best writers in English literature for getting his points, sentiments, and images across without the awful verbosity of classic Victorian writers. Nor does he fuck around: there's an unforgiving honesty about this guy, yet nonetheless he lets fall some very clever jibes of sarcastic humor. If you like bad endings, this is a great one. "

" A bit of work, but worth the effort. Strange, sad, and a little scary. "The Professor" is an amazing character. "

" Memorable; superbly written and darkly funny "

" Covers a really interesting subject and time period (turn-of-the-century anarchism). Weird to read a Conrad novel in an urban setting. Recommended. "

" Did you like Anthem by Ayn Rand? If so, this should be right up your alley. "

" Love this book. Some really great turns of phrase, although Conrad gets a little over excited about demonstrating his grasp of the English language for the most of it. "

" Another chewy Conrad, the London scene and the agent goings on do make it bearable. "

" Not my favorite as far as Conrad is concerned. Decent. "

" Having never read any Conrad before, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Some passages are amazingly relevant today and I really liked his prose style. I will certainly be reading more of his novels. "

" really tedious. i know many regard it as a classic, but i found any story there is in there is swamped by odd details, confusing political ramblings and side musings that appear unrelated. perhaps i am just not clever enough to 'get it'... "

" Redeemed by it's ending, but still not great. "

" I think Conrad was like Carver (you never thought you'd see that comparison, did you?): he should have stuck with the short form, which in Conrad's case was the novella. I don't think you could call anything Conrad wrote "short". This was a great story stretched out over much too many pages. "

" Thought I'd re-read... ok, falls apart a bit toward end... "

" Superb novel that's startlingly contempory to our own time of terrorist cells and self-interested authority figures. Well drawn characters and a lot of dry humour that which again feels quite modern. A great entry point for readers new to Joseph Conrad. "

" Decent plot with awesome ending accentuated by great writing. "

" You know when a book is going to be a struggle when you are half way through and only one plot development of note has happened. Atmospheric, but not one of his best. "

" A rather drab and uninspiring book of little consequence. "

" Conrad from 1907 with themes of espionage and terrorism but it's no epic. Instead it focuses on a handful of strongly-drawn characters. "

" Starts of slow, but eventually picks-up near the end. "

" Well, I finally made it through a Joseph Conrad novel. Very dark, sacrificial lambs and all that. "

" Before John le Carre and Ian Fleming, spies and agents were a pretty unglamorous bunch. The first half is more a who-got-offed than whodunit, and Mrs. Verloc gradually takes over as a warm, human character beneath the politics. "

" Mix the world's first spy/terrorism novel with Conrad's incredible command of language and you have a well-paced, engaging and deeply philosophical novel. A very good read. "

" Conrad was writing about Terrorism long before 9/11. Someone should make an Apocalypse now of this book. "

" Good book, Hitchcock stole a scene from it. I guess one thing I don't get is, why do people decide to kill shit after reading it? It's not that kind of book, I don't think. "

" What a bleak view of humanity - a very depressing book, though well worth the read due to the characterizations and story-line. "

" Perhaps I was not yet a sophisticated reader to appreciate this book properly when I read it, but until I reread it, I can only say that I remember it as the weakest of the books by Conrad that I have read. "