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The Secret Agent

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The Secret Agent

By: Joseph Conrad
Narrated by: Peter Joyce
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About this listen

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.

©2011 Assembled Stories (P)2008 Assembled Stories Classics Espionage Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense

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Critic reviews

About Assembled Stories: Over the years the national press have reviewed Assembled Stories titles as "excellent", "remarkable", "entrancing", "superb", "magic for sure", "masterly", "wonderful", "a class act" and "a splendid example of audio at its best".
"Peter Joyce is the most remarkable one-man band in audiobook publishing. Joyce, an experienced actor, reads them all himself." ( The Independent)
All stars
Most relevant  
The Secret Agent is less an espionage novel, and more a portrait of revolutionary anarchism.
The story can be difficult to follow at times as it can be rather heavy on dialogue at the expense of plot development, making the drama and action less clear, but a worthy read that provides a feel for the times.

Classic tale of the Anarchist era

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Not for me. It is very well narrated but just didn't capture my interest. I felt the story could have been told in half the pages.

If you’ve listened to books by Joseph Conrad before, how does this one compare?

N/A

Have you listened to any of Peter Joyce’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No

Do you think The Secret Agent needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No

Classic literature - but a bit hard going

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