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wrightstuff's review against another edition
5.0
The Secret Agent is the proto-spy novel that found its most mature and subtle expression in Le Carre's Smiley series.
All the key elements are here: mutual distrust and muddled thinking, incompetence and frustration, in a gloomy settling that leads to an anti-climatic finish.
Conrad delves into the dark hearts of his characters, as they slide between worlds and roles, in a way that still feels contemporary, even if the setting is not.
Deceptively simple, it is a sophisticated and disturbing look into a world that is less underground, and more adjacent, than we find comfortable.
All the key elements are here: mutual distrust and muddled thinking, incompetence and frustration, in a gloomy settling that leads to an anti-climatic finish.
Conrad delves into the dark hearts of his characters, as they slide between worlds and roles, in a way that still feels contemporary, even if the setting is not.
Deceptively simple, it is a sophisticated and disturbing look into a world that is less underground, and more adjacent, than we find comfortable.
readsforfun1's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
teenwolffan's review against another edition
3.0
One of the most unlikeable main characters I've read in a while.
jobly's review against another edition
2.0
This begins to gather a little momentum as it moves into the second half of the narrative, but generally the plot moves at a glacial pace and by the end of it you don't really feel that a great deal has happened, given the novel's length. What's more the language is interminable. Conrad's prose is delivered through enormously clunky run on sentences and half of it comes in the form of subordinate clauses. I get that this is, to some extent, simply a reflection of the literary conventions of the time, but here these qualities feel down-right egregious! Many reviewers here talk of the extraordinary psychological depth of the work, but I just don't see it. The characters feel largely like archetypes to me and their actions don't seem to spring from any really developed characterisation at all.
Interesting in parts, but over all a frustratingly written and unsatisfying piece of work which does little to merit its considerable literary reputation.
Interesting in parts, but over all a frustratingly written and unsatisfying piece of work which does little to merit its considerable literary reputation.
corabookworm's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Had to read for school. Everyone spent too much time talking. Interesting though.
folksyfairy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Super slow but once you get used to it, it’s great. I loved the dark ironic humor and the fact that literally everyone except for Stevie and maybe Winnie sucks
memoriasjimjan's review against another edition
2.0
2.5
No sé si leí una versión completa del libro, ya que lo leí para la universidad con una edición que nos pasó la profesora. El caso es que no disfruté casi el libro, se me hizo muy aburrido, y eso que a mí me suelen gustar este tipo de historias, pero simplemente no pude con esta.
No sé si leí una versión completa del libro, ya que lo leí para la universidad con una edición que nos pasó la profesora. El caso es que no disfruté casi el libro, se me hizo muy aburrido, y eso que a mí me suelen gustar este tipo de historias, pero simplemente no pude con esta.
bluetrainlines's review against another edition
4.0
There was a lot going on in the first half, and it felt like Conrad was pulling the reader in several different directions and you were never quite sure which was the main 'thread'. You always feel with his work that making it through dense plot and dialogue you will ultimately be rewarded, and by the final third, I was gripped. 3.5 stars.
dddddddia's review against another edition
4.0
honestamente cuando mi profesor me lo mandó como primera lectura del cuatrimestre, no me esperaba que me gustara tanto como me ha gustado. a pesar de empezar lento, le he acabado cogiendo cariño a todos los personajes, incluido verloc (sorprendentemente). me ha gustado leer como las acciones de la clase alta afectan a todo el mundo menos a ellos mismos, tanto en 1880, como en 1907, como actualmente; y como les importa tan poco la vida de los inocentes. además el personaje de winnie me ha parecido bastante curioso, me gustaría releermelo para poder analizarlo mejor. ella representa a todas las hijas primogénitas