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The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Modern Classics)
by Joseph Conrad
- Used
- very good
- Paperback
- first
- Condition
- Very Good
- ISBN 10
- 0140020594
- ISBN 13
- 9780140020595
- Seller
-
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Penguin Books, 1978. Soft cover. Very Good. In Very Good Used Condition For More Information On Condition. Please See All Photos. - Mr Verloc, The Secret Agent, Keeps A Shop In London's Soho Where He Lives With His Wife Winnie, Her Infirm Mother, And Her Idiot Brother, Stevie. When Verloc Is Reluctantly Involved In An Anarchist Plot To Blow Up The Greenwich Observatory Things Go Disastrously Wrong, And What Appears To Be "A Simple Tale" Proves To Involve Politicians, Policemen, Foreign Diplomats And London's Fashionable Society In The Darkest And Most Surprising Interrelations. Based On The Text Which Conrad's First English Readers Enjoyed, This New Edition Includes A Full And Up-To-Date Bibliography, A Comprehensive Chronology And A Critical Introduction Which Describes Conrad's Great London Novel As The Realization Of A "Monstrous Town," A Place Of Idiocy, Madness, Criminality, And Butchery. It Also Discusses Contemporary Anarchist Activity In The Uk, Imperialism, And Conrad's Narrative Techniques.
Synopsis
The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale is one of Joseph Conrad’s later novels. Set in London in 1886, the novel tells the story of Adolf Verloc, a member of a largely ineffectual anarchist group who is also a secret agent, and an operation with unforeseen consequences. In his Author’s Note written in 1920, Conrad explains that the plot of the novel was inspired by the Greenwich Bomb Outrage of February 1894. In this event, explosives prematurely detonated in the hands of French anarchist named Martial Bourdin on the grounds of the Greenwich Observatory. What fascinated Conrad the most about the Greenwich Bomb Outrage was the fact that the motives remained a mystery. Through themes of espionage, anarchism, and terrorism based on horrific, but true events, The Secret Agent questions the world's capacity for reason and order in a smart, yet skeptical way. Perhaps this explains why the novel is said to be one of the three most talked-about works of literature in the media immediately after 9/11. The Secret Agent did not sell well initially, but is now considered a classic. The novel is ranked 46th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century. The Secret Agent has undergone multiple adaptations for both the stage and the screen. Perhaps most notable is Alfred Hitchcock's 1936 film, Sabotage, loosely based on the novel, though many changes to the plot and characters were made. (Not to be confused with another 1936 Hitchcock film, Secret Agent, based on short stories by W. Somerset Maugham.) Fun fact: The Secret Agent is said to have greatly influenced Theodore Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber. Kaczynski, who engaged in a nationwide bombing campaign in the US between 1978 and 1995, strongly identified with the Professor, the villain of the novel.
Read More: Identifying first editions of The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Modern Classics)
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Details
- Bookseller
- Alright Bookstore
(CA)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 003897
- Title
- The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Modern Classics)
- Author
- Joseph Conrad
- Format/Binding
- Soft cover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10
- 0140020594
- ISBN 13
- 9780140020595
- Publisher
- Penguin Books
- Place of Publication
- Uk
- Date Published
- 1978
- Pages
- 256
- Keywords
- Fiction Books, Good Reads, Suspense, Teen Lit, Realistic Fiction, Adventure, Novel, Mystery Thriller, Vintage Fiction, Vintage Novel, Historical Fiction, Classic, American, General
- Bookseller catalogs
- Fiction;
- X weight
- 450 g
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About the Seller
Alright Bookstore
Biblio member since 2022
Edmonton, Alberta
About Alright Bookstore
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