The Secret Agent A Simple Tale

The book tells the story of Mr. Adolf Verloc and his work as a spy against Britain. Verloc is a businessman who owns a shop which sells pornographic material, contraceptives and bric-a-brac. His friends are a group of anarchists of which Comrade Ossipon, Michaelis, and "The Professor" are the most prominent. The group produces anarchist literature in the form of pamphlets entitled F.P. – The Future of the Proletariat. Although a member of an anarchist cell, Verloc is also secretly employed by the embassy of a foreign country, but Mr. Vladimir, the new First Secretary in the Embassy is not satisfied with Verloc's contribution. In order to redeem himself, Verloc must carry out an operation – the destruction of Greenwich Observatory by a bomb.

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 savage butchery. It also discusses contemporary anarchist activity in the UK, imperialism, and Conrad's narrative techniques.

The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale by Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad's Secret Agent, is a classic novel based on real events, the attempt to blow up Greenwich Observatory in 1894. The fictionalized story revolves around a beautiful young woman, her simple-minded brother and her devoted but tortured husband. The novel is a mixture of love story, spy and mystery that continues to entertain for many years after its original publication date. The novel opens as a store owner Mr. Verloc goes on a date at an embassy in London. During this meeting, Mr. Verloc is revealed to be a secret agent of the French government and is accused of no longer being productive in this capacity. In the past, the Ambassador was a man who completely trusted Mr. Verloc. However, there is a new man in charge now. He is a man of action, who expects everyone in his employ to be men of action. This man, Mr. Vladimir, suggests that Mr. Verloc create a situation to excite the emotions of the people of London, by setting off a bomb in a scientific location. As Mr. Verloc struggles with the perceived threat in Mr. Vladimir's suggestion, his friends excite his brother-in-law's emotions by discussing social reform in terms the young man misunderstands. Stevie, Mr. Verloc's brother-in-law, is a simple young man who has struggled with a job and now works exclusively in Mr. Verloc's porn store. When a man blows up in Greenwich Park, some of Mr Verloc's friends are convinced he blew himself up. The police are also immediately suspicious of Mr. Verloc, because of a blue tissue found among the deceased's belongings. An inspector, Chief Inspector Heat, believes that a friend of Mr Verloc's recently released on parole, Michaelis, is involved. He is determined to prove it, in order to continue to develop his highly respected reputation. His supervisor, the Deputy Commissioner, disagreed and decided to get himself involved in the investigation. Heat goes to Mr. Verloc's, only to find that his supervisor has been there before. Heat learns the true identity of the dead man and that Mr. Verloc was indeed involved. Heat suggests that Mr. Verloc leave the country immediately. The deputy commissioner, however, has already offered Mr Verloc a deal in exchange for information that not only wipes out Michaelis but also ends Mr Vladimir's tyrannical reign. Upon hearing of her brother's death, Ms Verloc becomes almost catatonic, as she listens to her husband explain everything that has happened. Mr. Verloc tells his young wife that his brother's death is as much his fault as it is his, as it forced Mr. Verloc to spend time with Stevie. It is also her fault that Mr Verloc was arrested so quickly by the police, because she did not tell him about the tags she sewn on her brother's coat. Mrs. Verloc becomes homicidal and stabs her husband with a carving knife. Mrs. Verloc runs from the shop, fearing to die by the gallows. Mrs. Verloc meets a friend of her husband's and begs him for help. However, instead of helping her, Ossipon, her husband's friend, abandons her and steals all her money. Ms. Verloc ends up committing suicide by anonymously jumping off a steamboat. Only Ossipon knows the truth about Mrs. Verloc's death.

The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale is a novel by Joseph Conrad, published in 1907.The story is set in London in 1886 and deals with Mr Adolf Verloc and his work as a spy for an unnamed country (presumably Russia).It is notable for being one of Conrad's later political novels in which he moved away from his former tales of seafaring.

The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale is a novel by Joseph Conrad, published in 1907.The story is set in London in 1886 and deals with Mr Anton Verloc and his work as a spy for an unnamed country (presumably Russia). The Secret Agent is one of Conrad's later political novels in which he moved away from his former tales of seafaring.The novel deals broadly with anarchism, espionage and terrorism. It also deals with exploitation of the vulnerable in Verloc's relationship with his brother-in-law Stevie, who has a learning difficulty.Because of its terrorism theme, it was noted as "one of the three works of literature most cited in the American media" two weeks after the September 11 attacks.Set in London in 1886, the novel follows the life of Adolf Verloc, a secret agent. Verloc is also a businessman who owns a shop which sells pornographic material, contraceptives and bric-a-brac. He lives with his wife Winnie, his mother-in-law, and his brother-in-law, Stevie. Stevie has a mental disability, possibly autism, which causes him to be excitable; his sister, Verloc's wife, attends to him, treating him more as a son than as a brother. Verloc's friends are a group of anarchists of which Comrade Ossipon, Michaelis, and "The Professor" are the most prominent. Although largely ineffectual as terrorists, their actions are known to the police. The group produces anarchist literature in the form of pamphlets entitled F.P., an acronym for The Future of the Proletariat.

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A triangle of conspiracy is built, then destroyed, by the self-interest of its participants. Mr. Verloc, employed by a foreign embassy to incriminate an anarchist group, instead destroys his family, his illusions, and his own life in a terrorist act gone utterly wrong. Conrad's ironic and troubling novel exposes political extremism and the strength-and vanity-of illusion.

The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale is a novel by Joseph Conrad, published in 1907. The story is set in London in 1886 and deals with Mr. Adolf Verloc and his work as a spy for an unnamed country (presumably Russia). The Secret Agent is notable for being one of Conrad's later political novels in which he moved away from his former tales of seafaring. The novel deals broadly with anarchism, espionage and terrorism. It also deals with exploitation of the vulnerable, particularly in Verloc's relationship with his brother-in-law Stevie, who has an intellectual disability. The Secret Agent was ranked the 46th best novel of the 20th century by Modern Library. Because of its terrorism theme, it was noted as "one of the three works of literature most cited in the American media" two weeks after the September 11 attacks.