The Secret Agent

Conrad’s ‘monstrous town’ is London and his story of espionage and counter-espionage anarchists and embassies is a detective story that becomes the story of Winnie Verloc’s tenacity in maintaining her devotion to her peculiar and simple-minded brother Stevie as they pursue their very ordinary lives above a rather dubious shop in the back streets of Soho. However far from offering any sentimental picture The Secret Agent is Conrad’s funniest novel. Its savagely witty picture of human absurdity and misunderstanding is written in an ironic style that provokes laughter and unease at the same time and that continues to provide one of the most disturbing visions of aspiration and futility in twentieth century literature.