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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A curious little spy story. My expectations were high for Graham Greene novel, but "The Confidential Agent" reads more like a short story. A snippet, or sketch on the way to a more fleshed out book. Amusing, but not particularly captivating.
The London geography is fun. I'm not sure I understood a few key plot points (wait - why did she get thrown out the window), and the characters' motivations and relationships seemed forced (wait - when did this love affair launch?). ... But it was fun.
The London geography is fun. I'm not sure I understood a few key plot points (wait - why did she get thrown out the window), and the characters' motivations and relationships seemed forced (wait - when did this love affair launch?). ... But it was fun.
emotional
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I skimmed a lot. The last 25% slows down. There is humor and some suspense. A fair enough story but not great.
Struggled to make it through this book, his writing style was interesting at first but then it became a bore.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.5 stars. Greene may very well be the most appropriate author to read during this long summer of quarantine. This is a novel of darkness, dense fog, deep shadows, alienated lives, loneliness, and unrequited love. The protagonist is a “foreigner” in every sense of the word, as he arrives in England on a spy mission to prevent a coal deal that would decimate his own people back home in their civil war. His own embassy disowns him, everyone he meets is a potential threat, and he has no sense of ever returning to normalcy, even if he is successful. Indeed, “success” seems almost undefinable. He brings with him so much baggage and personal strife that he describes himself as “infecting” others with whom he comes into contact. As with most Greene novels, this is also a story of impossible love, with the protagonist’s struggle standing as a metaphor for an inability to find unity or salvation in any relationship (romantic or otherwise) in an unforgiving world that places cavernous distances between us all. It also contains an ending that is about as happy as one can find in a Greene novel -- but it’s a conditional happiness, one fraught not with the perils of the unknown, but with the always-impending known: death.
Although often not discussed alongside his more famous titles, this one is top-tier. Highly recommended for those who enjoy noir and existential fiction.
Although often not discussed alongside his more famous titles, this one is top-tier. Highly recommended for those who enjoy noir and existential fiction.