--- product_id: 5753456 title: "The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Penguin Classics)" brand: "joseph conradmichael newtonj. h. stape" price: "₹ 2581" currency: INR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.in/products/5753456-the-secret-agent-a-simple-tale-penguin-classics store_origin: IN region: India --- # The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Penguin Classics) **Brand:** joseph conradmichael newtonj. h. stape **Price:** ₹ 2581 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Penguin Classics) by joseph conradmichael newtonj. h. stape - **How much does it cost?** ₹ 2581 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.in](https://www.desertcart.in/products/5753456-the-secret-agent-a-simple-tale-penguin-classics) ## Best For - joseph conradmichael newtonj. h. stape enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted joseph conradmichael newtonj. h. stape brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Penguin Classics) ## Images ![The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Penguin Classics) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51anEx-D0pL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging classic *by M***N on Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2022* A really great read! Suspense, great characters, smart writing. It's astonishing to realize that English was not Conrad's native language. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars This Book Has it All - An Exciting Read ! *by D***D on Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2020* This was my first JC read, but won't be my last. He meticulously sets scenes, insightfully places his characters in them and tells the story. Early on I begged him to ' get on with it, ' but once I settled in to his style, it was more than exciting and hard to put down.The Penguin Classics edition is very helpful with references, and I recommend it highly.All in all really well done and worth the read. ### ⭐⭐⭐ 3.0 out of 5 stars There are consequences *by H***N on Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2012* Personally, I don't like Conrad's style. He got paid by the word so he would often use twenty when one would do better. But this story works better for its slow pace.As always, Conrad stories don't have much of a plot. A genial bookstore owner does not do a thriving trade because he is inordinately lazy. But he gets a supplemental income from a foreign government by spying on local anarchists. Most of whom are as dangerous as a newly hatched duck. it is the foreign government (ostensibly an ally) that is dangerous. Because the anarchists are pretty lazy too, the foreign government wants to scare the British into doing something about them by blaming them on an atrocity of their own concoction. Our bookstore owner is coerced into the insanely stupid plot, which fails to come off.Part of the bookstore owner's life is his wife and her idiot brother, whom she protects fiercely. The idiot brother dies as a result of the stupid plot. the wife, angry at her worthless husband for killing her brother, kills him and takes the money he had saved up from being paid by the government and runs off with one of the anarchists to France. However, the anarchist just wants the cash and he turns her over to the Dover police and makes his way to France by himself.As a plot, it is sparse and in the modern world we see it too often. it is repeated over and over every time there is a terrorist attack. We dig into the life of the suicide bomber and we see stories of desperation and inanity very much like it.However, if you are going to read Conrad, you are not interested in plot. And what makes this such a good read is the way Conrad looks into the lives of his characters and reports on them so very dispassionately. His style is sort of that of an engineer explaining the trajectory of an enemy missile. he is not responsible for it, he can't do anything about it, the story proceeds on its way to its inevitable explosion and he just describes the process. Sometimes passionate interest is helpful, sometimes it gets in the way. Conrad's story her benefits from his detachment.And very much the story moves in the manner of a mathematical formula for figuring the path of a runaway train. It is inexorable.How accurate is Conrad's description of the life of a terrorist? From my reading it is painfully so. He has looked into their hearts and minds and found the vacancies and levers that move them.The book is so old, the story is so old, but it repeats over and over. It is a very good book to understand our modern world. And the minds of those who would like to end it. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.in/products/5753456-the-secret-agent-a-simple-tale-penguin-classics](https://www.desertcart.in/products/5753456-the-secret-agent-a-simple-tale-penguin-classics) --- *Product available on Desertcart India* *Store origin: IN* *Last updated: 2026-05-03*