“The Secret Agent,” by Joseph Conrad

FM's rating:

1.      Premise 8

2.      Prose 9

3.      Plot 9

4.      Characters 8

5.      Overall 8

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

Conrad’s best-known book, “Heart of Darkness” was a disappointment for me when I read it a few years ago.  Somewhere I read that this book was better and, sure enough, I found it much more interesting.  The prose is like a cross between Dickens and Dostoevsky without being as long-winded as either of them!  There are several Tarantino-like passages depicting long, psychologically intense dialogs that get deeply into the minds of the characters; some very fine writing almost in the Frank Herbert style.  The plot was full of odd twists, but they all made perfect sense.  Highly recommended!

Here’s the September line-up! 

“The End of the Wasp Season,” by Denise Mina [9/5]
“The Haunted Mesa,” by Louis L’Amour [9/12]
“Brightly Burning,” by Mercedes Lackey [9/19]
“Tears of the Giraffe,” by Alexander McCall Smith [9/26]

(As always, if there are any books you’d like to recommend for the next month, please do so!)