Reviews

The Confidential Agent by Graham Greene, Ian Rankin

jakubp's review

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

4.0

ftremlett24's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

andrewacashner's review

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

3.5

louisebels's review against another edition

4.0

I loved this novel. This was the first book I picked to read for the UnderHypedBooks readathon and I'm so glad I did. It is definitely under hyped and deserves some more attention.

I wrote a review on my blog :: http://teaswirls.wordpress.com/2014/07/23/book-review-the-confidential-agent/

johnnyb1954's review against another edition

3.0

I skimmed a lot. The last 25% slows down. There is humor and some suspense. A fair enough story but not great.

doctortdm's review against another edition

3.0

Struggled to make it through this book, his writing style was interesting at first but then it became a bore.

karna's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

dani_benittez7's review against another edition

3.0

Siendo honesta al principio me aburrió bastante y me costo agarrarle un ritmo agradable. La historia nos lleva con el agente D y su misión para comprar carbón en Inglaterra. Me gusto la atmosfera de la historia y cerca de la mitad me empezó a parecer interesante. La historia me parece bien escrita, esta llena de sorpresas y a pesar de que la historia me estaba gustando el final no me gustó mucho.

“Cuánta traición se alimenta siempre en pequeños centros sobrecargados de trabajo del idealismo de otra persona.”

msand3's review against another edition

4.0

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.

sixdaysago's review

4.0

Despite a perhaps rushed ending, this thriller was exceptionally entertaining and amusing.