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The Confidential Agent
- Narrated by: Tim Pigott-Smith
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Mystery
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Summary
In a small continental country civil war is raging.
Once a lecturer in medieval French, now a confidential agent, D is a scarred stranger in a seemingly casual England, sent on a mission to buy coal at any price. Initially, this seems to be a matter of straightforward negotiation, but soon, implicated in murder, accused of possessing false documents and theft, held responsible for the death of a young woman, D becomes a hunted man, tormented by allegiances, doubts and the love of others.
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What listeners say about The Confidential Agent
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- John Saddler
- 30-03-15
Am unusual Graham Greene well performed by TPS
Where does The Confidential Agent rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
I'm not interested in rankings like this. I recommend it, so listen to it and make up your own mind.
What other book might you compare The Confidential Agent to, and why?
There's a touch of nightmarish surrealism about this so in part it reminded me of Kafka's The Trial. It's also reminiscent of some pulp noir novels of the period, luridly exaggerated and unlikely in tone but still compelling as it goes on. Also a touch of Conrad's The Secret Agent and John Buchan's Thirty Nine Steps.
Have you listened to any of Tim Pigott-Smith’s other performances? How does this one compare?
He is very good but the novel is a demanding one to read and I'm not sure the protagonist's foreign accent is absolutely necessary, although he is the 'confidential agent' of the government forces in the Spanish Civil War so I'm sure the makers would argue it is. TPS is a brilliant reader however.
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
It wouldn't be what it actually was on the posters of the 1945 film with Lauren Bacall and Charles Boyer 'Watch her lips answer the call ... ' which refers to Lauren Bacall's famous line to Bogart in To Have and to Have Not and has nothing to do with this film or book.
Any additional comments?
It's a shame the questions above don't ask anything about the book itself. It grew on me. I'm a huge Greene fan (lifelong) but had never read this one. So I was quite surprised. The London setting is very interesting, the period in the run up to World War Two is also interesting - full of threat and menace, the war looming in the background, the contrast between the peaceful UK and the war torn Europe pervading the book written before war even began but evoking the complacency of politicians of the time as war became increasingly inevitable. Greene writes of the horror of aerial bombing, the slaughter of women and children, starvation and destitution. It's a sombre book but ultimately very gripping. Not my favourite Greene but well worth reading or listening to.
17 people found this helpful
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- DartmoorDiva
- 20-08-16
Not one of his best...
I think I've read/listened to pretty much all of Greene's novels and this is probably one of the weakest. It seems laboured and the use if initials for names and D's deliberately anonymous home country is all a bit tedious. Tim Piggott-Smith is always a good reader, although I found his accented characters more oriental than European, but then perhaps they were and my assumption that D was European is wrong... who knows? All a bit of a mystery and not in a good way. Greene is such a brilliant author overall, this one just seemed to be below par.
7 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 07-01-20
Not the best by Greene
I generally love Graham Greene and this wasn’t awful, but it seemed more dated than anything else I’ve read by him. Overall I’d say it was the Graham Greene book I have enjoyed the least.
4 people found this helpful
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- Rob
- 15-11-16
Goes on a bit
I felt it tried to tick too many boxes, too many loose ends and unanswered questions. Hard to see through to the end.
3 people found this helpful
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- Jonathan D Scott
- 19-07-21
classic mystery suspense
Had forgotten how enjoyable Graham Greene's work is and will be certainly listening to more.
1 person found this helpful
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- Leslie
- 20-05-21
An engaging story of a man with a mission
the story captures the mind and feelings of the Confidential Agent trying to complete his mission against opposition, his own sense of loss, his anger at murder, and growing love which seems hopeless. Very well narrated by Tim Pigott-Smith.
1 person found this helpful
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- Jack Eason
- 19-04-21
Tim Pigott-Smith brings this book to life!
I read The Confidential Agent several years ago. Thank god for Tim Piggot-Smith, otherwise i'd sill think Graham Green's work of fiction was hardly worth my time...
1 person found this helpful
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- gfplux
- 26-05-22
A little slow
For me this was a little slow. I suspect that was because of my own impatiaciance.
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- hfffoman
- 14-05-22
Wonderfully read
The stylised, brooding nature of this novel, with its focus on small details and a sense that everything is outside the control of the protagonist, makes it a disturbing listen. However, in my view it is Greene at his best, and is so beautifully evoked by Tim Piggot-Smith, it deserves a place among audible's best titles titles with straight 5 stars.
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- Amazon Customer
- 23-03-22
He got better
it seems this one was written in a hurry to make money and it shows a bit. Not his usual carefully researched and thought out work but still worth a read.
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- Judith
- 16-12-11
Magnificent reading, pure Graham Greene.
Where does The Confidential Agent rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
The best so far.
What other book might you compare The Confidential Agent to and why?
John LeCarre, because of Greene's unromantic view of war and espionage.
What about Tim Pigott-Smith’s performance did you like?
I have been unable to separate the actor from the role since his indelible performance in The Jewel in the Crown. This reading severed the connection--he becomes so many characters, so seamlessly that I sit in the car, in the cold, unable to stop listening to the recording I am playing on my car system. He's a marvelous reader.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No, I have enjoyed the breaks, but I would have like my drives to be longer!
3 people found this helpful
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- jenifer
- 30-01-12
te 2 nts (too intense) for me
What did you like best about The Confidential Agent? What did you like least?
Best: intelligent, articulate, gripping. Worst: I'm sorry to say that this book was too frightening for me to finish, A combination of uncertainty, unfamiliarity, unsavouryness and uneasiness scared me off after a few chapters.
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
Sorry, I didn't get there.
Would you listen to another book narrated by Tim Pigott-Smith?
I would and will. I have listened to many,
Did The Confidential Agent inspire you to do anything?
search my psyche for the reason it puts me off. When I was a kiddie I couldn't listen to the lone ranger episodes wherein LR was suspected of the crime. Maybe it's like that. Maybe it's my fear of the totally unhappy endings that Brighton Rock taught me to expect from Greene.