I've just finished Joseph Conrad's "The Secret Agent". Listening to this kind of novel as an audiobook is a mixed bag. It's easy to lose your place. The book is very tight and it's not so easy to jump in and out if, for example, you're listening to it in chunks during your daily commute. On the flip side, Conrad's writing can be "extravagant" and a delight to listen to--almost musical.

When I picked out this book, I had thought it would be about secret agents, and that it would be a cloak and dagger spy mystery. It's not. In the end, three people die. Two of those people believed in something. The third did not, and perhaps that's what the book is about. Mr. Verloc enjoyed his job and loved his family. Mrs. Verloc loved her brother. Who did Ossipon love? No one, not even himself. So Mr. Verloc kills Stevie. Mrs. Verloc kills Mr. Verloc. And Ossipon? He abandons Mrs. Verloc who then commits suicide. Haunted by her death, he becomes an alcoholic.

So in the end, I think the book is about anarchism and love. The Professor, who builds the bombs, is empty, resentful, full of anger and hate. Comrade Ossipon, who fancies himself to be a scientist, is just empty. Mr. and Mrs. Verloc both make sacrifices for those whom they love.