Customer Reviews:
 Another great work by Conrad February 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Influenced by Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment", also a gripping pyschological study of an aloof, "guilty" man, but with a new twist: this is a searing indictment of cynical Russian autocracy (so timeless!) - and of police states in general. And it also vividly illustrates Conrad's famous (and wise) scepticism about the effectiveness of violent revolutionary action. The hero Mr Razumov, and his associates, are oppressed human victims of these two great opposing forces. This is one of Conrad's very best works - better I think than "The Secret Agent" - and is also one of the best (and politically phrophetic) novels of the early 20th century.
 Words are the greatest foes of reality May 22, 2006
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
An English teacher (the 'Western Eyes') tries to find the truth behind the autobiography of a Russian agent, for 'words are the greatest foes of reality', and 'speech has been given for the purpose of concealing our thought.'
The Russian agent betrayed a friend-terrorist and meets afterwards his sister and mother. His friend combatted autocratic despotism, the destroyer of the spirit of progress and truth, of freedom, law and justice.
This novel is Conrad's version of Dostoevsky's 'Crime and Punishment': 'A moral spectre is infinitely more effective than any visible apparition of death.'
Conrad was a visionary: 'A violent revolution falls into the hands of narrow minded fanatics and tyrannical hypocrites. The scrupulous and the just, the noble, humane and devoted natures, the unselfish and the intelligent may begin a movement but it passes away from them.'
His picture of the world of revolutionary conspirators is excellent: double agents, opportunists, naive idealists, hypocrites, rogues, agitators, fanatics and cynics. 'It did not matter what it was, vanity, despair, love, hate, greed, intelligent pride, a stupid conceit, it was all one to him as long as the man could be made to serve.'
But this book has many flaws: melodramatic overreactions (attack on Ziemianitch, secret love of Razumov), high improbabilities (confession of Razumov, interventions of 'Western Eyes') or the ultimate verdict ('he was the victim of an outrage. He had confessed voluntarily.')
Joseph Conrad was an ambitious writer, but this book has not the same high standard as his masterpieces 'Heart of Darkness' and 'Lord Jim'.
A worth-while read.
Superb portrayal of the Russian character December 6, 2001
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Apart from being a gripping story, Under Western Eyes is one of best portrayals of the turn-of-the-century Russian mind that you will come across. Some of the characters, notably Razumov and the main exiled revolutionaries, could come straight out of Dostoyevsky. The dialogue is abstract, halting and slightly sinister, mixing intolerance, fear and semi-hysteria. Crucial to the atmospherics is the depiction of Geneva as a dull, smug, ugly city where freedom is taken for granted in a way that sets it a world apart from Russia. It may not quite be as good as Nostromo or Heart of Darkness, but it is well up there as one of the early 20th century's great novels.
One of the best books I've ever read May 26, 2000
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I strongly recomend this book especially for people who have not read Conrad before: it is the easiest Conrad book to "get into" because the plot begins straight away and is imediately interesting. Through no fault or his own, through another person's misunderstanding the main character finds himself involved in a situation which changes his life and where he has to act in the face of moral dilemnas.There is no other writer like Conrad: the continual depths conveyed in all his books I have not encounted before in this way. This particular book is different from his others in subject matter - I have heard it said that it is more intellectual; you could say perhaps that it's subject is more intellectual and you would not be wrong. Still it is easy to read and compelling. I wish there were more writers like Joseph Conrad.
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