Tremor of Intent (Masterplots II: British and Commonwealth Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Anthony Burgess
- First Published: 1966
- Type of Work: Espionage allegory
- Time of Work: The mid-1960’s, with flashbacks to the 1940’s
- Setting: Bradcaster, London, aboard the Polyolbion, Yarylyuk, Istanbul, and Dublin
- Principal Characters: Denls Hillier, Edwln Roper, Mr. Theodorescu, Miss Devi, Richard “Ricky” Wriste, Alan Walters, Clara Walters
- Genres: Long fiction, Spy fiction
- Subjects: 1960’s, Sex or sexuality, Religion, Antiheroes, Assassination, Mysteries, Food, London, Ships, Ireland or Irish people, Defectors, Intellect, Theology, Turkey or Turkish people
- Locales: London, England, Oceans, Dublin, Ireland, Istanbul, Turkey, Bradcaster, England
The Novel
Tremor of Intent is ostensibly a spy thriller containing most of the conventional characters and devices of the type, often taken to comic extremes. Yet Anthony Burgess’ American subtitle is “An Eschatological Spy Novel,” and this theological concern with death, Hell, judgment, and the fate of the soul moves the novel beyond its generic features into emphatic Christian allegory.
British agent Denis Hillier is aboard the Polyolbion on a gastronomic cruise to Yarylyuk in the Crimea, where he is to force or persuade the defector Edwin Roper to return...
[The entire page is 2014 words long]
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