The Thirty-Nine Steps, by John Buchan
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The Thirty-Nine Steps, by John Buchan
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"[...]kind of man who would understand. I've had you in my mind all this week when things got troublesome. Say, will you do me a good turn?' 'I'll listen to you,' I said. 'That's all I'll promise.' I was getting worried by the antics of this nervous little chap. There was a tray of drinks on a table beside him, from which he filled himself a stiff whisky-and-soda. He drank it off in three gulps, and cracked the glass as he set it down. 'Pardon,' he said, 'I'm a bit rattled tonight. You see, I happen at this moment to be dead.' I sat down in an armchair and lit my pipe. 'What does it feel like?' I asked. I was pretty certain that I had to deal with a madman. A smile flickered over his drawn face. 'I'm not mad—yet. Say, Sir, I've been watching you, and I reckon you're a cool customer. I reckon, too, you're an honest man, and not afraid of playing a bold hand. I'm going to confide in you. I need help worse than any man ever needed it, and I want to know if I can count you in.[...]".
The Thirty-Nine Steps, by John Buchan- Published on: 2015-03-04
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x .23" w x 6.00" l, .28 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 102 pages
Review It is the dimension of the mysterious that makes Buchan’s writing so unfailingly compelling. (John Keegan, from the introduction) --introduction
About the Author John Buchan (1875–1940) was a Scottish novelist and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. After a brief career in law, Buchan simultaneously began writing and his political and diplomatic career, serving as a private secretary to the colonial administrator of various colonies in Southern Africa, and eventually wrote propaganda for the British war effort in First World War. Once back in civilian life, Buchan was elected Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities, but spent most of his time on his writing career. He wrote The Thirty-Nine Steps and other adventure fiction. He was in 1935 appointed as governor general by George V, king of Canada, on the recommendation of Prime Minister of Canada Richard Bennett, to replace the Earl of Bessborough as viceroy, and occupied that post until his death in 1940. Buchan proved to be enthusiastic about literacy, as well as the evolution of Canadian culture, and he received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the UK and interred at Elsfield, Oxfordshire.
From AudioFile This enjoyable 1947 radio adaptation of John Buchan's 1916 thriller comes from the vaults of the CBC. More faithful to Buchan's novel than was Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 film adaptation, Charles Rittenhouse's script also makes fine use of the sound medium. Musical chords punctuate dramatic moments. A montage of train sounds and conversational snatches succinctly maps hero Richard Hannay's escape from London and the clutches of a spy ring. After he disguises himself in the garb of a cooperative milkman, Hannay's innocent whistling lets us trace his steps as he nonchalantly slips past the police. Two badly muffled passages turn up, as expected with historic radio transcriptions, but the play is fast-paced fun. G.H. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful. Classic, historically important, but has it's weaknesses By Douglas J. Bassett This is one of the classics of the mystery/thriller genre, and it has a great deal of historical importance. That's easy to see when you place it up against other famous books of this era -- stuff by Le Queux or Oppenheim, for instance. The best books by those guys are quite fun to read, but they're clearly coming from an earlier era of popular fiction -- one focused on a kind of Victorian/Edwardian style of adventure fiction (an interest in the aristocracy, an interest in melodrama, a very restrained sense of "action", etc.). THIRTY NINE STEPS, though, seems proto-modern in contrast. The protagonist, Richard Hannay, is a middle class guy thrust out of his humdrum life by a chance encounter with adventure. How many modern thrillers start out with the same general premise?Buchan also establishes many of the modern tropes of the thriller here -- while I don't think he wrote the first "man on the run" story, his version of it is probably what has influenced most modern thriller writers. Hannay goes to ground in Scotland and we see another thing that a lot of thriller writers adopted, the "window into other cultures" (thriller as picaresque novel). Buchan is also pretty good with the action sequences, always pretty rare in books and vanishingly rare for this time period. The highlight of the book, by far, is the escape from the cellar sequence, which still reads like the wind.I could go on. (Buchan plays with the notion of "disguise" in an interesting way, for instance, and seems on some level to peg that to socioeconomic status -- Hannay confesses he's most uncomfortable with the emergent middle class, I suspect because he doesn't understand how they "fit" into his world.) The important thing is that if you're truly interested in mystery/suspense fiction, Buchan is a writer you sooner or later should read, and for it's influence and historical importance alone THIRTY NINE STEPS is a great book.All that said, this is not my favorite Buchan. This is still early in his career and he's still working some things out -- some things are presented in almost rough draft form. The climax has it's moments and in some ways is quite clever (in brings to a conclusion his ideas about "disguise", as the villains end up doing the same thing Hannay has done through the rest of the book)but it's as contrived as hell how Hannay gets there, the seams are showing here. Also, I'm still not sure I understand the villains' plot. Yes, I know, they "want war". But why? What do they hope to gain from it? And how, again, does this particular plan ensure that happening?In short, great writer, good book, generally recommendable all around and a must-read if you're a serious fan of the genre -- but he wrote better, believe me.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful. Very Enjoyable By Zara Smith I liked every bit of it but I think some of it was a bit slow. keep in mind I am an 11 year old. I would recommend it to anyone who likes murder mysteries. Especially m
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful. Too few thrills for a thriller By Karl Janssen The Thirty-Nine Steps, an espionage thriller by John Buchan, was originally published in 1915. A story of a lone man taking on a conspiracy against his country, it can be seen as a precursor to the spy novels of authors such as Ian Fleming and John Le Carré. Though it was probably ground breaking for its time, and helped to establish the template of its genre, to a 21st-century audience who has read, seen, and heard thousands of spy stories, it is hardly outstanding.Richard Hannay, a former mining engineer with some experience as an intelligence officer, has spent most of his life in South Africa. Having returned to his native Britain, Hannay finds himself bored to death in London, hoping for a diversion to rouse him from his ennui. His wish is granted in the form of Franklin P. Scudder, an American neighbor who shows up on his doorstep, asking to hide out in Hannay's apartment. Scudder has discovered a plot by anarchists to assassinate the Premier of Greece, thereby plunging Europe into chaos and war. When Scudder is murdered, Hannay realizes that the killers will be after him next. He flees London, hoping to hide out in rural Scotland, but his pursuers are hot on his trail.Though originally published as a magazine serial, The Thirty-Nine Steps is a step above run-of-the-mill pulp fiction. The subject matter could lend itself easily to sensationalization, but Buchan delivers his tale with a matter-of-factness that strengthens its believability. When describing the sinister plot that threatens the stability of the free world, however, Buchan reverts to ambiguous slang and vague clichés that leave the reader wondering exactly what the plan is that Hannay is trying to thwart. The aim of the villains seems to be to start a world war, but given that World War I was a foregone conclusion at the time the book was published, how shocking is that?Hannay's first person narrative voice is charmingly level-headed and seasoned with a fair degree of cynicism and a bit of wry wit. Though a likeable and identifiable hero, he possesses the annoying quality of being just too darn lucky. Although he seems to have a good head on his shoulders, more often than not he gets out of a jam not through the use of his wits but through the assistance of a series of benevolent strangers that miraculously appear at convenient moments, always willing to help. Though it's refreshing that Hannay is an everyman, not a superhero like so many spy story protagonists, today's reader expects a little more self-sufficiency from their espionage heroes, and wants to see their man solve his own problems.The villains are usually lurking offstage somewhere and never quite materialize distinctively enough to be satisfactorily menacing. The final chapter delivers a suspenseful scene, but squanders its thrills by finishing with an abrupt and weak ending. The Thirty-Nine Steps may have served as an important stage in the development of the spy novel, but it's a stage long since passed. In a market glutted with espionage thrillers, why settle for one that's just OK?
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