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The 39 Steps (Richard Hannay #1)

3.58 of 5 stars 3.58 · rating details · 7,436 ratings · 705 reviews

He has been feeling bored with London life - until he discovers a dead man in his flat, skewered to the floor with a knife through his heart. Only a few days before, the victim had warned him of an assassination plot that could bring the country to the brink of war.

An obvious suspect for the police and an easy target for the murderer, ordinary man Richard Hannay goes on th...more

Paperback, 100 pages

Published June 17th 2004 by William Blackwood & Sons (first published 1915)

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Apr 19, 2012 Mike Jensen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

How can a classic be so bad? Melodramatic, as expected, but Buchan piles improbability upon improbability insulting your intelligence until by the end you just want to slap him. This is an important book in that it sprung many imitators, and some claim it is the start of the spy genre. It has been filmed three times, adapted for radio and television, inspired the chase film genre, and certainly it gave Alfred Hitchcock his basic subject. Buchan was a political man, and he uses the book for a lit...more

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Jun 18, 2011 Hope rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, british, thrillers, 2011-reads, reviewed

"Contrary to general belief, I was not a murderer, but I had become an unholy liar, a shameless imposter, and a highwayman with a marked taste for expensive motor-cars."

Richard Hannay's life is boring. At the beginning of this novel, the hero of this story is "pretty well disgusted with life" and wishes for any kind of excitement to get him out of the humdrum "ditch" he feels he's currently stuck in. Enter a man named Scudder, an American (yay!) journalist, who's gathered a little too much info...more

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Jun 30, 2011 Shovelmonkey1 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who likes tweed and boys own adventure stories

Recommended to Shovelmonkey1 by: 1001 books list

Shelves: 1001-books, bookcrossing-books, read-in-2011

Blink and you might miss this 1001 book listed novella which weighs in at around 100 pages. The Thirty-Nine steps was the book which spawned Richard Hannay, gallant man-about-town, colonial adventurer and official holder of the title, "Man with the stiffest upper lip in the British Empire", that is of course until James Bond exploded off the page in a miasma of cigarette smoke and dinner jackets in 1953.

Hannay sets the pace for the spy-thriller-action-adventure-life-and-limb genre which has sinc...more Blink and you might miss this 1001 book listed novella which weighs in at around 100 pages. The Thirty-Nine steps was the book which spawned Richard Hannay, gallant man-about-town, colonial adventurer and official holder of the title, "Man with the stiffest upper lip in the British Empire", that is of course until James Bond exploded off the page in a miasma of cigarette smoke and dinner jackets in 1953.

Hannay sets the pace for the spy-thriller-action-adventure-life-and-limb genre which has since given us the Bournes and Bonds which abound on our cinema screens and he does it with a very British pre-war aplomb. Returning from the colonies with gold in his pocket and time to kill, Hannay is fervently hoping for some kind of adventure and is itching for a scrap. Having discovered a rather conspicuous and inconveniently placed dead man kebab skewered to the floor of his apartment he heads off to the Scottish highlands (Bond would have chosen the Bahamas for sure) in a bid to unravel a convoluted trail of European espionage and dastardly doings, all the while cunningly evading the mysterious "Black Stone" (those damnable Gerrys) and the accompanying evil henchmen. Quickly adapting to his role as a master of disguise, Hannay completes more changes of wardrobe than Lady Gaga on tour and constantly outwits his feckless foes only to return to London and find out that Black Stone have already infiltrated the British defences at the highest level. Once again Hannay swings into action without thought for his own personal safety and without even pausing to curse the gang of bumbling old giffers who failed to spot a ringer in their midst.

The book ends somewhat abruptly - stiff upper lips always triumphing over early 20th century continental mendacity (see Childers, Fleming and the like for confirmation that this is true) - and may have a sequel (somewhat remiss of me but I didn't check up on that before embarking on this review). Personally I like to think that Hannay ended his days sitting in a gentlemen's club somewhere having a snifter of whiskey while comparing daring escapades with other old colonial hands like Allan Quartermain, Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnahan.(less)

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Jun 04, 2008 Jason Pettus rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classic, early-modernism, smart-nerdy, mystery-crime

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

Well well, so once again it's time for another edition of "Book Versus Movie," a concept I frankly ripped off from the Onion AV Club, in which I both read a book and see the movie based on that book in the same week, and end up writing mini-reviews of both at the same time. (Don't bother looking for...more

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Aug 28, 2007 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2007

Thanks to the extremely cheap "Penguin Classics" series, this summer I've had a chance to catch up on a heap of books I might not otherwise have read. In the spy-thriller genre, there was Erskine Childers' "Riddle of the Sands", and this book by John Buchan.

Of course, I'd seen the Hitchcock film, but didn't really remember much of it. Someone posted a question, wondering if the book matches the excellence of the movie. In a word: "absolutely". I read the first chapter several weeks ago, then put...more

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Apr 13, 2009 Richard marked it as to-read

Recommended to Richard by: Christopher Booker's "Seven Basic Plots"

Shelves: classic, espionage, fiction

(Apparently considered among the first "spy" novels, and the basis for the movie of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock. I was led to John Buchan by a footnote in Christopher Booker's The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories (p. 317) in which he claims "Buchan was one of the few modern fiction writers Tolkien admired.")

Note: available online here, and on Goodreads as a downloadable TXT ebook. Copyright has expired for works published before 1923.

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Feb 27, 2010 Lobstergirl rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Donna Brazile

Shelves: own, covers, fiction

I didn't enjoy this as much as The Island of Sheep, the fourth Richard Hannay adventure, but it was still entertaining, in that ridiculous Buchan way. Hannay is back in England, bored off his gourd after an adventure-filled stint in Rhodesia. He's determined to leave the country unless excitement comes back into his life, whereupon a frightened chap named Scudder involves him in a tale of intrigue, mayhem, spying, lots of wanderings through the heather and the moors, and multiple disguises, as a...more

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Mar 09, 2010 Werner rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of adventure stories; fans of espionage/intrigue-type plots

Shelves: adventure-fiction, classics, espionage

The above description (which I wrote --it didn't have one before, only an unilluminating, seemingly random quotation from the book) gives you a one-sentence idea of the type of book this is, and the setting/milieu. Like his protagonist, Richard Hannay (who appears in other Buchan works as well), the author had spent considerable time in southern Africa, and led an adventurous life. Novels of espionage in 1915 were in their infancy; but the outbreak of World War I, and the climate of intrigue tha...more The above description (which I wrote --it didn't have one before, only an unilluminating, seemingly random quotation from the book) gives you a one-sentence idea of the type of book this is, and the setting/milieu. Like his protagonist, Richard Hannay (who appears in other Buchan works as well), the author had spent considerable time in southern Africa, and led an adventurous life. Novels of espionage in 1915 were in their infancy; but the outbreak of World War I, and the climate of intrigue that led up to it, undoubtedly inspired such a tale and lent a creditable context for it. Buchan definitely influenced later practitioners of the genre (which is why not all of his plot devices strike the reader as freshly as they would have in 1915).

Lately returned to England from Africa, and at loose ends, Hannay is appealed to for help and shelter by a fellow lodger, an American ex- journalist who fears for his life, and who spins a tale of an impending assassination of a Balkan political figure which will plunge Europe into war. (Sound familiar? :-)) When the fellow's dead body turns up in Hannay's living room. pinned to the floor by a knife, our hero is forced to flee both from the killers and from the police, who suspect him of the murder. But the victim (whose notebook, written in cipher, is now in Hannay's possession) was lucky in his choice of an ally; a former Boer War intelligence officer and veteran of other African adventures, he's a man with considerable pluck and savvy, and resolved to foil the nefarious plot. But can he? This tale of escape and pursuit, disguises and codes, danger and duplicity will answer that question. :-)

Buchan's characterizations aren't deep here, nor his writing profound philosophically; the book doesn't purport to be anything but a really good, rousing adventure yarn. But it is that. The short length precludes much development of plot, characters, settings, atmosphere, etc; but it does guarantee a quick narrative pace that precludes any boredom. Hannay is really inventive in getting out of his various jeopardies, and the reader easily roots for him. One Goodreads reviewer complained of problems of credibility in virtually all of the plot. In a few places, Buchan does resort to coincidence with more convenience than the laws of probability would probably justify (though not to the degree that his contemporary, Edgar Rice Burroughs, often did.) In the main, though, I didn't find credibility a big problem. I think the other reviewer probably felt the readiness of characters in the book to confide, at times, in total strangers was unrealistic, but I didn't --in the first place, the despair of a life-and-death situation makes anybody pretty willing to grab at a straw; but more importantly, this was written in 1915, in a world that cynical moderns usually can't begin to comprehend. Men of the stamp of Hannay and other characters actually were socialized to hold ideals of patriotism, duty and responsibility, decency and fair play; they took it for granted (and could safely take it for granted) that these were the kinds of attitudes "gentlemen" could be expected to not only believe in, but act on if necessary. (The same goes for the automatic extension of hospitality by Highlanders to strangers, without desire for payment, in 1915 --though I doubt if a similar degree of generosity would be as apt to be shown today.) And the psychology of the climactic hurdle near the end actually rang perfectly true for me.

For the most part, I didn't have a problem with the early 20th-century British colloquial vocabulary; even if I didn't understand some terms, I could usually get a rough idea of what was meant from the context. My biggest complaint --and it wasn't very noticeable here, but cropped up occasionally-- was the ignorant and unconscious racism implied in the use of a phrase like "You're a white man" as a compliment, and the ethnic prejudice that can refer to a Greek as a "Dago" and that lurks in some of the characters' comments about Jews. But in this respect Buchan's characters (and probably Buchan) were children of their time.(less)

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Jun 10, 2007 Alison rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone

Shelves: guardians100greatest

I have know idea why I picked this book to read. I heard somewhere that it was the original spy novel...in the same family as the James Bond or Jason Bourne series. And I had heard of the Hitchock movie.

I really enjoyed this short little read. It packs a punch. It tells the story of a man in England who has a visitor one night that claims to know about a secret mission to kill a Greek diplomat and launch England into the War. When the man is killed, Richard Hannay (the character's name...there a...more

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Apr 06, 2011 Asa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books, mystery

This was fun, like the adventure stories I read when I was younger, or like an Enid Blyton book with a grown-up hero. I also can't help comparing it to The Riddle of the Sands, which also involves an ordinary Englishman somehow learning that Germany has secret plans to start a war with Britain, and how he is the only person that can find out more and foil those plans. It was a bit more believable in The riddle of the sands, because in this book everything came too easily to Richard Hannay, the h...more

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Feb 15, 2011 Elliott rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My review of "The Thirty-nine Steps" and "The Man in the Queue" as a Good Cop-Bad Cop scene (incorporates review of "The Man in the Queue").

Good Cop: Ms. Tey, it's clearly evident that your book borrowed heavily from Lord Tweedsmuir's. Why don't you just make it easy on yourself and tell us the truth?

Bad Cop: Where did you get some of those plot details, Tey! ANSWER THE QUESTION!

(see review of "The Man in the Queue")

Good Cop: I guess she ain't sayin' nothin'.

Bad Cop slowly puts on black finger...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Sean rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2011, 20th-century, espionage

This early 20th century novel was probably more of an exciting read when it was first released before the "wrong man" thriller genre had become fairly well documented in many Alfred Hitchock films such as Saboteur, North by Northwest, and the film adatation of this book. Nevertheless, it was a short well written story that makes me want to read the rest of the novels in the Richard Hanney series. Next on my list is Greenmantle (Hanney #2) which supposedly Hitchcock thought was a superior story.

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Jan 22, 2013 Charlotte rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: authors-male, classics, crime, journeys, other-cultures, overcoming-obstacles, social-commentary

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 29, 2011 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, the-classics

A fantastic modern classic. The novel that really spawned the spy genre and was the inspiration for James Bond. The hero, Richard Hannay is of Scots background and lived in South Africa until returning to England after making his fortune. One night he finds himself enmeshed in a plot of international significance which involves German spy rings poised to assasinate the Greek statesman Koralides and steal British military plans, effectively starting World War I. After Hannay finds his informant d...more A fantastic modern classic. The novel that really spawned the spy genre and was the inspiration for James Bond. The hero, Richard Hannay is of Scots background and lived in South Africa until returning to England after making his fortune. One night he finds himself enmeshed in a plot of international significance which involves German spy rings poised to assasinate the Greek statesman Koralides and steal British military plans, effectively starting World War I. After Hannay finds his informant dead with a knife through his heart he flees London to the countryside to hide from the gang who no doubt plan to kill him to ensure he doesn't disrupt their plans. There begins an epic chase through the countryside with Hannay relying on his speed, hunting experience, strength, wits and daring to evade capture and bring the matter to the attention of the British authorities. Although he is often saved by marvelous pieces of good fortune, none of these, on their own are too unbelievable. He impersonates road repairmen, steals expensive cars and plays hide and seek in the woods with his pursuers. He eventually wins through, alterts the government and is instrumental in capturing the spies operating out of England. The first World War cannot be prevented and the novel ends with Hannay going into the army as an officer, but thanks to him, Britian now has a sporting chance in the war.

Simply but well written and the author does a wonderful job of bringing out Hannay's human qualities, a feat which often proves difficult with such great literary heroes. Unlike James Bond, Hannay is a warm hearted, likeable, simple chap who isn't armed with a slew of gagets to get him out of trouble. Another interesting quirk, is that Hannay is almost always hungry, James Bond never thinks much of food but then again he doesnt spend days in the wilderness being hunted. Hannay is also very human. He gets scared, when he's angry he does the occassional stupid deed like punch people, but his creed is a good one: no matter how hopeless a situation seems, a human being is never beaten until they're dead. 3.5 stars. (less)

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Jun 20, 2010 Chad rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

"The 39 Steps" is like literary cotton candy. Its cheap and easy and tangible when you acquire it, but has a funny habit of disolving before the process of consumption is even over with. But during that briefest moment when you're first taking it in, and for the few seconds afterwards when the aftertaste lingers, the sweetness is something easily savored, and might even bring you back for more.

The story goes that British soldiers fighting in the trenches during the Great World War loved Buchan's...more "The 39 Steps" is like literary cotton candy. Its cheap and easy and tangible when you acquire it, but has a funny habit of disolving before the process of consumption is even over with. But during that briefest moment when you're first taking it in, and for the few seconds afterwards when the aftertaste lingers, the sweetness is something easily savored, and might even bring you back for more.

The story goes that British soldiers fighting in the trenches during the Great World War loved Buchan's wisp of a novel, and its easy to understand why. In the midst of such stress and horror, the low-anxiety adventures of an everyman like Richard Hannay was a welcome respite. Sure, he was on the run and tangled up in an international conpsiracy and ducking evil henchmen at every turn. But any alleged danger was mere illusion. You could set your watch to the convenient arrivals of helpful townspeople, the sudden realizations by Mr. Hannay of various useful skills he learned in the Boer war that are perfect for whatever meddlesome situation he finds himself in, or the clockwork manner in which every single person he meets can apparently see into his soul and deem him trustworthy in the space of an eyeblink. The novel flies by thanks to Buchan's liberal use of these story-telling shortcuts, which somehow manage to be eye-rollingly silly, while also helping build an addictive momentum that keeps you hooked through the next chapter and the next and the next...

Its fun and sort of exotic to watch Hannay romp all over the Scottish countryside and through the streets of London. Its creepy to constantly be looking over his shoulder for that pesky bi-plane. Its absurd that the upper echelon of the British military would claim that only five people in the entire world know the details of their plans, then promptly spell the entire plan out to Hannay who basically just walked in off the street and has been wanted for murder for the last two weeks.

Its a dizzying whirlwind of action, nonsense, thrills, paranoia, and total ridiculousness. And its fun.

There are apparently five 'Richard Hannay' novels. I can't honestly say I have any great urge to read any of the others, but if were ever to stumble over one of the other four in a Half Price Books for 50 cents, I can see myself tossing it onto my stack and reading it on an airline flight or while I'm waiting in the trenches for the Germans to make their move across No-Mans-Land, hoping that maybe some of Richard Hannay's absurdly stupid luck will rub off on me.(less)

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Apr 27, 2010 Greg rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: scotland

Richard Hannay, retired mining engineer, newly returned from Rhodesia (where he has mostly been since the age of six), is really too young not to have anything to do besides read the papers at his club and spend all night at frivolous entertainments. He really needs to have the police and a nefarious cabal (who for reasons of their own would like to see a war between the European powers) chasing him over the moors, glens, bens and burns of Scotland, with the fate of the entire British Empire dep...more

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May 05, 2008 Jessica marked it as started-but-could-not-finish Recommends it for: No one

Recommended to Jessica by: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

I gave this one a try. I got about a third into it, and just completely lost interest.

A young man in search of adventure and excitement is approached by a neighbor and told of this secret plot to kill the Greek head-of-state. He is basically so bored with his life that he agrees to get involved. When his neighbor dies, he hits the road in the search of the bad guys and a solution.

I did not find the main character like. He is a rich and spoiled man who has nothing better to do than complain. When...more

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Nov 27, 2011 Ben Loory rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

a fun thriller, very readable (1915!?), also very different from the hitchcock film it inspired (there's no "handcuffed to the pretty girl" subplot, and the mr. memory character is absent). not much compared to the stuff it inspired, though... mostly it just made me want to read geoffrey household's Rogue Male again... or, even better, watch north by northwest...

good thing the guy was so much smarter than his pursuers, or he might have had a hard time...

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Mar 26, 2012 Jan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries

This 1915 spy thriller was a short, fast read I picked up because I remembered Alfred Hitchcock directed a popular film based on it. Apparently the film departs widely from the book. Now will have to watch the movie!
update 3-26-12: Finally got to see the 2008 version of the movie which aired last night on Masterpiece Theater (not the Hitchcock one). Both the book and the movie were entertaining, but you do have to suspend belief in reality for the duration of both. The movies differ from the boo...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Marc Maitland added it · review of another edition

Despite having seen at least three screen versions of this, I had not read Buchan's book until this week. It is certainly a gripping tale, every bit as tense (and topical) as the screen versions, and a jolly good read. Hardly a very long novel, Buchan's pithy (but detailed in vivid description of geographical features) text is something from which some of today's 600+ page novellists could take note! I sometimes think, when reading some more contemporary authors that they are being paid by the p...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Danielle Lentz added it

I loved it when I read it years ago and I thoroughly enjoyed it again-however in re-reading the book I realized how different the play and the movie are from the book, but nonetheless both are very good! It is a really good spy story where the main character meets very interesting people who help or hinder him along the way. I wonder though did Buchnan have a foreboding over the coming World Wars? He must have been a very keen and astute political watcher-especially of what was going on in Europ...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Christian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Thirty-Nine Steps is the considered to be the first spy story, but only a Sith speaks in absolutes. The nature of what was the first of any genre is debated and disagreed upon to no end, so let us merely say that this is a very early novelette in the Spy Genre. Do not expect James Bond from this story though, it resembles a Hitchcock film far more (Hitchcock even adapted it once).

The story is fairly simple; A man stumbles across a conspiracy, runs away to the Scottish countryside and procee...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Virtuella rated it 1 of 5 stars

Okay, so I knew this was the novel that started the spy/thriller genre, so I didn't expect psychological depth or philosophical insight. However, I think I was justified in expecting action, suspense, daring escapes, astonishing chases, amazing twists and turns. Instead, this: Man harbours a spy in his flat, spy gets murdered. Man fears for his life, dresses up as milkman, takes a train to Scotland. In Scotland, he dresses up as a shepherd, scampers about the hills, meets a few people who help h...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Ursula rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, 1001-books, fiction

After a brief introduction to our main character, Richard Hannay, who is living in London but considering returning to South Africa due to boredom, we are thrust immediately into the plot by the arrival of a strange man with an even stranger tale. The man, Scudder, tells Hannay about a political plot that is underway and which he is trying to thwart. Scudder has faked his own death to escape his pursuers, who are going to commit a political assassination. Hannay is fascinated with the story, whi...more

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Jan 12, 2013 Teresa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks, 2013, insane-reading-challenge

First book for the Insane Challenge read and out of the way. I've been wanting to read this for ages, I have fond memories of the TV series and the film and wanted to read the book they were based on.

The story is set just before World War I and Richard Hannay has recently arrived in London after having spent most of his life in South Africa and making his fortune there. London is not living up to his expectations and he is becoming bored. He befriends a neighbour who turns out to be a spy. This...more

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Nov 16, 2012 Bill Keefe rated it 3 of 5 stars

I learned of this book from the Introduction to "Rogue Male." Having read one of the genre, I was interested in reading another, and this was rated as perhaps the better book. In fact, it was. Like "Rogue Male" this book was first and foremost a page turner, a step-by-step thriller, a 111 page chase scene, a familiar movie plot. The story holds together well and moves along at a brisk clip. Fortuitous - almost miraculously fortunate - meetings with saviors and angels of mercy, on-the-spot physic...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Lamb Chop rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

When I was growing up my father took us to every James Bond movie as soon as it hit the theaters. For my parents, there was the fast paced, espionage themed, exotic entertainment. I’m a kid, so I just liked going to the movies and getting white paper sacks of orange sweeties to eat during the film. 39 Steps by John Buchan has been described as one of the earlier examples of the ‘man-on-the-run’ thriller.

The main character is Richard Hannay. Early in the book he meets a man who shares an extraord...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Dfordoom rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: spy-fiction

The Thirty-Nine Steps, published in 1915, was the first of Scottish novelist John Buchan’s five Richard Hannay espionage novels.

Buchan produced both fiction and non-fiction and wrote in a variety of genres including some excellent horror stories and even what could be described as a paranormal adventure novel (The Gap in the Curtain). Buchan was also a successful politician and ended his career as governor-General of Canada (as Lord Tweedsmuir).

But it is for the Richard Hannay novels that he is...more The Thirty-Nine Steps, published in 1915, was the first of Scottish novelist John Buchan’s five Richard Hannay espionage novels.

Buchan produced both fiction and non-fiction and wrote in a variety of genres including some excellent horror stories and even what could be described as a paranormal adventure novel (The Gap in the Curtain). Buchan was also a successful politician and ended his career as governor-General of Canada (as Lord Tweedsmuir).

But it is for the Richard Hannay novels that he is now best remembered.

The Thirty-Nine Steps is a classic chase story. South African Richard Hannay is bored by life in London but he is about to get more adventure than he’s bargained for when he meets the mysterious Scudder. Scudder is an intelligence agent and his story about the assassination of a Balkan political leader seems fantastic to Hannay. Then Scudder is killed by enemy agents and Hannay finds himself in possession of a secret that could cost him his life.

Being uncomfortable with city life at the best of times he decides he would have a better chance of survival in some wild place where his experiences on the veldt would stand him in good stead. So he heads off in the direction of the Scottish Highlands. He is on the run not only from the German spy network but also from the police, being a suspect in the murder of Scudder.

While evading capture Hannay also has to puzzle out the full meaning of the conspiracy uncovered by Scudder, and it goes far beyond anything he originally imagined. It is nothing less than a plan for destroying the British fleet on the outbreak of war. But what is the meaning of the thirty-nine steps that keep getting mentioned in Scudder’s notebooks? And how can Hannay, a mere civilian, convince the British government of the truth of this amazing story? He will need evidence. So while Hannay is the hunted he is about to turn hunter.

Hitchcock’s classic 1935 film version is the best-known of the several movie adaptations of this novel. The plot of the 1935 movie differs quite markedly from the plot of the book. In the book the thirty-nine steps is not a mere McGuffin as in the film (a McGuffin being something of no importance in itself except insofar as both the heroes and the villains happen to be seeking it). In the book the thirty-nine steps are crucially important and the espionage conspiracy takes centre stage (while the movie is essentially just a chase movie, albeit one of the greatest such movies ever made).

Richard Hannay is one of the great fictional spy heroes, a rather taciturn but very determined character who is driven by both patriotism and a thirst for adventure.

Buchan’s novel is a classic of the spy genre and is a must-read for any spy fan.(less)

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Feb 15, 2012 Susan Ferguson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, 2012

A marvelous spy story. Just reread for the 3rd or 4th time. I think it is one of the first thrillers written.
Richard Hannay has come home from living in South Africa since he was six. He is totally bored with London and considering going back to South Africa if London doesn't produce some excitement. That night he founds a neighbor from another floor at his elbow when he prepares to enter his apartment. Scudder, as he calls himself, is afraid for his life and looking for a place to stay safe. Pe...more

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Feb 02, 2012 Prasad Kulkarni rated it 2 of 5 stars

I came across this book from a list of “BBC Top 100” books. Somehow I felt like reading the book and I started the process.
Let me tell you in the beginning only. The book isn’t “that” fascinating, but still you can go and read for it has some nice old school English phrases and speech techniques. The book is a little fast at some point and a bit too much sluggish at the other. But it still catches your interest and you go on reading it. There is mention of some places in Early London. And if you...more I came across this book from a list of “BBC Top 100” books. Somehow I felt like reading the book and I started the process.
Let me tell you in the beginning only. The book isn’t “that” fascinating, but still you can go and read for it has some nice old school English phrases and speech techniques. The book is a little fast at some point and a bit too much sluggish at the other. But it still catches your interest and you go on reading it. There is mention of some places in Early London. And if you are not aware of the different places (as I was not while reading it) you might find yourself lost in some paragraphs. But that doesn’t mean the writer should not choose the unknown places. What I feel is the writer wasn’t able to take the readers to the places he is describing in the book (at least he wasn’t able to take me there).

The story is a suspense story and revolves around one character – the protagonist, Mr. Hannay, who is pretty bored of his normal, dull routine and feels there should be some adventure in his life. One fine day, he finds himself amidst the life threatening adventure. A spy comes to his home (why, I don’t know. Why he chose Mr. Hannay is something I too couldn’t figure out) having some information that Karolides will be killed. The spy dies after some days and his adventure begins.

The running away from his home, being sought after fugitive and trying to find the solution while saving his own life – this is what the storyline is like. The book takes speed at some point and lags somewhere. But some of the incidents explained are really good and with nice twists.

But let me tell you frankly, if you are accustomed to read the suspense stories from the likes of Sidney Sheldon or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, then this suspense story will be a bit disappointing for you. Because these two people have upped the standards of twists and suspense so much that this story might seem to you like a normal one and you might say at the end, “Good Try at suspense story writing”.
At least that’s what I said 
(less)

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About John Buchan

John Buchan (1st Baron Tweedsmuir) was a British novelist and public servant who combined a successful career as an author of thrillers, historical novels, histories and biographies with a parallel career in public life. At the time of his death he was Governor-General of Canada.

Buchan was born in Scotland and educated at Glasgow and Oxford Universities. After a brief career in law he went to Sou...more John Buchan (1st Baron Tweedsmuir) was a British novelist and public servant who combined a successful career as an author of thrillers, historical novels, histories and biographies with a parallel career in public life. At the time of his death he was Governor-General of Canada.

Buchan was born in Scotland and educated at Glasgow and Oxford Universities. After a brief career in law he went to South Africa in 1902 where he contributed to the reconstruction of the country following the Boer War. His love for South Africa is a recurring theme in his fiction.

On returning to Britain, Buchan built a successful career in publishing with Nelsons and Reuters. During the first world war, he was Director of Information in the British government. He wrote a twenty-four volume history of the war, which was later abridged.

Alongside his busy public life, Buchan wrote superb action novels, including the spy-catching adventures of Richard Hannay, whose exploits are described in The Thirty-Nine Steps, Greenmantle, Mr. Standfast, The Three Hostages, and The Island of Sheep.

Apart from Hannay, Buchan created two other leading characters in Dickson McCunn, the shrewd retired grocer who appears in Huntingtower, Castle Gay, and The House of the Four Winds; and the lawyer Sir Edward Leithen, who features in the The Power-House, John Macnab, The Dancing Floor, The Gap in the Curtain and Sick Heart River.

From 1927 to 1935 Buchan was Conservative M.P. for the Scottish Universities, and in 1935, on his appointment as Governor-General to Canada, he was made a peer, taking the title Baron Tweedsmuir. During these years he was still productive as a writer, and published notable historical biographies, such as Montrose, Sir Walter Scott, and Cromwell.

When he died in 1940, the world lost a fine statesman and story-teller.

The John Buchan Society was founded in 1979 to encourage continuing interest in his life, works and legacy. Visit the website (http://www.johnbuchansociety.co.uk) and follow the Society on Twitter (www.twitter.com/johnbuchansoc) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/johnbuchansociety).

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Buchan

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.(less)

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“I am an ordinary sort of fellow, not braver than other people, but I hate to see a good man downed, and that long knife would not be the end of Scudder if I could play the game in his place.” — 9 people liked it

“It struck me that Albania was the sort of place that might keep a man from yawning.” — 5 people liked it

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The 39 Steps (Richard Hannay #1)

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