The Thirty-Nine Steps

by

Hardcover, 136 pages

English language

Published Nov. 2, 2006 by 1st World Library - Literary Society.

OCLC Number:
164606691

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(2 reviews)

Richard Hannay has just returned to England after years in South Africa and is thoroughly bored with his life in London. But then a murder is committed in his flat, just days after a chance encounter with an American who had told him about an assassination plot which could have dire international consequences. An obvious suspect for the police and an easy target for the killers, Hannay goes on the run in his native Scotland where he will need all his courage and ingenuity to stay one step ahead of his pursuers.

58 editions

reviewed The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan

Review of 'The Thirty-nine Steps' on 'Goodreads'

While the plot is a bit repetative (a big chunk of the book is the main character on the run, but with a new unlikely helper in each chapter), the language of the book makes up for it. Because of later parodies, it's hard to take this kind of "jolly" British seriously today, but it makes the book a delight to read. I did not even know that Hitchcock had made a film adaptation of this book, but it makes sense as this is the kind of "man on the run"-thriller he was famous for. And despite being an early example of one, it's often quite thrilling (obviously due to it being published in a serialized form).

reviewed The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan

Review of 'The Thirty-nine Steps' on 'Goodreads'

While the plot is a bit repetative (a big chunk of the book is the main character on the run, but with a new unlikely helper in each chapter), the language of the book makes up for it. Because of later parodies, it's hard to take this kind of "jolly" British seriously today, but it makes the book a delight to read. I did not even know that Hitchcock had made a film adaptation of this book, but it makes sense as this is the kind of "man on the run"-thriller he was famous for. And despite being an early example of one, it's often quite thrilling (obviously due to it being published in a serialized form).

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