The Strange Adventures of Mr Andrew Hawthorn

by John Buchan, Giles Foden (Editor)

A new selection of short stories by "the prince of thriller writers" ( The Times , London)

The short stories of John Buchan are known for their authentically rendered backgrounds, taut pacing, and atmosphere of expectancy and international intrigue. These diverse tales combine Buchan's remarkable experiences and interests as a traveler, war correspondent, politician, and classical scholar. Edited by acclaimed author Giles Foden, this selection features the World War I thriller "The Loathly Opposite," the frequently anthologized "Sing a Song of Sixpence," and "Streams of Water in the South," one of Buchan's personal favorites. Addressing such themes as human frailty, strength, and redemption, the stories testify to Buchan's worldview that mastery of oneself leads to the fulfillment of one's destiny.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Genres: Short Stories, British Literature, 20th Century, Classics, Fiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1932

About the author

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

John Buchan was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation.
As a youth, Buchan began writing poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction, publishing his first novel in 1895 and ultimately writing over a hundred books of which the best known is The Thirty-Nine Steps. After attending Glasgow and Oxford universities, he practised as a barrister. In 1901, he served as a private secretary to Lord Milner in southern Africa towards the end of the Boer War. He returned to England in 1903, continued as a barrister and journalist. He left the Bar when he joined Thomas Nelson and Sons publishers in 1907. During the First World War, he was, among other activities, Director of Information in 1917 and later Head of Intelligence at the newly-formed Ministry of Information. He was elected Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities in 1927.
In 1935, King George V, on the advice of Canadian Prime Minister R. B. Bennett, appointed Buchan to succeed the Earl of Bessborough as Governor General of Canada and two months later raised him to the peerage as 1st Baron Tweedsmuir. He occupied the post until his death in 1940. Buchan promoted Canadian unity and helped strengthen the sovereignty of Canada constitutionally and culturally. He received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom.

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.64⭐

Introduction • essay by Giles Foden 4⭐
A Captain of Salvation • (1896) 3⭐
A Journey of Little Profit • (1896) 4⭐
Politics and the May-Fly • (1899) 3⭐
Streams of Water in the South • (1899) 4⭐
The Watcher by the Threshold • (1900) 4.5⭐
The Grove of Ashtaroth • (1910) 3.25⭐
Space • (1911) 3.5⭐
'Divus' Johnston • (1913) 3.5⭐
Basilissa • (1914) 3⭐
Fullcircle • (1920) 3⭐
The Loathly Opposite • (1927) 4.25⭐
Ship to Tarshish • (1927) 3.5⭐
Tendebant Manus • (1927) 3.5⭐
The Last Crusade • (1928) 4⭐
Sing a Song of Sixpence • (1928) 4.25⭐
The Wind in the Portico • (1928) 4⭐
The Strange Adventures of Mr. Andrew Hawthorn • (1932) 3.25⭐

[Rhys · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took me the best part of a year to finish. I enjoyed each story as a separate unit, but they never instilled in me a desire to proceed immediately to the next one in the book, so there were usually long gaps between each one. Buchan's prose is muscular and old-fashioned and his imperialistic attitudes are frequently laughable by modern standards, but his heart is in the right place. He values the old virtues of courage, honour, truthfulness and decency, and he's good at portraying inner emotional conflict as the basis of morality; a conflict often mirrored by the situations the characters find themselves in. The stand-out stories for me were 'Basilissa', 'Ship to Tarshish', 'Sing a Song of Sixpence' and the wonderful 'The Wind in the Portico'; this last story in particular is a superb example of an heroic supernatural tale. Another story called 'Fountainblue' also had a strong effect on me despite its somewhat disjointed nature primarily because of the atmosphere created by the description of the storm at sea.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buchan's haunting tales query the boundaries between the spiritual and material life, paganism and Protestantism.

[Jeff Hobbs]

Read so far:

A captain of salvation --
A journey of little profit --
Politics and the May-Fly --
Streams of water in the south --
*The watcher by the threshold --
Fountainblue --
The grove of Ashtaroth --2
Space --2
'Divus' Johnston --
*Basilissa --
*Fullcircle --
The loathly opposite --3
Ship to Tarshish --
Tendebant Manus --
The last crusade --
Sing a song of sixpence --2
*The wind in the portico --
The strange adventures of Mr. Andrew Hawthorn--
***
At the article of death
The company of the Marjolaine--2
Dr. Lartius
The far islands
The king of Ypres--4
The kings of Orion--2
The lit chamber
No man's land
The outgoing of the tide
The rime of True Thomas
Skule Skerry --

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my brain-candy. Here Buchan, circa 1915, explores the Scots highlands with whimsy and respect but plenty of wryness too. I love this stuff. Perhaps iot was low literature in its day, but the diction and character depth insight are a cut above by modern standards, saezzzz aiye.

[ren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Buchan's is not a style of writing that I connect to - I have put this one back on the shelf for the time being.