The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

This thread is for spoiler comments on The 39 Steps by John Buchan. Enjoy.

This was my review(s) of the book. It was one of my initial thoughts and then my most recent look at the book.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I posted a bunch of comments in the other comment section for this book. I guess I should have saved them for this thread. I really enjoyed this one (so much so that I read it in a few hours). I'm glad it won and finally got the chance to read it. This was has everything in it as a thriller/adventure/mystery. I'll post more comments after I think about it a little more. Quite engaging adventure and yarn. I'll definitely pursue the next in the series. I'm going to watch the film tonight and do some comparing.

Franky wrote: "I posted a bunch of comments in the other comment section for this book. I guess I should have saved them for this thread. I really enjoyed this one (so much so that I read it in a few hours). I'm ..."

Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Franky. I've found all of the books enjoyable so far, just reading The Three Hostages. They are, as you describe, entertaining thrillers / adventures / mysteries.

I don't think I've read a pre-WWI spy story before. Buchan was obviously influenced by Arthur Conan Doyle, and this book read a lot like the Sherlock Holmes novels, although the plots aren't necessarily much alike. This story was a an early example of the fugitive-style "man on the run" thrillers that still exist today. It was ironic that I read it in tandem with Nightfall by David Goodis, another example of a man on the run story. In fact, Goodis' novel Dark Passage was eventually used as the basis for the TV show (later the movie) The Fugitive, and the resulting copyright violation case is still used as a landmark case, despite having been settled for only $12,000.

Back to this one. The plot was a little bit jumpy at times, which seemed to have been common for stories written in this period since they were usually serialized in the magazines of the time. Even the chapter titles "The Adventure of..." reminded my of the Sherlock Holmes stories, and of course near the end Hannay pulls off some Sherlockian deductions to figure out the location of the 39 steps.

I'm glad to have read it, and I plan to continue the Richard Hannay series. They appear to have been collected in one convenient volume, so I think I'll pick that up with the gift card I got for Father's Day.

RJ wrote: "I don't think I've read a pre-WWI spy story before. Buchan was obviously influenced by Arthur Conan Doyle, and this book read a lot like the Sherlock Holmes novels, although the plots aren't necess..."

Glad you enjoyed it, RJ. It's definitely not perfect. It being my first Hannay / Buchan story and also because of the original movie, I like this one more than some of the others. Greenmantle was interesting and I really enjoyed The Three Hostages. I'll be interested in your thoughts as you read more of Buchan's work.

As to pre-World War I spy novels, you might like to try The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers.

Thanks Bill. I'm definitely looking around for a second-hand copy of The Riddle of the Sands, or I might just get a new copy if I find one cheap enough.

I'm a little sad that 39 Steps didn't attract more readers in our group. It was a fun quick read.

RJ wrote: "Thanks Bill. I'm definitely looking around for a second-hand copy of The Riddle of the Sands, or I might just get a new copy if I find one cheap enough.

I'm a little sad that 39 Steps didn't attr..."

Me too..

RJ wrote: "Thanks Bill. I'm definitely looking around for a second-hand copy of The Riddle of the Sands, or I might just get a new copy if I find one cheap enough.

I'm a little sad that 39 Steps didn't attr..."

Same here. It was definitely a fun story and I can see why it would have spawned and inspired so many other spy/espionage/man on the run kind of thrillers later.

I went on to watch the Hitchcock film. It has its own charm but it was fairly different from the book, in my opinion. They left out the character of Scudder and his notebook, which I thought was a key element of the novel in Hanney's mission. In the book, we get more into the head of Hanney and why he taking a certain course of action, but the film is more just action. Plus the significance of the title of the book is more apparent in the novel.

Still, both film and book are good in their own way.

Franky wrote: "RJ wrote: "Thanks Bill. I'm definitely looking around for a second-hand copy of The Riddle of the Sands, or I might just get a new copy if I find one cheap enough.

I'm a little sad that 39 Steps ..."

The book also added the heroine who doesn't feature in the book.. unless I'm wrong. It's not a complex story, but as you say, I can see how it spawned future stories of the adventure / spy thriller ilk. There was at least one other film version, the most recent was quite bad as I recall.

It's nice to have a really short, fast-read once in a while. I blasted through most of this today and it was just plain fun to dive into and finish off.
It's been a long time since I've seen any of the movie versions (I think I've seen 3) so the story details were almost all new to me. But even with my vague memory I was surprised, and pleased, with how different the book is to the memories I have of the movies. I particularly liked the last chapter and Hannay's inner struggles with being sure and then being duped and then being sure that he was actually trailing/in-the-presence-of the villains. I appreciated the explanations of his confusion too, having many times been the one unrecognized when encountered in a different setting--and that's without even trying to fool anyone. Some just have that knack of being able to hide in plain sight.
As Greenmantle is also in the edition that I've checked out from the library, I'll probably read that one too. Thanks again for the prompt, it was fun.

Sara wrote: "It's nice to have a really short, fast-read once in a while. I blasted through most of this today and it was just plain fun to dive into and finish off.
It's been a long time since I've seen any of..."

I'm always glad when someone else enjoys a book that I have enjoyed. Buchan was a prolific writer. I've read the five main John Hannay's now and a historical book he wrote. I've got at least one other book that features Hannay in a minor role and I've ordered another book her wrote as well.

Wow! That’s a lot. I’ll have to see if Greenmantle peaks my interest enough to forge on ahead.

Sara wrote: "Wow! That’s a lot. I’ll have to see if Greenmantle peaks my interest enough to forge on ahead."

I don't remember it being as good as The 39 Steps but it was still interesting and entertaining.

I'll try to tackle Greenmantle (very cheap on Kindle) this summer if I can. I certainly like Hanney as a protagonist.

I did find the 1978 version of The 39 Steps here on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtlee...

Never watched and not sure how close it is to the book.

Franky wrote: "I'll try to tackle Greenmantle (very cheap on Kindle) this summer if I can. I certainly like Hanney as a protagonist.

I did find the 1978 version of The 39 Steps here on youtube:

https://www.yo..."

They're all entertaining books and Hannay is a noble, honorable, competent hero. I've never seen that version. I'll have to check it out. Thanks, Franky.

I just acquired The Complete Richard Hannay Stories from Barnes & Nobel at a very reasonable price (somewhere around $7, brand new), so it looks like I will definitely be proceeding with reading the sequels.

RJ wrote: "I just acquired The Complete Richard Hannay Stories from Barnes & Nobel at a very reasonable price (somewhere around $7, brand new), so it looks like I will definitely be proceeding ..."

Looks awesome! Just curious, did you find it in the store, or did you purchase at their website?

RJ wrote: "I just acquired The Complete Richard Hannay Stories from Barnes & Nobel at a very reasonable price (somewhere around $7, brand new), so it looks like I will definitely be proceeding ..."

Enjoy!

Franky wrote: "Looks awesome! Just curious, did you find it in the store, or did you purchase at their website? ..."

On the website. The shipping was delayed and came in a different package than they usually use, not sure why. But anyway it's a nice collection of all five novels.