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3.28 AVERAGE
3.28 AVERAGE
A book Rohan read and recommended to me... an old-time dime store type novel adventure. The story follows a South African in Great Britain who gets entangled in an international espionage plot. He´s chased through both Scotland and England by both the police and bad guys. The knock is the ending, which is wrapped up far too quickly
I enjoyed the writing style and the humour, and although the pacing was a bit off at times this didn't really bother me until the very abrupt, somewhat unsatisfying ending. Plot-wise though I've got to say that The Thirty-Nine Steps does feel like a novel written by a guy who worked for the War Propaganda Bureau. Damn those evil Germans, etc etc.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A decent enough fast-paced thriller romp, with a very colonial era and upper class feel. Pacing is a bit weird and feels like it comes to a very abrupt end, didn't feel like a particularly satisfying conclusion.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A lot of running and hiding in this one with not much else.
Found out about this book after seeing the Hitchcock film (which can be downloaded from archive.org). The writing style definitely dates the book, but it is short and fast-paced.
The pacing. The thick chunks of interminable description. The complete la-di-da strolling pace of the chapters when a high state of emergency is going on. The weird lurching plot...in which the character flees to Scotland, runs around madly, then hides with this one guy for ten days because the writer's tired of chase scenes. The weird, realistic but dull solution to the mystery of the thirty-nine steps. The layers of lies and truths, the lies *far* more believable than the so-called truths...
I feel like this is an inspirational book: innocent man on the run! And a heightened sense of devil-may-care implausibility that probably led from everything to James Bond to The Fugitive. But oh how I skimmed.
I feel like this is an inspirational book: innocent man on the run! And a heightened sense of devil-may-care implausibility that probably led from everything to James Bond to The Fugitive. But oh how I skimmed.
Decent and old fashioned spy novel. It was written in a different era so it has a little character to it that makes up for the shallow secondary characters and plotlines.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No