Reviews - The Thirty Nine Steps

992 reviews for:

The Thirty Nine Steps

John Buchan

3.28 AVERAGE

em_rosina's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous challenging inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

likecymbeline's review against another edition

3.0

I don't remember where I picked up my little copy of The 39 Steps, only that it is orange and wallpapery with the title printed on it's binding and no difference between the front and back cover which means I opened it upside-down a dozen times. It's unusual for me not to remember where I bought a book. I'm going to pretend that it was placed in my pocket by a covert agent and that I forgot the incident.

This reminded me of [b:The Prisoner of Zenda|54492|The Prisoner of Zenda|Anthony Hope|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1356449081s/54492.jpg|2661176] in that it made an excellent bus read, the chapters being of a breezy and mostly-uniform length, with an adventure escalating and resolving over and over. A rise of tension, a complication, then a sigh of relief as Richard Hannay makes it out again. Some might see this as predictable, but personally I think it's a virtue, charmingly consistent of the genre. We're not reading this because it can be believed, but because we want to see our hero win the game of wits and get through by the skin of his teeth over and over.

Is Hannay the most compelling lead? Not sure. I kind of liked his insouciance, his boredom. I was sometimes reminded of Conway in [b:Lost Horizon|2978|Lost Horizon|James Hilton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1432440004s/2978.jpg|1180015], a book which meant much to me when I was younger. There are other Hannay books, and I might give [b:Greenmantle|161000|Greenmantle (Richard Hannay #2)|John Buchan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1314968556s/161000.jpg|688233] a spin to see how/if he develops at all as he goes on.

dutchlee's review against another edition

4.0

A very short book that too me about 3 hours to read. I ended up really liking this book. I wasn't sure how I felt about it in the beginning with all the travelling which seemed quite cumbersome. Yet it ended up being a clever book about spies and how to disguise yourself. The main character reminds me a lot of Sherlock Holmes and the Count of Mote Cristo since he is able to cleverly disguise himself and act like other people. It's a story that leaves you confused yet intrigues at first and then slowly unravels as you come to discover more and are slowly able to fit the pieces together.
My favorite quotes:
"A fool tries to look different; a clever man looks the same and is different" (138).
"If you are playing a part, you will never keep it up unless you convince yourself that you are it" (138).

svea505's review against another edition

1.0

adventurous mysterious medium-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

mazza57's review against another edition

4.0

I love this book the characterisation leaps out from the page. The narrative is fast and full on and also has a bit of humour to it. The code, spies good and bad guys, the chase etc all add to the book

mazza57's review against another edition

4.0

A fabulous short and concise pursuit through Scotland and England

the_lilrunaway's review against another edition

4.0

Enjoyed it but it was alot of description of countryside which I didn't get on with quite as much. It was in no way the play. I knew it wasn't going to be a comedy but was shocked by how different the story was. A classic though.