You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.28 AVERAGE
3.28 AVERAGE
Rare case where the movie was better than the book. This was okay but flattened out at the end. The main character/narrator sure spends a lot of time bragging about his own abilities. On the whole it requires a lot of suspension of disbelieve. I listened to it on Audible and the performance was very good and it’s a short read, I probably would have gotten bored reading it on my own.
Jolly good fun in an all chaps together sort of way.
I very much enjoyed the Edwardian-ish tone to the spying and the derring do. Buchan intended to write the kind of thing he wanted to read, an exciting tale that pushes the boundaries of reality - and he succeeds.
The racism and anti-semitism could pull the book right down but the racism only manages to make the British look bad (and they are presented as a right bunch of doughnuts in this anyway) and the anti-semitism is denounced in the book as a character who is as mad as he is a genius.
The ending was a little rushed and some of the improbabilities a little too improbable, no wonder the stage play works so well - it reads a little like an action adventure written by PJ Woodehouse as it is.
I very much enjoyed the Edwardian-ish tone to the spying and the derring do. Buchan intended to write the kind of thing he wanted to read, an exciting tale that pushes the boundaries of reality - and he succeeds.
The racism and anti-semitism could pull the book right down but the racism only manages to make the British look bad (and they are presented as a right bunch of doughnuts in this anyway) and the anti-semitism is denounced in the book as a character who is as mad as he is a genius.
The ending was a little rushed and some of the improbabilities a little too improbable, no wonder the stage play works so well - it reads a little like an action adventure written by PJ Woodehouse as it is.
Fantastic adventure novel. I think I'd seen the film over a dozen times since being a very small girl (thanks Saturday night PBS classic movie series!) so reading the book was a real treat. The movie is only loosely based off the book so it's almost an entirely different experience.
Short and fun, easy to finish in an afternoon! (Then go watch the movie in the evening and have fun spotting the similarities.)
Short and fun, easy to finish in an afternoon! (Then go watch the movie in the evening and have fun spotting the similarities.)
It is hard to rate a book that does not weather the storms of time. This is one of them (another is The Scarlet Pimpernell). It is like comparing a modern Jaguar Coupe with a Model T Ford. The newer car may be flashier, faster and more comfortable, but it has all the benefits of decades of automobile innovation to lean on. Modern spy thrillers must acknowledge the groundbreakers before them. While this may seem frail in modern lights, it has the groundbreaking hallmarks of a spy novel - a casual bystander being thrust unwittingly into a (political / international) spy situation, a dead body, being falsely accused, and running both from the enemy and the police, using his wits to outdistance those with modern day contrivances (motor-bicycles, aeroplanes, and autos), false disguises and aliases, and being redeemed to catch the spies / killers at the end, and try to avert war. It does not seem like a new experience to us, but at the time it was written, it sure must have felt fresh. All the modern novels owe their success to standing on the shoulders of this giant.
What I found fascinating with this is the 'secret society' pulling the strings of international intrigue, with private financiers of war for political or monetary gain, or as Buchan calls the "educated anarchist", with the thoughts of full-scale European War plotting Russia versus the Germans, and the involvement of the Jews, where a "new world emerges". This was published in 1915, but the idea must have been conceived at or before the start of WWI, but seems to be foreshadowing WWII. It is a bit dated in terms of race and Ethnic beliefs, especially with the "your a white man" references, and xenophobic references to Dago, Jews with the eyes of a rattlesnake, and the British Imperialism / colonialism of Africa and the Far East. Not once, not twice, but three times we see "gimlety eyes" in the first chapter alone.
By itself, judged in modern times against modern books, yes, this falls short (2/5 stars). If you were to step back in time to 1915, this is easily a 5 stars book and deserving. I rate it half-way in-between, rounded up because it was such genre cornerstone.
What I found fascinating with this is the 'secret society' pulling the strings of international intrigue, with private financiers of war for political or monetary gain, or as Buchan calls the "educated anarchist", with the thoughts of full-scale European War plotting Russia versus the Germans, and the involvement of the Jews, where a "new world emerges". This was published in 1915, but the idea must have been conceived at or before the start of WWI, but seems to be foreshadowing WWII. It is a bit dated in terms of race and Ethnic beliefs, especially with the "your a white man" references, and xenophobic references to Dago, Jews with the eyes of a rattlesnake, and the British Imperialism / colonialism of Africa and the Far East. Not once, not twice, but three times we see "gimlety eyes" in the first chapter alone.
By itself, judged in modern times against modern books, yes, this falls short (2/5 stars). If you were to step back in time to 1915, this is easily a 5 stars book and deserving. I rate it half-way in-between, rounded up because it was such genre cornerstone.
I watched this as a black-and-white movie a long, long time ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it, so when I was presented with the opportunity to read it, I grabbed it with both hands.
If you're expecting a Robert Ludlum, you will be disappointed. This is an old story, written more than a 100 years ago (1915), and the reader could be forgiven for thinking that the reading of it would possibly be an exercise in tedium. Not so; the mundane facts of Richard Hannay's life are well balanced with the unfolding political drama in England that is leading up to the outbreak of WWI. The author cleverly keeps the narrative strictly fictional and thereby maintains an air of mystery and suspense which continues to entice the reader ever deeper into the fear and uncertainty that Hannay finds himself facing. I also rather appreciated the frequent references to places in South Africa that I'm familiar with. In terms of modern writing terminology, the author uses a really good balance of 'show-and-tell', with some spectacular descriptions of the English countryside.
The author openly admits that he never intended the story to be taken seriously, choosing instead to publish a series of stories about Richard Hannay using the penny dreadful format, and as such, this is a short read, limited to only 100 pages in the version I read.
If you're expecting a Robert Ludlum, you will be disappointed. This is an old story, written more than a 100 years ago (1915), and the reader could be forgiven for thinking that the reading of it would possibly be an exercise in tedium. Not so; the mundane facts of Richard Hannay's life are well balanced with the unfolding political drama in England that is leading up to the outbreak of WWI. The author cleverly keeps the narrative strictly fictional and thereby maintains an air of mystery and suspense which continues to entice the reader ever deeper into the fear and uncertainty that Hannay finds himself facing. I also rather appreciated the frequent references to places in South Africa that I'm familiar with. In terms of modern writing terminology, the author uses a really good balance of 'show-and-tell', with some spectacular descriptions of the English countryside.
The author openly admits that he never intended the story to be taken seriously, choosing instead to publish a series of stories about Richard Hannay using the penny dreadful format, and as such, this is a short read, limited to only 100 pages in the version I read.
One of the first books I read as a young boy. It had everything for my first read, drama, action, and murder. I can remember reading some chapters over and over, just loved it. I keep meaning to read again, but maybe the Rosie-colored glasses should stay on.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Not the first spy story or spy novel, but it was the one that set the template that Bond was later to follow. I read it for a class on the history of espionage, and as my professor said, "He's not a major writer, he's a minor writer. As you can tell he has no idea how to write women so he doesn't bother." Author was also an anti-Semite (apparently one of the many reasons Churchill disliked him.) so take it with many grains of salt, but relax and enjoy the implausible ride.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No