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lyndiane 's review for:
The Thirty-Nine Steps
by John Buchan
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.