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The Thirty-Nine Steps cover art

The Thirty-Nine Steps

Written by: John Buchan
Narrated by: Adrian Praetzellis
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Publisher's Summary

"The Thirty Nine Steps" is an adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan. It first appeared as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine in August and September 1915 before being published in book form in October that year by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh.

It is the first of five novels featuring Richard Hannay, an all action hero with a stiff upper lip and a miraculous knack for getting himself out of sticky situations.

The novel formed the basis for a number of film adaptations, notably: Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 version; a 1959 colour remake; a 1978 version which is perhaps most faithful to the novel; and a 2008 version for British television.
©2017 SAGA Egmont (P)2017 SAGA Egmont
Genre Fiction
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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  • MarkL
  • 2022-09-26

really not worth even the short read

I'm not sure how I selected this. NYT blurb, maybe. Maybe as an example of how bad novels from that spy era could be. The book was short and slow and unnecessary.

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • NICHOLAS B.
  • 2018-02-20

great book a little slow

I enjoyed the story but I believe I sped the reading up to 1.35 so that it was a bit more fluid

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Pierre Gauthier
  • 2019-05-26

Entertaining!

This short novel, published in 1915, is set just before the beginning of World War I.

Apparently one of the first to present spies as central characters, it is suspenseful, light … and completely unrealistic. None of the characters is developed in any depth and the plot is marked with appalling twists and turns that can only be taken with a smile.

(Just) a step up from Superman or Batman comic strips, it may be considered a written form of candy : enjoyable but really nothing more.