The Thirty-Nine Steps in Reading 1001

Sep 15, 2013 Kai Coates rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: group-bookish, w14-bookish-challenge

Despite being my first reading, The 39 Steps felt very familiar. John Buchan's action-packed adventure tale is considered the first modern spy thriller, and it set the tone for everything about the genre. Richard Hannay is the Everyman who is thrown into the middle of a game with international consequences - a game only he can solve. He crisscrosses the varied landscape of Great Britain in an attempt to escape both the people who think he committed murder and the people who want to kill him. Tra ...more

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Apr 04, 2015 Kristel rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books, mystery, british-literature, 1001-challenge

A classic, published in 1915, It is 100 years old this year. I've always wanted to read it and it is very quick, an easy one to get off the list of 1001 Books. It is an espionage novel, written by John Buchan during a time when he was sick in bed and had read everything he could get his hands on. It's fast paced, you really never know why or what is really going on but the main character is running from the police and trying to avoid capture by the spies that killed a man in his apartment. He ha ...more

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Apr 06, 2015 Anita Pomerantz rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books

At least it's over.

I'm probably not well equipped to judge a tale of espionage as it isn't a genre I normally read, but as a young girl, I loved Ian Fleming's James Bond novels. This precursor was just completely boring to me. Isn't that exactly what a spy novel should not be - - boring?

The book introduces us to Hannay who is very, very bored. I could make a snarky comment here, but I'll refrain. Another man in his apartment building, Scudder, is on the run from the mysterious and evil Black Sto ...more

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Apr 12, 2014 Dree rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-read, england-uk-ireland, 2014-reads, horror-thriller

I'm not really sure why this is on the 1001 books list. I would consider it to be a good version of a hard-boiled detective story. But 4 stars because I did not want to stop reading. I could have read it straight through if not for things like school dropoffs, pickups, work, life in general.

I do need to ask my dad if he has read this, because he would love it--this is his favorite genre. ...more

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Apr 11, 2014 Ashley Husemoller rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-before-dying

I really enjoyed this, but I'm partial to adventure novels. This was a quick read and a fun spy/adventure novel set mostly in Scotland. 20/1,001 ...more

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