Les trente neuf marches

Par John Buchan

Voici le livre dont a été tiré le célebre film d'Alfred Hitchcock :
Richard Hannay, de retour d'Afrique du sud, s'ennuie dans son pays, l'Angleterre, et pense a repartir lorsqu'un locataire de son immeuble, Franklin P. Scudder, l'en dissuade en lui offrant un travail digne de Sherlock Holmes, qui lui fera vite oublier son désir de réembarquer pour l'Afrique. Notre apprenti détective se retrouve en possession d'un carnet contenant une énigme que lui a laissé Scudder, qui a été assassiné entre temps. Que sont donc ces 39 marches?...

• Langue: Français
• Éditeur: Booklassic
• Date de sortie: 29 juin 2015
• ISBN: 9789635259359

John Buchan

John Buchan was a Scottish diplomat, barrister, journalist, historian, poet and novelist, born in Perth in 1875. He published nearly 30 novels and seven collections of short stories. After spells as a war correspondent, Lloyd George’s Director of Information and Conservative MP, Buchan moved to Canada in 1935. He served as Governor General there until his death in 1940.

Aperçu du livre

Chapitre 1

L'homme qui mourut

Cet après-midi de mai, je revins de la City vers les 3 heures, complètement dégoûté de vivre. Trois mois passés dans la mère patrie avaient suffi à m'en rassasier. Si quelqu'un m'eût prédit un an plus tôt que j'en arriverais là, je lui aurais ri au nez ; pourtant c'était un fait. Le climat me rendait mélancolique, la conversation de la généralité des Anglais me donnait la nausée ; je ne prenais pas assez d'exercice, et les plaisirs de Londres me paraissaient fades comme de l'eau de Seltz qui est restée au soleil.

– Richard Hannay, mon ami, me répétais-je, tu t'es trompé de filon, il s'agirait de sortir de là.

Je me mordais les lèvres au souvenir des projets que j'avais échafaudés pendant ces dernières années à Buluwayo. En y amassant mon pécule – il y en a de plus gros, mais je le trouvais suffisant –, je m'y étais promis des plaisirs de toutes sortes. Emmené loin de l'Écosse par mon père dès l'âge de six ans, je n'étais pas revenu au pays depuis lors : l'Angleterre m'apparaissait donc comme dans un rêve des Mille et Une Nuits, et je comptais m'y établir pour le restant de mes jours.

Mais je fus vite désillusionné. Au bout d'une semaine j'étais las de voir les curiosités de la ville, et en moins d'un mois j'en avais assez des restaurants, des théâtres et des courses de chevaux. Mon ennui provenait sans doute de ce que je n'avais pas un vrai copain pour m'y accompagner. Beaucoup de gens m'invitaient chez eux, mais ils ne s'intéressaient guère à moi. Ils me lançaient deux ou trois questions sur l'Afrique du Sud, et puis revenaient à leurs affaires personnelles. Des grandes dames impérialistes me conviaient à des thés où je rencontrais des instituteurs de la Nouvelle-Zélande et des directeurs de journaux de Vancouver, et où je m'assommais au-delà de tout. Ainsi donc, à trente-sept ans, sain et robuste, muni d'assez d'argent pour me payer du bon temps, je bâillais tout le long du jour à me décrocher la mâchoire. Un peu plus et je décidais de prendre le large et de retourner dans le « veld[1] », car j'étais l'homme le plus parfaitement ennuyé du Royaume-Uni.

Cet après-midi-là je venais de tarabuster mon agent de change au sujet de placements, à seule fin de m'occuper l'esprit, et avant de retourner chez moi j'entrai à mon club – un estaminet pour mieux dire, qui admettait des Coloniaux comme membres. Je pris un apéritif à l'eau, en lisant les feuilles du soir. Elles ne parlaient que du conflit dans le Proche-Orient, et il y avait entre autres un article sur Karolidès, le premier ministre de Grèce. Il me plaisait, ce gars-là. C'était sous tous rapports le seul homme en vue considérable ; et, de plus, il jouait un jeu loyal, ce qu'on n'eût pu dire de beaucoup d'autres. J'appris qu'on le haïssait comme une vraie bête noire à Berlin et à Vienne, mais que nous allions le soutenir ; et un journal même voyait en lui la dernière barrière entre l'Europe et la catastrophe. Je me demandai à ce propos s'il n'y aurait pas un emploi pour moi de ce côté. L'Albanie me séduisait, comme étant le seul pays où l'on fût à l'abri du bâillement.

Vers 6 heures, je rentrai chez moi, m'habillai, dînai au café Royal, et entrai dans un music-hall. Le spectacle était inepte ; rien que femmes cabriolantes et hommes à grimaces de singes ; aussi je ne restai guère. La nuit étant douce et limpide, je regagnai à pied l'appartement que j'avais loué près de Portland Place. Autour de moi la foule s'écoulait sur les trottoirs, active et bavarde, et j'enviai les gens pour leurs occupations. Ces trottins, ces employés, ces élégants, ces policemen avaient au moins dans la vie un intérêt qui les faisait mouvoir. Je donnai une demi-couronne à un mendiant que je vis bâiller : c'était un frère de misère. À Oxford Circus je pris à témoin le ciel de printemps et fis un vœu. J'accordais un dernier jour à ma vieille patrie pour me procurer quelque chose à ma convenance : si rien n'arrivait je retournais au Cap par le prochain bateau.

Mon appartement formait le premier étage d'un nouvel immeuble situé derrière Langham Place. Il y avait un escalier commun, avec un portier et un garçon d'ascenseur à l'entrée, mais il n'y avait ni restaurant ni rien de ce genre, et chaque appartement était tout à fait indépendant des autres. Comme je déteste les domestiques à demeure, j'avais pris à mon service un garçon qui venait chaque jour. Il arrivait le matin avant 8 heures, et partait d'habitude à 7, car je ne dînais jamais chez moi.

Je venais d'introduire ma clef dans la serrure quand un homme surgit à mes côtés. Je ne l'avais pas vu s'approcher, et son apparition soudaine me fit tressaillir. C'était un individu fluet à la courte barbe brune et aux petits yeux bleus et vrilleurs. Je le reconnus pour le locataire du dernier étage, avec qui j'avais déjà échangé quelques mots dans l'escalier.

– Puis-je vous parler ? dit-il. Me permettez-vous d'entrer une minute ?

Il contenait sa voix avec effort, et sa main me tapotait le bras.

J'ouvris ma porte et le fis entrer. Il n'eut pas plus tôt franchi le seuil qu'il prit son élan vers la pièce du fond, où j'allais d'habitude fumer et écrire ma correspondance. Puis il s'en revint comme un trait.

– La porte est-elle bien fermée ? demanda-t-il fiévreusement.

Et il assujettit la chaîne de sa propre main.

– Je suis absolument confus, dit-il d'un ton modeste. Je prends là une liberté excessive, mais vous me semblez devoir comprendre. Je n'ai cessé de vous avoir en vue depuis huit jours que les choses se sont gâtées. Dites, voulez-vous me rendre un service ?

– Je veux bien vous écouter, fis-je. C'est tout ce que je puis promettre.

Ce petit bonhomme nerveux m'agaçait de plus en plus avec ses grimaces.

Il avisa sur la table à côté de lui un plateau à liqueurs, et se versa un whisky-soda puissant. Il l'avala en trois goulées, et brisa le verre en le reposant.

– Excusez-moi, dit-il. Je suis un peu agité, ce soir. Il m'arrive, voyez-vous, qu'à l'heure actuelle je suis mort.

Je m'installai dans un fauteuil et allumai une pipe.

– Quel effet ça fait-il ? demandai-je.

J'étais bien convaincu d'avoir affaire à un fou.

Un sourire fugitif illumina son visage contracté :

– Non, je ne suis pas fou… du moins pas encore. Tenez, monsieur, je vous ai observé, et je crois que vous êtes un type de sang-froid. Je crois aussi que vous êtes un honnête homme, et que vous n'auriez pas peur de jouer une partie dangereuse. Je vais me confier à vous. J'ai besoin d'assistance plus que personne au monde, et je veux savoir si je puis compter sur vous.

– Allez-y de votre histoire, répondis-je, et je vous dirai ça.

Il parut se recueillir pour un grand effort, et puis entama un récit des plus abracadabrants. Au début je n'y comprenais rien, et je dus l'arrêter et lui poser des questions. Mais voici la chose en substance :

Il était né en Amérique, au Kentucky. Ses études terminées, comme il avait passablement de fortune, il se mit en route afin de voir le monde. Il écrivit quelque peu, joua le rôle de correspondant de guerre pour un journal de Chicago, et passa un an ou deux dans le sud-est de l'Europe. Je m'aperçus qu'il était bon polyglotte, et qu'il avait beaucoup fréquenté la haute société de ces régions. Il citait familièrement bien des noms que je me rappelais avoir vus dans les journaux.

Il s'était mêlé à la politique, me raconta-t-il, d'abord parce qu'elle l'intéressait, et ensuite par entraînement inévitable. Je devinais en lui un garçon vif et d'esprit inquiet, désireux d'aller toujours au fond des choses. Il alla un peu plus loin qu'il ne l'eût voulu.

Je donne ici ce qu'il me raconta, aussi bien que je pus le débrouiller. Au-delà et derrière les gouvernements et les armées, il existait d'après lui un puissant mouvement occulte, organisé par un monde des plus redoutables. Ce qu'il en avait découvert par hasard le passionna : il alla plus avant, et finit par se laisser prendre. À son dire, l'association comportait une bonne part de ces anarchistes instruits qui font les révolutions, mais à côté de ceux-là il y avait des financiers qui ne visaient qu'à l'argent : un homme habile peut réaliser de gros bénéfices sur un marché en baisse ; et les deux catégories s'entendaient pour mettre la discorde en Europe.

Il me révéla plusieurs faits bizarres donnant l'explication d'un tas de choses qui m'avaient intrigué – des faits qui se produisirent au cours de la guerre des Balkans : comment un État prit tout à coup le dessus, pourquoi des alliances furent nouées et rompues, pourquoi certains hommes disparurent, et d'où venait le nerf de la guerre. Le but final de la machination était de mettre aux prises la Russie et l'Allemagne.

Je lui en demandai la raison. Il me répondit que les anarchistes croyaient triompher grâce à la guerre. Du chaos général qui en résulterait, ils s'attendaient à voir sortir un monde nouveau. Les capitalistes, eux, rafleraient la galette, et feraient fortune en rachetant les épaves. Le capital, à son dire, manquait de conscience aussi bien que de patrie. Derrière le capital, d’ailleurs, il y avait la juiverie, et la juiverie détestait la Russie pis que le diable.

– Quoi d'étonnant ? s'écria-t-il. Voilà trois cents ans qu'on les persécute ! Ceci n'est que la revanche des pogroms. Les Juifs sont partout, mais il faut descendre jusqu'au bas de l'escalier de service pour les découvrir. Prenez par exemple une grosse maison d'affaires germanique. Si vous avez à traiter avec elle, le premier personnage que vous rencontrez est le Prince von und zu Quelque chose, un élégant jeune homme qui parle l'anglais le plus universitaire – sans morgue toutefois. Si votre affaire est d'importance, vous allez trouver derrière lui un Westphalien prognathe au front fuyant et distingué comme un goret. C'est là l'homme d'affaires allemand qui inspire une telle frousse à vos journaux anglais. Mais s'il s'agit d'un trafic tout à fait sérieux qui vous oblige à voir le vrai patron, il y a dix contre un à parier que vous serez mis en présence d'un petit Juif blême au regard de serpent à sonnettes et affalé dans un fauteuil d'osier. Oui, monsieur, voilà l'homme qui dirige le monde à l'heure actuelle, et cet homme rêve de poignarder l'Empire du Tzar, parce que sa tante a été violentée et son père knouté dans une masure des bords de la Volga.

Je ne pus m'empêcher de lui dire que ses juifs anarchistes me paraissaient avoir gagné bien peu de terrain.

– Oui et non, répondit-il. Ils ont progressé jusqu'à un certain point, mais ils se sont heurtés à plus fort que la finance, à ce qu'on ne peut acheter, aux vieux instincts combatifs essentiels à l'humanité. Quand vous allez vous faire tuer, vous dénichez un drapeau et un pays quelconques à défendre, et si vous en réchappez vous les aimez pour tout de bon. Ces sots bougres de soldats ont pris la chose à cœur, ce qui a bouleversé le joli plan élaboré à Berlin et à Vienne. Toutefois mes bons amis sont loin d'avoir joué leur dernière carte. Ils ont gardé l'as dans leur manche, et à moins que je ne parvienne à rester vivant un mois encore, ils vont le jouer et gagner.

– Mais je croyais que vous étiez mort ! interrompis-je.

– Mors janua vitæ, sourit-il. (Je reconnus la citation : c'était à peu près tout ce que je savais de latin.) J'y arrive, mais je dois vous instruire d'un tas de choses auparavant. Si vous lisez les journaux, vous connaissez sans doute le nom de Constantin Karolidès ?

Je dressai l'oreille à ces mots, car je venais de lire des articles sur lui cet après-midi même.

– C'est l'homme qui a fait échouer toutes leurs combinaisons. C'est le seul grand cerveau de toute la bande politique, et il se trouve de plus que c'est un honnête homme. En conséquence voilà douze mois qu'on a résolu sa mort. J'ai fait cette découverte sans peine, car elle était à la portée du dernier imbécile. Mais j'ai découvert en outre le moyen qu'ils se proposent d'employer, et cette connaissance était périlleuse. Voilà pourquoi j'ai dû trépasser.

Il prit un nouveau whisky, et je m'en fis un également, car l'animal commençait à m'intéresser.

– Ils ne peuvent l'atteindre dans

Avis sur Les trente neuf marches

[col2910_1 · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

Synopsis/blurb................John Buchan wrote "The Thirty-Nine Steps" while he was seriously ill at the beginning of World War I. In it, he introduces his most famous hero, Richard Hannay, who, despite claiming to be an "ordinary fellow", is caught up in the dramatic race against a plot to devastate the British war effort. Hannay is hunted across the Scottish moors by police and a pitiless enemy in the corridors of Whitehall and, finally, at the site of the mysterious 39 steps. The best-known of Buchan's thrillers, this novel has been continuously in print since first publication and has been filmed three times. Other Buchan "World Classics" include "Witchwood" and "Greenmantle".My take......I doubt I will be providing much original thought on this classic book which was published 99 years ago. It has 460 reviews on Amazon UK – soon to be 461, and nearly 10,000 ratings on Goodreads.The Thirty-Nine Steps introduces us to Richard Hannay, who subsequently figures in 4 more novels by Buchan, none of which I have read. They are;2. Greenmantle (1916)3. Mr Standfast (1918)4. The Three Hostages (1924)5. The Island of Sheep (1936)As an aside, the time-span between the 4th and 5th books is interesting, I wonder why? Saying that - Buchan did live an interesting and full life...at various times....Unionist MP, Governor of Canada, Government War propagandist, Army enlistment, diplomatic service in South Africa, church elder, novelist. We open and Hannay is restless and in need of an adventure to stimulate him. One soon arrives in the appearance of a stranger who enlists Hannay’s help in hiding him. The man, Scudder has faked his death and tells Hannay he is being followed by a German gang of spies. Scudder confides that he has uncovered a plot to kill the Greek Premier and also that there is a scheme afoot to steal British plans that have been prepared in the event of an outbreak of war. Scudder is discovered murdered the next day in Hannay’s flat and Richard, a likely suspect in the murder flees, managing to evade the Germans who are watching him. A sense of obligation and duty compels Hannay to try and thwart the assassination attempt. With three weeks to lay low until the events Scudder has outlined are scheduled to begin, Hannay takes a train to Scotland to kill time. Having taking Scudder’s notebook when fleeing London and deciphered his coded notes, these appear to contradict what Scudder previously told him. Over the next week or two he is relentlessly pursued both by aeroplane and car, by both the Germans and the police, still anxious to arrest Hannay for murder. His adventures see him posing as a road-mender at one time and unbelievably making a political speech for a prospective politician, Sir Harry at a rally. Having taken Harry into his confidence, Harry fortuitously has a relative in the Foreign Office and writes Hannay a letter of introduction. Still on the run, Hannay survives being taken prisoner by the enemy. After managing to escape, Richard returns to London and contacts Harry’s relative – Sir Walter Bullivant; unburdening himself of his secrets. The Greek PM still gets assassinated. Our erstwhile hero still feels there is more at risk and gatecrashes a meeting at Bullivant’s house where he catches a glimpse of one of his Scottish pursuers in disguise. Hannay’s adversary is now in possession of material damaging to Britain’s war plans.Hannay works with British military leaders to discover the significance of Scudder’s phrase – The Thirty Nine-Steps in a bid to save the day.Overall verdict – I really liked this one. It felt a bit like a Boys Own adventure and to be honest there’s a place in my reading schedule for books of this type occasionally. One criticism would be that Buchan does seem to rely on some rather unlikely coincidences to help Hannay (and the author?) out of a jam at times. Last minor gripe would be the one of language with references made to “the Jew” and a “Jewish plot.” I wouldn’t dare to tar Buchan with an anti-semite brush, but 100 years after this was written it sits a little bit uncomfortably with me. Happily, reading this managed to tick a number of boxes for me. I have a couple of signed-up for challenges that this meets the criteria for, plus one of my own.Read Scotland – tick.Vintage Mystery – Golden – tick (not quite sure which box on my bingo card I will be ticking just yet)Espionage Challenge – tickIn addition, my son’s Christmas present to both my wife and me were tickets to see the West End production of The Thirty-Nine Steps last Saturday, something I will briefly cover in my next blog post. I managed to read the book before seeing the show, spoilsport that I am.4 from 5I do have a paperback copy of this around the house somewhere, but couldn’t locate it, so I got a free version from Amazon UK for my kindle. There are a couple of other Buchan/Hannay books on the site available for nowt, so I now have Greenmantle and Mr Standfast waiting.

[bensdad00 · Évaluation : 5 sur 5 étoiles]

A classic of mystery, intrigue and adventure; set in a world immediately familiar and yet unfathomably foreign.

[davros410 · Évaluation : 3 sur 5 étoiles]

Interesting adaptation, although I don't understand why it was updated to being set in 1950 rather than just before World War I. Was this when it was first adapted by Classics Illustrated?It's not as good as the original novel, but is a good taster.

[shanaqui_1 · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

Before I write my review, I like to poke around and read other reviews, on amazon and goodreads and by searching google. I like to see if anyone's picked up something I missed that's worth thinking about, or if people are being perfect idiots about it. I've read that this book is terribly boring and you'd be better off reading a cereal box, I've read that this book is not suitable for girls, and I've read that it isn't suitable for Americans because the spelling is "weird".

Note my gender.

And the interesting fact that I'm supposed to deal with American spelling, but the Americans can't deal with ours... Ah, hypocrisy.

Anyway! The Thirty-Nine Steps is, apparently, one of the first spy novels. It's not a genre I'm incredibly interested in, but usually when I come across a mystery novel or whatever, I can get engrossed in it. This one's a very quick read, my copy is only a little over a hundred pages long, though the writing is quite small and close, which was a liiiittle irritating. Couldn't actually read it in bed without my glasses on!

That aside. It's quite a fun little story: tightly plotted, with several daring escapes and breathless moments. Suspension of disbelief is necessary, but not too necessary. The main character isn't the most likeable man in the world -- rich, bored, quite skilled at deceit, quick-tempered, a little whiny... But he isn't that bad, either. At least, I didn't particularly want him to get caught and killed. The writing was readable, too, quite immediate despite the past tense, and I didn't notice any particularly clunky parts.

It didn't bowl me over, not to the extent that I'd say "it was amazing" (five stars), but yeah, I "really liked it" (four stars).

[johnthefireman · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

Not only is it a classic and a great thriller, but it also features a lot of action on a train. What more could one want?

[mrsrk-1 · Évaluation : 5 sur 5 étoiles]

Excellent book, and I enjoyed it from beginning to end. This is actually a series of five books. Following this one are: Greenmantle (1916), Mr. Standfast (1919), The Three Hostages (1924) and The Island of Sheep (1936). What led me to read “The 39 Steps” was James Hawes’ 2008 movie version starring Rupert Penry-Jones. I tried to watch Hitchcock’s version but couldn’t finish it, it was THAT bad. Although I enjoyed the modern movie, both fell very far from Buchan’s plot; there are so many changes the original story is barely recognizable. I can’t find a reasonable explanation for both directors adding female characters to the story; there were none in the book and no need for their addition. In fact, the Victoria Sinclair character of Hawes actually pushed Richard Hannay’s almost to second fiddle, when in the original story he was always the main character—and a very good one. Oddly, in the 2008 movie, all the glory goes to her—who did not even grace the original story. (Makes me wonder why the new 007 movies have a woman embodying “M,” when he was clearly a male in the original books…)

[elizajane_1 · Évaluation : 1 sur 5 étoiles]

I thought this would be fun, having seen the Hitchcock film numerous times but it was an utter disappointment. I had to really force myself to finish the book. It followed a chapter by chapter formula of Hannay on the run, meets with character, gets fed, gets new disguise, talks about case, gets sent off to next person who will help him on the way. Next chapter, repeat. Each chapter title even tells you who he is going to meet: The Adventure of the Literary Innkeeper, Radical Candidate, Spectacled Roadman, and so on. It was very tedious reading and I honestly kept forgetting what the plot was each time I picked up the book. Even though it's such a short book I had to take it in small bites. I'm the last person to judge older books by modern sensibilities, but even I found its flippant empirical racial quips hard to swallow including coming from the time it was written. "'I haven't the privilege of your name, Sir, but let me tell you that you're a white man." Anyway, it was boring and I can't see myself ever picking up a book by Buchan again.

[dbsovereign · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

The classic later filmed by Alfred Hitchcock, this book is an adventure/romance whose hero/narrator exposes a spy ring and saves Britain from an invasion.

[sueincyprus · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

The book, as is stated at the beginning, was deliberately written as an implausible adventure story where the hero keeps on escaping by the skin of his teeth, rather like the comic strip stories that appeared in weekly magazines. It's set in the year 1914.

Richard Hannay is the protagonist, a wealthy engineer who has been living in London for a while but is bored with the lifestyle. Then, as he’s about to give up his flat and leave, a stranger arrives on his doorstep with a worrying story about international politics and intrigue…

Over the next few weeks, Hannay's life is far from mundane. He flees to Scotland, and takes refuge with a series of unlikely people. He dons many disguises, and, in teenage adventure story style, escapes each scenario by cleverness or luck, before finally returning to London. The story is told in the first person, so it's not a spoiler to say that he escapes.

Inevitably most of the other people in the story are caricatured like comic strip stereotypes. But the writing is good, albeit a bit dated, but that's hardly surprising. It's fast-paced and exciting, with just enough description to set each scene. In many places there is politically incorrect commentary, but that’s par for the course with this era and style of writing.

‘The Thirty-Nine Steps’ is just over 100 pages long so I read it in a few hours. The ending is rather abrupt; but the final paragraph slots extremely well into the realities of world history.

This isn’t a thriller in the modern sense of the word, but it’s one of the earliest of the genre, now considered a classic, and may have inspired subsequent novels on similar themes. It has to be taken with a very large pinch of salt, but still, I would recommend it to anyone, teen or adult, who is interested in literature from this era.

[amerynth · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

I thought John Buchan's "The Thirty-Nine Steps" was just okay. Written as an early thriller, it features adventurer Richard Hannay, who gets embroiled in espionage and must escape the clutches of both the local police and some more sinister characters who are following him about.The book was pretty fun initially, and I thought the framing of the story was really interesting. After Hannay's gazillionth escape from the people chasing him, it got a bit tired. It's odd to say that a 115-page book felt too long, but it did. This might have worked better as a short story. The story ties up neatly in the end and made for a decent and fast read. It didn't, however, inspire me to read the remaining four books featuring Hannay.

[bookconcierge · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

The time is 1914; the setting England and Scotland. Richard Hannay is back in London after making his money in South Africa, but he finds the city life rather boring. He has made up his mind to seek adventure elsewhere when a man from his apartment building asks for his help – there are men waiting to kill him and he needs a place to hide for a few days. Thus begins an adventure that involves German spies, international intrigue, unknown moles, a couple of murders, train rides, car chases, narrow escapes and a great deal of good luck. Hannay is charming, intelligent and resourceful, and the reader is in for a great ride.This is a classic espionage novel. If you’ve seen the Alfred Hitchcock movie of the same title – forget it (other than the name of the leading man and the basic German spy plot it has NO resemblance to the book). The Masterpiece Theater presentation (a BBC film) is closer to the book, but still markedly different. There is NO love interest in Buchan’s book at all.

[seriousgrace · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

It's May 1914 in London, England. Scottish expatriate Richard Hannay has a troublesome visitor. That's the first thing I would say about The Thirty Nine Steps. An American stranger has come to him with a wild tale of espionage and knowledge of a planned assassination. Because he was in the know, according to this stranger, Mr. Scudder, he had to fake his own death. He has come to Hannay to hide himself and his little coded book of secrets. However, imagine Hannay's surprise when that same man is found with a knife so thoroughly through the heart it skewered him to the floor! Needless to say, Hannay is now on the run...with the cipher of secrets. With Mr. Scudder dead on his floor, surely he will be the number one suspect. The rest of the short book is Hannay's attempts to hide out in Scotland, a place he hasn't seen since he was six years old, thirty one years ago. The key to the whole mystery is a reference to "39 steps" in Scudder's little book.

[eadieb-1 · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

I enjoyed this book very much. It was a very good, fast read with classic, historical importance. It held my interest from start to finish. If you like spy mysteries, then I would highly recommend this book.

[joririchardson · Évaluation : 3 sur 5 étoiles]

Richard Hannay is an engineer who has traveled the world, and now finds himself living in London. He also finds himself bored with life, and having nothing to do. But that very night, a mysterious little man named Scudder appears at his doorstep, and tells him a tale of spies, running from the German secret service, faked suicides, and codes. Hannay agrees to help the man by hiding him in his apartment, but on returning home the next day, he finds Scudder killed and his home torn apart. After investigating a bit, he finds a black book that belonged to his murdered house-guest, filled with an illegible code. Knowing this to be what the killers were searching his home for, he assumes that they will be after him next. He also assumes that the London police will find evidence enough to convince everyone that it was he who murdered Scudder. Believing himself to have no choice, he leaps aboard a train to Scotland. He journeys about the countryside on foot, in disguises, on bicycles, and in stolen expensive cars, all the while deciphering the code in Scudder's black book and unraveling the mystery of what is going on around him.Knowing absolutely nothing of the genre, I was curious to read this book, which even I know is famous for inspiring the spy / thriller genre. Minus the hot girl on our heroes arm, I certainly could find a lot of similarities to other spy movies I've seen (I have to limit my knowledge to movies, as I haven't read nearly enough books to make comparisons). This was a little dryer than what I expected, and there was never any tone of desperation or stress, like I would expect from a man running from two formidable enemies. Even when he is captured, Richard seems to look upon all of the events with a collected, factual state of mind.This book was very unrealistic - and I know that spy stories always are, but this was different.Such as, wouldn't it have been better for Richard to disappear in London (where he already was) instead of head for the country? He is always bemoaning the fact that there is nowhere to hide there, while in London, this would certainly not have been the case.Also, a suspiciously high number of absolute strangers were willing to help, and sometimes take risks for, Richard. This was, of course, highly unlikely, but the main character never seemed to see anything odd in it.Little things like this really took my mind away from the story, and annoyed me. There is a difference between probable (boring) and believable (well written).At first, this book started off at a racing pace. Within just a few pages, Scudder has appeared at Richard's door, with tales of spies and intrigue, and a few pages later, he is murdered and Richard goes on the run. I absolutely loved it. It was Victorian with a dash of James Bond.However, after this point, the book got progressively more and more boring up until the very end. The middle is all just about Richard traveling, and besides the stolen cars, most often not in very glamorous or "thrilling" ways. At one point, he is even riding a bicycle.I actually wondered, after Richard had been traveling for awhile, if the author was tricking us, and the spies actually didn't exist at all. In fact, I found myself surprised when the spies finally materialized later, and proved themselves to be, indeed, real.Scudder was the very best part of this book, and I fervently wish that he had lived, and gone traveling with Richard. That would have been interesting, as the man got to know his traveling companion without revealing too much, keeping Richard and the reader in constant suspense.Though it did not lend itself to the "fleeing" scenes (code here for peaceful bicycle rides in the charming countryside), the British writing was a good combination in the more exciting scenes. Again, the beginning was the best portion of this little book, and I loved the tone, pace, and overall feeling of the writing style.An average book, or perhaps even a bit below.

[michael8xolotl · Évaluation : 2 sur 5 étoiles]

2.75 stars. Contrived and repetitious but fairly entertaining in places. The play's better. ;)

[hardlyhardy · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

"The trouble about him was that he was too romantic. He had the artistic temperament, and wanted a story to be better than God meant it to be." -- John Buchan, "The Thirty-Nine Steps"John Buchan's words above, from his most famous novel, "The Thirty-Nine Steps," describe one of his characters, not himself. Buchan was not one to try to make a story "better than God meant it to be." His 1915 novel, in the version I read, is just 120 pages long, a fraction of what most espionage thrillers run today. Buchan, a pioneer in the genre, told just the basic story. A full century later the story still makes exciting reading, even if for anyone who has seen Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 movie based on the book, it feels like something is missing.That's because Hitchcock, who had an artistic temperament, added embellishments that Buchan, who was still living at the time, may have considered an attempt to make it better than God meant it to be. There's no woman, no character for Madeleine Carroll to play, in Buchan's novel. Nor is there a character called Mr. Memory, who reveals the 39 steps at the climax of the film. In Buchan's story, the 39 steps are, in fact, 39 steps, a staircase leading down to the beach, where spies plan to rendezvous.The basic plot remain unchanged in the film version. Richard Hannay learns of a German plot to learn British secrets before the outbreak of war. A murder in his flat sends him on the run, both to escape the German spies and to escape the police, who consider him the prime suspect in the murder. The story is mostly a long chase, with several narrow escapes.Hitchcock's movie would probably not be regarded as the classic it is today had it not been for the embellishments the director added. Yet the original novel reads just fine the way it is, as God, or at least John Buchan, intended.

[electrascaife · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

Set just before WWI in England, the narrator tells the story of how, just after returning to London from a stint in the army in South Africa, he’s approached by a desperate neighbor with a fantastical story of German spies out to get him (the neighbor), faking his own death, and the need for a hideout. Our narrator obliges, but the Germans manage to find his new friend and kill him while Narrator is out. So N find himself on the run, both from the Evil German Spies and Scotland Yard, who now want him on murder charges. And so the rest of the story is, essentially, N running all round the English countryside, oh-so-cleverly tricking and eluding the bad guys at every turn.

Ho hum. Another first-person white dude telling how smart and resourceful he is in the face of danger. Self-insert spy fanfic much? At least this one doesn’t have any distressed damosels for him to misogynize all over. Blech. It’s supposed to be a classic, I suppose? But that just implicates it in the spread of this kind of tired trope.

[bookman09919 · Évaluation : 3 sur 5 étoiles]

Fast moving and fun. Not nearly as complicated as later books in the genre. Does help to have some knowledge of pre-World War I colonial Africa and Europe.

[deltaqueen50 · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

The Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure story and is probably what John Buchan is most known for even though he was a well recognized historian, accepted a peerage as Lord Tweedsmuir and served as a governor-general of Canada. This short adventure thriller is famous for it’s “man-on-the-run” action story and for the many films it has inspired.

The story opens with Richard Hannay, an Englishman who grew up in South Africa, finding his life in London rather boring and so is very open to becoming involved in uncovering an anarchist plot when he is approached by a nervous American. This American all too soon turns up dead and left in Hannay’s apartment. Now implicated in murder, Hannay decides to travel to Scotland to hide from both the British police and a very powerful German spy ring until the appropriate authorities can be advised of the situation. The story moves quickly as Hannay relies on the help of various people that he meets in the Scottish highlands and ultimately he turns the tables on the spies by helping to hunt them down.

The Thirty-Nine Steps is a very quick read and has the hero dashing around in the heather and peat bogs of the Scottish Highlands for most of the book. Set in the weeks prior to the opening of World War I, the author captures the nationalistic feelings and the political blunders that help to set up this occurrence. Although somewhat dated, I enjoyed this story.

[gypsysmom_1 · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

At the beginning of this book there is a note from the author to a friend:
MY DEAR TOMMY
You and I have long cherished an affection for that elementary type of tale which Americans call the 'dime novel' and which we know as the 'shocker' -- the romance where the incidents defy the probabilities, and march just inside the borders of the possible. During an illness last winter I exhausted my store of those aids to cheerfulness, and was driven to write one for myself. This little volume is the result, and I should like to put your name on it in memory of our long friendship, in the days when the wildest fictions are so much less improbable than the facts.
J.B.

And so that is the genesis of one of the first spy novels. It is set in Britain just before World War I. A middle-aged man, Hannoy, has made his fortune in Africa and is living in London and getting thoroughly bored with his new life. Then his sedate existence is overturned when his upstairs neighbour asks for help. He claims to be in fear of his life because he has learned some information about Germany's intentions to start a war. Hannoy allows him to stay in his flat and listens to his tale but is sceptical about it. Then he comes home one night and finds his house guest stabbed to death. He realizes he will be next so he flees to Scotland where he manages to stay one step ahead of German agents and British police by effecting a number of disguises. He has managed to decipher the little black book his guest had always carried with him but he is still unclear as to the event which the spy said would take place on June 15th. The clue is in the phrase "Thirty-nine Steps" and once that is figured out the German plot can be foiled.

This reminded me quite a bit of H. Rider Haggard's classic King Solomon's Mines which I read last year. Male-dominated adventure yarn but fun to read.

[m_k_m_1 · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

John Buchan knew how to write a rollicking adventure - Christopher Hitchens described him as the bridge between Kipling and Fleming. Perhaps because of the political situation (the novel was first published in 1915, and is set in May and June 1914), spy thrillers were hugely popular at the time - Arthur Conan Doyle's "His Last Bow" is much more a spy story than it is a detective one, as were some of Agatha Christie's earlier books (The Secret Adversary, The Man in the Brown Suit) - but it's the pace and charm of Buchan's that leaves his as the icon of the genre.

Hitchcock made his own version of The Thirty-Nine Steps in the 1930s, of course, but you can see how it informed so much more of his work: the (extremely capable) Everyman dragged into a plot with international ramifications, put on the run across picturesque landscapes, relying on luck, skill and a large amount of authorial intervention. It's a terrific formula, giving someone almost exactly like the reader a reason to be chased by biplanes and blown up - it's informed just about any male-orientated YA novel you've read.

I can ignore the plot holes and contrivances; it gives me a warm feeling to read a story that's informed so many others I've loved.

[meredy_1 · Évaluation : 3 sur 5 étoiles]

Six-word review: Preposterous spy story furnishes lightweight diversion.

Extended review:

I'd call this very short novel a goofy romp, secret codes and murders and conspiracies and all. The wonder of it is that after a century it still has an audience. And it has.

My only prior acquaintance with this yarn was the 1935 Hitchcock movie, which turns out not to have much in common with the novel. I recently read the author's first, Prester John, and this does have a lot in common with that, not surprisingly. In his dedication he affectionately likens it to the then-familiar American genre "the dime novel," what we would probably now call pulp fiction: sensational thrillers without much meat to them that deliver easy escapist entertainment.

Published early in the second year of the first World War, the story takes place in the months leading up to it, when suspicion, fear, and paranoia on an international scale must have been very high indeed. The hero, Richard Hannay, is a daring adventurer who takes up the challenge of a spy mission after an agent is killed in his apartment. His escapades across the English countryside are as boldly executed as they are reliant on surpassingly mad coincidence and what must be an entire pantheon of friendly, or at least highly amused, deities.

There is something of substance here, though, and it may be in part the hero's frank appetite for action, in part the sustained theme of imposture and disguise. There is also the better-than-competent prose, ensuring that despite the laughable improbabilities of plot, it remains exciting and absorbing. If you're in the right mood for it, it'll give you a few cheerful hours.

[carl_alves_1 · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

The Thirty-Nine Steps was written and is set in World War 1 era Europe, where conspiracies of worldwide war are at work. The story’s main character, Richard Hannay is leading a typical middle class life when he gets thrust in the middle of it all as a stranger shows up telling him of this conspiracy. When the stranger winds up dead, Richard takes it upon himself to bring the killers to justice and prevent the war from happening.

This novel is part thriller, part spy novel. In comparison to other novels from that era, this is written at a fairly fast pace. Although conspiratorial in nature, it was interesting how many of the things written in the book came to pass and how true to life the novel was. Buchan shows a high skill-level in his writing. Richard Hanney is a bit of an everyman—someone who gets thrust into a crazy situation and rises to the occasion. My only real complaint is that the villains in the story weren’t terribly well-developed and their motives seemed a bit shaky. The final confrontation made me feel a bit ambivalent. This was a good read. I’m generally not into fiction written over a century ago, but I think this novel works.

Carl Alves – author of Two For Eternity

[santhony_35 · Évaluation : 3 sur 5 étoiles]

For Christmas, I ordered an mp3 player (Library of Classics) that was pre-loaded with 100 works of classic literature in an audio format. Each work is in the public domain and is read by amateurs, so the quality of the presentation is hit or miss.

The Thirty Nine Steps is a suspense/mystery novel dealing with intrigue leading up to World War I. The British narrator receives a strange visitor who gives him sensitive information involving a possible assassination attempt on a Balkan dignitary. When the visitor is soon killed, the narrator realizes he is not only in trouble with the authorities (suspected of having murdered the victim), but even more so from the shadowy German organization who must silence him in order to proceed with their plans. The narrator leads the Germans on a merry chase, all the while trying to piece together their ultimate plan.

This is not a bad piece of work, though it is relatively unremarkable. Very average in all respects.

[nmhale_1 · Évaluation : 3 sur 5 étoiles]

This adventure story is probably best known for its various movie adaptations, including Hitchcock's famous version. However, the story is significantly different. The main character has a different background and characterization, and the adventure is very focused on a rugged escapade in nature and matching wits against criminals.

In essence, the story is about a young English Riched Hannay who is finding life in England unbearably stifling after his South African residence. This ennui is eradicated when a man living in a different floor in his building and asks for help. The American man reveals that he has stumbled upon an intricate plot to destabilize European government and power structure, starting with an attack against the British government. The man learned about a group of German spies called the Black Stone and he has been working on uncovering and thwarting them. He even faked his own death to throw his enemies off track. He has recently seen a dangerous adversary in town, however, and fears that he may be killed before he finishes his mission. He shows Richard his notebook full of encrypted clues, and asks for the favor of staying in Richard's flat for a few days.

Richard thinks the man is a bit mad, but he allows him to stay with him.

[anniemod · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

I am not sure why it took me so long to get around to reading Buchan - I had always known about his novels and they had always been somewhere on my TBR list but somehow I never got to them. I guess it was time to rectify that.

Meet Richard Hannay - 37 years old, just back from Rhodesia (and now technically retired) and really bored. After all the excitement in South Africa, London and Britain are boring in the spring of 1914 (working out the year is not hard once you read the novel because the reference to the impeding and starting war is there but it is also as easy to figure it out in the first chapter when Hannay mentions the Balkan Wars and we know it is May - it cannot be 1913 because they are still raging and it cannot be 1915 because WWI had not started yet).

Hannay is ready to catch a train to somewhere, anywhere if nothing happens... and then something does happen - a guy he had never met before confides in him about a huge conspiracy involving the powerful men of the day and within days, the guy is dead in Hannay's flat. The story is so outlandish that our hero is not sure how much to believe of it... but after the murder, he decides that the story must have merit and goes on a run in Scotland. Of course he manages to do it in a way that makes sure that he is blamed for the murder and our bored man is not on the run from both the police and the murderers.

And somewhere along the way, it turns out that the conspiracy is not just real but that it is a lot more complicated than he thought. During his run Hannay meets all kind of different people - from a road worker to a politician wannabe to an old acquaintance; he manages to stumble right into the spies house (because the conspiracy involves foreign spies)- of course he does, there is no reason not to. Add to this a plane, a big explosion and Scotland Yard not just believing him but helping him at the end and the story is complete.

It is a spy story from the times before every spy had to have a beautiful woman on his arm; before the time when a woman was mandatory for a novel and especially a spy novel. It is called one of the first novels with a man on a run and it is - the description of the run and the places where he goes through are done very well and make you want to read more.

Buchan himself compares the novel to the dime novels so popular in the States at the time. And it really is very similar in tone to those pulp novels. But it is also very British in the way that only authors from the empire can make it. And despite its brevity, it makes you want to read about Hannay more - at least to see what else happens to him when he is bored... and what happens when he is not.

[drled_1 · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

Synopsis: Scottish born Hanney comes back from South Africa to his flat in London only to be confronted by an American who appears to know about an anarchist plot to destabilize Europe. After an apparent suicide and the murder of the American, Hanney flees for his life and ends up hiding in the Lake Country of England. Never knowing who to trust, Hanney must break up the plot and try to capture the anarchists.
Review: This is one of the earliest novels about spies and plots to overthrow governments. While there are sections that are overly detailed, the story is involving.

[edgeworth_1 · Évaluation : 3 sur 5 étoiles]

The Thirty-Nine Steps is a WWI-era thriller by John Buchan; in the introduction, he mentions in a letter to a friend that he wrote it because he was bedridden with illness and had exhausted his own supply of easy, amusing thriller novels, so he decided to write his own. The novel follows protagonist Richard Hannay, a Scottish-born Rhodesian miner who has recently returned to the mother country and finds himself embroiled in a plot to throw Europe into war. With the man who warned Hannay of the plot soon murdered in his own flat, Hannay finds himself on the run in Scotland, pursued by both the conspirators and the British police.

I think I picked up The Thirty-Nine Steps because it was on the BBC’s Big Read, and because I recently got an ereader and was looking for public domain novels to download to test it out. It’s a relatively entertaining lark which reminded me quite a bit of Geoffrey Hosuehold’s Rogue Male (though I liked it better, since it has more variety in it) and no doubt enthralled many a soldier in the trenches of France. It moves along at a decent pace and clocks in nice and short at just over 100 pages. I’m just not sure why it’s so famous or why it made the Big Read list – there are probably hundreds of thrillers from the era that are of about the same quality. The Thirty-Nine Steps is entertaining enough, but if you die without reading it your life wasn’t necessarily a waste.

[pilgrimjess · Évaluation : 3 sur 5 étoiles]

This is yet another book that I find rather hard to write a review for and again it is mainly because I am of an age where I remember watching the film. I distinctly remember watching this movie at school and I guess that is the real problem, the book not only shows it's age but mine too.

For those who do not know the plot, the book is told in the first person by Richard Hannay an ex-pat who has recently returned to the old ancestral homeland with a fair amount of money but with no friends or other ties and his is bored rigid. Then a neighbour is killed in his flat and the finds himself thrust into a spy mystery persued not only by the baddies but the police also.

The book written nearly 100 years ago and is set in the run up to WW1. This book is important because it was one of the first real spy stories and as such marks a shift in literary trends but also touches on the prevailing class differences of the time. Hannay was a mine-engineer in Rhodesia, so reasonably working class, but has made some money abroad and now finds himself rubbing shoulders with the upper classes.

With a long line of mis-adventures and disguise changes along the way ala Jason Bourne in the Bourne series but as this barely 100 pages long so there is little fleshing out of the various characters within. On the whole the book felt rather insubstantial and the ending a little rushed but you can certainly see why it has stood the test of time.

A book of it's time hence 3 stars but perhaps it would have been better if I could get the image of Robert Powell racing across the country out of my mind

[justabookreader · Évaluation : 4 sur 5 étoiles]

Sometimes, I like to go old school with my books. This book was one of those occasions. I should start off by telling you that The Thirty-Nine Steps is a serial story that appeared in a magazine in and around 1915 or so. I found it interesting for that reason; the fact that it was an old school spy thriller took it over the top though. However, there’s a reason for my telling you this up-front but the valuable lesson learned will be shared in a moment.

Richard Hannay is an ordinary man trying to settle into his London home after years away in South Africa when a neighbor, Franklin Scudder, corners him and tells him that he’s uncovered a German plot to assassinate a Greek Premier and he needs help hiding out. Soon after agreeing to hide Scudder, Hannay comes home to find him dead. From then on, Hannay is running from everyone. He can’t go to the police, he doesn’t know who is really chasing him, and he doesn’t know if any of it is real or not. Running is his one and only option.

Lesson learned: if you are going to read a serialized story, read it that way. Each chapter is a complete story, in a way. There’s a distinct beginning, middle, and end. Yes, you can say that of most novels but it’s especially true in this case since each chapter was run by itself it needed to reintroduce the characters and story in subtle ways. When I tried to read this book all in one sitting, it didn’t work. I started to wonder if I would even finish it because it wasn’t working for me. So, I started and ended each chapter at lunch. And it clicked! The book started working and I was in love with it. It became exciting to see how Hannay was going to get out of his predicament and who he would meet up with next. It was my lunch reading and I couldn’t wait for it.

It’s a man on the run thriller, one the first of its kind from what I remember reading about this story. The story itself is a great distraction too. I got caught up and was happy to see things work out in some cases or be left wondering about the next set up.

Warning: if you’re going to read this, go one chapter at a time and let the story play out. It’s so much better that way. And try it you should.