the thirty nine steps john buchan summary

Said hero, for those totally in the dark, is one Richard Hannay. Knowing what the thirty-nine steps are -and, no, it isn't a recovery programme for the hard-to-treat addicts - doesn't render the book pointless or unreadable, but certainly it's much more fun if you really can't remember and have to try to work it out all over again along with our hero. In this case that's all to the good, if you haven't read the book. The films, good, bad and indifferent, cloud the issue. Buchan wasn't averse to including the improbable in his tales of adventure, mystery and crime – but I'm fairly sure even he never envisaged Robert Powell hanging by his fingertips from the minute hand of the Palace at Westminster clock tower. The problem is that the story has been filmed many times and each time, in order to keep it fresh, to maintain the measure of suspense important to the success of the book, the screenwriters have felt the need to change the ending. Not all, there's always some-one who will know. But when you ask, Yes, but what ARE the 39 Steps? most people will falter. Most people will be able to tell you how it starts. Summary: The classic spy story of Richard Hannay’s attempt to avoid a charge of murder, foil a foreign plot and prevent a war is an unchallenging, but intelligent read.Īsk anyone about The Thrity-nine Steps and I guarantee they'll be able to tell you it's a spy story with Richard Hannay at its heart.

The thirty nine steps john buchan summary