In this post you will know the 39 steps, the adventure book by John Buchan that immortalized the brilliant Alfred Hitchcock in his 1935 film of the same name. Unmissable!
The 39 steps, one of the first action suspense thrillers
The 39 steps: A book full of adventures
The 39 Steps is, in the opinion of many, the best-known novel by John Buchan, a Scottish writer, politician and diplomat who became Governor of Canada, Member of the Scottish Parliament and Colonial Administrator in South Africa.
John Buchan, without a doubt, is an equally or more interesting character than the protagonist of the novel (Richard Hannay), who would be the main figure in five of his espionage and adventure novels.
The 39 steps (The 39 Steps. 1915) is the first saga of the adventures of Richard Hannay, a normal man who is transformed into a hero due to various events and circumstances.
John Buchan once commented that he wrote these espionage and adventure novels for entertainment, so you wouldn't expect much depth from them at first.
The surprising thing is that the story is full of witty phrases, very fine and sharp humor and it is told in an entertaining and engaging way from the beginning, because you can't stop until you discover the outcome of the plot.
The 39 Steps: Plot
The novel takes place in 1914, in a war-torn Europe, and follows the adventures of Richard Hannay, who has just returned to London from Rhodesia determined to start a new life.
Your neighbor, Franklin P. Scudder asks you for help because he has discovered a plot between the Germans and the Russians, in an espionage organization called "The 39 steps”, who want to assassinate the Prime Minister of Greece, while stealing the war plans of the British military.
His neighbor tells him that he is in serious danger, to the point that he has had to fake his own death in order to flee from his pursuers: “- Excuse me- he said-, tonight I'm a little nervous. You see, I happen to be dead right now.”
Events begin to unravel when a few hours later, the neighbor, Franklin Scudder, is actually found dead in Hannay's apartment, who, fearful of being implicated in this murder, decides to flee in search of the 39 stepsin order to prove his innocence.
Hannay, seeing himself involved in this plot, begins his flight pursued incessantly by the police who have implicated him in the murder of Scudder, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the real murderers responsible for this death.
On the bumpy road, full of vicissitudes, Hannay will meet the most unique characters who will help him evade his pursuers and find the truth.
The novel places us in the middle of an international intrigue, with anarchist, Jewish, German and Russian characters, who are doing everything they can to start a war, unleashing a conflict from which to profit.
If you like the content of this post, you may be interested in knowing more about the book of open wounds, by Gillian Flynn, a fabulous psychological thriller that you must read, so we invite you to see this interesting article.
The 39 Steps: Book Review
This espionage and action novel, filled with a surprising sense of humor, turns out to be very entertaining and easy to read, although it is far from being a masterpiece of the genre.
We must remember that it was written and published in 1915 and the ingenuity of the time can be seen between the lines, in addition to the fact that the genre was still in its infancy.
Starting from a premise that the character reiterates to us during the course of his adventures, because "he is bored by high politics", so, in many scenes, Hannay stops listening so, invariably, the reader also stops listening.
In any case, this lack of information does not affect the pace of the novel, since the gaps that Buchan leaves us with his short explanations are covered with his sense of humor, which is never lost.
The plot moves from one adventure to the next without wasting time on subtleties, nor delving into the motivations of the characters and their psychological background that adorns the novels of the genre.
Although the plot in the novel is scattered at times, the humorous resource always comes to save the day, along with the finesse of John Buchan's pen, which catches the reader from the beginning.
In the end, the novel does exactly what was expected of it when the writer conceived it: entertain and entertain a lot and well, since leaving aside its shortcomings, we always find phrases that border on genius.
Referring to the villain of the play, Hannay tells us: “Maybe he had bribed the local police. He in all probability had letters from various ministers saying that they should give him every facility to conspire against Great Britain. This is how we do politics in the motherland".
The 39 steps is a suspense thriller that masterfully combines the elements of political conspiracy with the struggle of an ordinary man who finds himself in need of becoming a hero in order to prove his innocence.
Film Adaptations: The Genius of Alfred Hitchcock
The 39 steps It has been adapted four times for the big screen, with Hitchcock's version being the most famous and acclaimed by critics as a masterpiece.
- 1935-Alfred Hitchcock.
- 1959-Ralph Thomas.
- 1978-Don Sharp.
- 2008-James Hawes.
The genius of filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock produced a film that in 1999 was ranked fourth among the best British films by the British Film Institute.
Also, in 2004, Total Film magazine ranked it twenty-one of the greatest films of all time, an opinion shared by most film critics.
In the film adaptation, Richard Hannay's neighbor character was replaced by a spy named Annabella Smith, who will eventually be forcefully killed in our hero's kitchen.
The plot of the film deviates substantially from the plot of the book. Since Hitchcock introduced a romantic element in the film that the novel lacks, thus enriching the story.
Distribution of film
The film, headed by Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll, features a cast of what were, at the time, the UK's leading actors and actresses.
- Robert Donat-Richard Hannay.
- Madeleine Carroll-Pamela.
- Lucie Mannheim-Annabella Smith.
- Godfrey Tearle – Professor Jordan.
- Peggy Ashcroft – Margaret, John's wife.
- John Laurie – John, the farmer.
- Helen Haye – Mrs. Louisa Jordan.
- Frank Cellier-Watson, police officer.
- Wylie Watson – Mr. Memory.
If you are interested in knowing much more about the work the 39 steps by John Buchan, and the film adaptation by Alfred Hitchcock, be sure to watch the following video.