The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan

Description

The Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure and thriller novel of 1915 by the Scottish author John Buchan. Before being published as a book in September, it appeared first as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine in August 1915.

The novel is set during 1914 when war is impending in Europe. Richard Hannay--the protagonist and narrator of the story-is an all-action hero with a stiff upper lip and a miraculous knack for getting himself out of sticky situations. He is a native of Scotland, returns to England from South Africa, and makes a flat in London as his new home. He is thoroughly bored with the new life in London. 

One night he buttonholed by a stranger, a well-traveled American, who claims to fear for his life. He reveals his identity to Hannay as Franklin P. Scudder, a freelance spy, remarks that he has faked his death and is trying to hide. The man appears to know of an anarchist plot to destabilize Europe, beginning with a German plot to assassinate the  Greek Premier (Prime Minister) in London and to steal British plans for the outbreak of war that will lead the world to have dire international consequences. He claims to be following a ring of German spies called the Black Stone. Hannay lets him hide in his apartment. 

A couple of days later Hannay returns home to find Scudder dead with a knife through his heart. He fears that murderers will come for him next, so he decides to hide in his homeland, Scotland. He feels to take up the duty to avert the assassination and continues Scudder's work. He is chased across Scotland by both police and German spies. There he needs all his courage and acuity to stay ahead of his predators. 
During this run, he finds out that the notes of Scudder's notebook contradict the story he was told before. 
After many ups and down, in and outs and some reasoning worthy of Sherlock Holmes, he finally solves the mystery of 'Thirty-Nine Steps' with the help of a few British authorities and military leaders. 

Eventually, the plot is thwarted and the United Kingdom enters the First World War, having kept its military secrets from the enemy. On the outbreak of war, Hannay joins the New Army and is immediately commissioned, captain. 

The solution to the mysterious phrase 'Thirty-Nine Steps' is a thread that runs through the whole story.

Review 

'The Thirty-Nine Steps' is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. This work is culturally important and has been selected to bring back into print to preserve the quality works worldwide. 

Among the first espionage thrillers and an acknowledged classic, 'The Thirty-Nine Steps' well deserves its accolades as one of the best adventure stories of all time. Along with the improbable finale of the novel, the fast-paced and brilliantly conceived narratives still excites and carries the sheer suspense of the manhunt--a recurring theme in literature-- and Hannay's struggle against the evil 'the Black Stone'.

For more than seventy years, Penguin publisher has been leading in publishing classic literature in the English speaking world. With more than 1700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

In 2003, the book was listed on BBC's 'The Big Read' poll of United Kingdom's 'Best Loved Novels'.

Adaptation

The novel has been adapted for many different media with some twist in the text from the original novel, mainly films and long-running stage play. In most cases, the title had been abbreviated to 'The 39 Steps' but the full title is commonly used for books and films in 1978. 

Film

• In 1935, a black and white film titled The 39 Steps and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It stars Robert Donat as Hannay and Madeleine Carroll as a woman he meets on the train. In 2004, Total Film named it the 21st greatest British film of all time.
• In 1959, The 39 Steps, a film directed by Ralph Thomas was the first color version, starring Kenneth More as Hannay and Taina Elg as Miss Fisher. It features a musical score by Clifton Parker.
• In 1978, a film with its original name The Thirty-Nine Steps was directed by Don Sharp and starred Robert Powell as Hannay and John Mills as Colonel Scudder. It is regarded as the closest to the original story of John Buchan. The film was followed by a spin-off television series Hannay, starring Powell and featuring adventure events that occurred in the original The Thirty Nine Steps.
• In 2008, the BBC commissioned a new TV adaptation of the novel, scripted by Lizzie Mickey and produced by BBC Scotland's drama unit. The 90-minute film 'The 39 Steps', was broadcast on 28 December 2008. A romantic subplot was added to the story, featuring Lydia Leonard. The storyline of the film tenuously follows the original novel, many characters being renamed or omitted. The end of this film is a little different from the original story.

Radio

There was various American radio adaptation during the two decades following the release of Hitchcock's film, most of which were based on its heavily altered plat. Though, it remains a popular subject for modern live productions done in a similar, old-time radio style.

• 1937, starring Rober Montgomery and Ida Lupino, part of the Lux Radio Theater series.
• 1938, starring Orson Welles, part of The Mercury Theatre on the Air series.
• 1943, starring Herbert Marshall and Madeleine Carroll, part of the Philip Morris Playhouse series.

There have been many more series on the radio during the period along with many full-cast adaptations for BBC Radio. Those are based directly on Buchan's novel. 

• 1939, in six parts, adapted by Winifred Carey and produced by James McKechnie. 
• 1950, The Adventures of Richard Hannay in12 half-hour parts, based on The Thirty-Nine Steps and Mr. Stantfast adapted by Winifred Carey and produced by Donald McCulloch.
• In 2001, starring David Robb, Tom Baker, and Willian Hope, adapted by Bert Coules.

apart from the list, there have been more adaptations over the period for BBC radio. There are also several BBC solo readings.

• 1947, in 12 parts, abridged by Hilton Brown and read by Arthur Bush.
• 1978, in five parts, abridged by Barry Campbell and read by Frank Duncan.
• 1996, in ten parts, produced by Jane Marshall and read by John Nettles.

Other solo readings:

• 1994, abridged, read by James Fox and released by Orbis Publishing, as part of their "Talking Classics" series. 
• 2007, unabridged, read by Robert Powell, and released by Audible audiobooks.
• 2007, unabridged, read by Peter Joyce, and released by Assembled Storie's audiobooks.

In 2014, BBC Radio 3 broadcast Landmark: The Thirty-Nine Steps and World War I, a 45-minute documentary on the novel's initial impact at home and abroad.

Theatre

• The 39 Steps (play), a comic theatrical adaptation by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon for a cast of four actors premiered in 1995 at the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond, North Yorkshire, before embarking on a tour of village halls across the north of England. 
• In 2005, Patrick Barlow rewrote the script, keeping the scenes, staging, and small-scale feel. In June, it was premiered at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.
• Finally, it was transferred to the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly where it became the fifth longest-running play until it closed in September 2015.
• On 15 January 2008, the show made its US Broadway premiere at the American Airlines Theatre. It ended its run on 10 January 2010.
• It reopened on Stage One of New York's Off-Broadway venue New World Stages on 25 March 2010 and closed on 15 April 2010.

The Broadway production received six Tony Award nominations, winning two--Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design with the London show winning an Olivier in 2007 and two Tony Awards in 2008. The play also won the Drama Desk Award, Unique Theatrical Experience.

Video Game 

A digital adaptation of Buchan's book, created with Unity, was made by Scottish developer The Story Mechanics and released on 25 April 2013, for Windows, OS X, Linus, and iPad. This version is entirely faithful to the plot of the book.

Interactive Fiction

In 2008, Penguin Books adapted the story as interactive fiction under the authorship of Charles Cumming calling it The 21 Steps.

In 2003, the book was listed on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's Best-loved novels.

About the Author

John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir GCMG GCVO CH PC DL (born on 26August 1875 in Perth, Perthshire) was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as 15th Governor-General of Canada,  Since Canadian Confederation.

After a brief legal career, Buchan simultaneously began his writing career and political-diplomatic career, serving as a private secretary to the administrator of various colonies in southern Africa. He wrote newspeak for the British war effort during World War I. He was elected Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities in 1927. Since being passionate about writing, he did spend most of his time on his writing career. His notable writings are The Thirty-Nine Steps and other adventure fiction.

In 1935, King George V, on the advice of Prime Minister R.B. Bennett, appointed Buchan to replace the Earl Of Bessborough as Governor-General of Canada, later he was raised to the peerage. He occupied the post until his death in 1940.

Buchan was enthusiastic about literacy and the development of Canadian culture, and he received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom.

John Buchan
The Lord Tweedsmuir in Native headdress, 1937

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Rating: 3.7/5

Author: John Buchan

Publisher: Classic Comic Store Ltd, William Blackwood & sons (Original) 

Publishing Date: 1 March 2016, 1915 (Original)

Language: English

Genre: Children's Action, Adventure, Comic, Graphic Novel and classic Fiction

ISBN-10: 1910619868

ISBN-13: 978-1910619865

Pages: 138

Cost: 125 INR (Paperback)

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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carré

Novel by John Le Carré
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Description

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a 1974 spy novel by British author John le Carré. It follows the endeavors of taciturn, aging spymaster George Smiley to uncover a Soviet mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service known as "the Circus" because its London office is at Cambridge Circus. At the height of the Cold War in 1973, a former senior official of Circus has been wrestling with retirement and disillusionment for a year after an operation in Czechoslovakia, codenamed Testify, ended in disaster with the capture and torture of agent Jim Prideaux. The failure resulted in the dismissals of Smiley and his superior, Control, the head of the Circus.




Now, Smiley is summoned to a secret meeting with a member of the Cabinet Office. Evidence testifies that the Circus has been infiltrated at the highest level by a Russian agent. An implanted mole has been destroying Circus in the process. 




The Circus relies only on Smiley's wit and a small loyal cadre. He is assigned to identify the traitor and destroy him, even though it (traitor) could be his closest one. 'Find the mole, George. Clean the stables. Do whatever is necessary.' Reluctantly Smiley agrees and embarks on the dark journey with the past filled with love, duplicity, and betrayal. Simley recognizes the hand of Karla--his Moscow Centre nemesis-- and sets a trap to catch the traitor.




Review




'A great thriller, the best le Carré has written'. -- Spectator




" A spy, like a writer, lives outside the mainstream population. He steals his experience through bribes and reconstructs it." -- John Le Carré




Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the fifth novel of Smiley's series. At the time of its publication, the novel had received critical acclaim for its complex social commentary and lack sensationalism but remains a staple of the spy fiction genre. The title will be familiar to many who have never even read this book as it was taken from a nursery rhyme. 




Notwithstanding, The book is one of the greatest spy novels on the shelf. It's a good read for book lovers, especially for those who love to read spy, suspense, and thriller. The icy atmosphere of the Cold War is brought brilliantly to life via a cast of memorable characters who all have their own motivations for the act of loyalty, friendship, daring... and betrayal. It reflects the cold war period and hostility and suspicion which existed between the two armed camps, NATO and the Soviet Union. It is a good read for anyone who is not familiar with the Cold War and its tensions. The novel is a real period piece and moves at a good pace. 




It is a modern classic in which John Le Carré expertly creates a total vision of a secret world. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy begins with George Smiley's chess match of wills and wits with Karla, his Soviet counterpart.

Adaptation
TV

•  In September 1979, a seven-part TV miniseries of the same name was made by BBC. It was directed by John Irvin, produced by Jonathan Powell, and starred Alec Guinness as George Smiley and Ricki Tarr was played by Hywel Bennett.

Radio

• In 1988, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a dramatization, by Rene Basilico, of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy in seven weekly half-hour episodes, produced by John Fawcett-Wilson.
• In 2009, BBC Radio 4 also broadcast a new dramatization, by Shaun McKenna, of the eight George Smiley novels by John Le Carré, featuring Simon Russell Beale as Smiley and produced by Steven Canny. The series was repeated in 2016 on BBC Radio 4 Extra. It has since been released as a boxed set by the BBC. 
• BBC audiobook in CD and audio cassette formats in which Bernard Hepton portrays George Smiley.

Film

• In 2011, the Oscar-nominated feature film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was directed by a Swedish director Tomas Alfredson and starred Gary Oldman as Smiley, Colin Firth, and Tom Hardy. It was based on a screenplay by Bridget O'Conner and Peter Straughan. It included a cameo appearance by John Le Carre in the Christmas Party Scene as the older man in the grey who sings the Soviet anthem. 

About the Author

David John Moore Cornwell (born on 19 October 1931 in Dorset, England), is better known by the pen name John Le Carré, is a British author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and 1960s, he worked for both the Security Service (MI5) and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). 

He is one of the greatest spy authors in the literature world. His third novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963), became an international best-seller and remains one of his best-known works. After the success of this novel, he left MI6  and became a full-time author. Several of his books have been adapted for film and television, including The Constant Gardener, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and The Night Manager. 

He has been awarded many awards and honors such as the following:

• In 1964, Le Carré won the Somerset Maugham Award.
• In 1998, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Letter) from the University of Bath.
• In 2008, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Bern.
• In 2008, The Times ranked him 22nd on its list of "The 50 greatest British Writers since 1945".
• In 2011, he was awarded the Goethe Medal, a yearly prize given by the Goethe Institute.
• In 2012, he was awarded the Degree of Doctor of Letters, Honoris Causa, by the University of Oxford.
• In 2020, he won the Olof Palme Prize.

Le Carré has lived in St. Buryan, Cornwall for more than 40 years; he owns a mile of a cliff near Land's End.

John Le Carré
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Rating: 4.2/5

Author: John Le Carré

Publisher: Penguin Books

Publishing Date: June 7, 2011 (Reprint edition)

Language: English

Genre: Spy Novel, Political Thriller, Espionage Thriller, Military Thriller

ISBN-10: 0143119788

ISBN-13: 978-0143119784

Pages: 400

Cost: $18.95 (Hardcover)

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

Description

'Gulliver's Travels' which is originally published in 1726 (294 years ago) by publisher 'Benjamin Motte' with the title, 'Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'. 

It is written by an Irish novelist, writer, and clergyman Jonathan Swift. The book is a classic of English Literature with satirical prose on human nature and the traveler’s tales as a literary sub-genre. 

The book is written in the first person from the point of view of Lemuel Gulliver who travels through the ocean and visits remote regions of the world. This book describes Gulliver's (the protagonist) four extremely adventurous travel experiences.  

Lemuel Gulliver lives in England and leaves the land to travel around the world. During his first voyage his shipwrecks down, he wakes up and finds himself tied up at the shore of Lilliput Island. The land of tiny people who are barely tall as much as a human finger (less than 6 inches). At first, Lilliputians believe that he is a destructive giant and can be a threat to the kingdom. Eventually, he becomes a favorite of the royal court and among the people of Lilliput. But, he ends up with the sentence to be blinded. He finally escapes with the help of a kind friend from the royal court.

He sails on the boat of his size and blown off by the gale-force to his second voyage that ends up to the land of Giants. A farmer finds him in the field and sold him to the queen of Brobdingnag. He finds great comfort in giants palace, he meets the King and tells him about Europeans who have cannons and guns. King is unhappy to hear about European culture and the use of cannons and guns. On a trip to the seaside, his traveling box is seized by a giant eagle who drops the box in the ocean. The sailors pick him up to return him to England.

The sailor's boat is attacked by the pirates on his third voyage. They maroon him on a desolate island near India, where he is rescued by a flying island of Laputa Kingdom. He tours Balnibarbi also a land ruled by Kingdom Laputa. People of that land are educated but impractical. They pursue science but without practical results, in a satire on bureaucracy and on Royal society and its experiments. He travels through many lands and kingdoms. After learning about lives on different lands, he reaches Japan where he takes leave from the Emperor to off to England.

Gulliver returns to the sea as a captain of the merchantman on his fourth and the last voyage. His crew then commits the mutiny and abandon him on the very first land they see. There he meets the Houyhnhnms - the race of intelligent and talking horses who are rulers and other sets of deformed ones resembles human beings called Yahoos. They think he may be a threat to their race so they command him to leave against his will. 

He makes canoe for his departure to his home and he is recused by a Portuguese ship. He reaches his home in England but unable to reconcile. He doesn't want to be in the land of Yahoos (humans). He avoids his wife and family, and spends most of the time in the stable, talking to his horses.

It is now generally accepted that the fourth voyage of Gulliver's Travels does embody a pessimistic view of life and the meaning of his existence in the universe. 

Review

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift begins with a short preamble in which Lemuel Gulliver gives a brief outline of his life and the history of his journey. The book describes his adventurous journey across the islands where he lands during his four voyages. He crams the jabbing and toe-stepping thoughts very well in this novel. The story is a big sarcastic slap on the human race that he compares with yahoos from the horse land. He believes the mainland is full of unfair forces, yet the land of tiny people, giants, and talking horses are better places to live, instead.

It was Swift's best known full-length work and classic of English Literature over two and a half centuries. The book was an immediate success. The term 'Lilliput' has been adapted as an adjective in the English language, it means 'Small and Tiny' and 'Yahoo' has been used as a synonym of ruffian or thug.

Swift claimed, 'He wrote Gulliver's Travels to vex the world rather than divert it'. He also mentions in the book, "Every Man Desires to Live Long, But No Man Wishes to Be Old". 

This book is a keystone of English literature, it is one of the books that gave birth to the term ‘novel’. Though, it does not have the rules of the genre as an organizing tool. Gulliver's Travels is one of the popular travel narratives, written as a parody in easy prose. It is a fusion of adventure with savage satire, mocking English customs, and the politics of the time. Comparing pack of Yahoos with human society is sarcastically hit on the head of the nail. Swift's wit, insight, and delivery are often and remarkable. 

The English dramatist John Gay remarked, "It is universally read from the cabinet council to the nursery." Robert McCrum listed Gulliver's Travels as a 'satirical masterpiece' in his selection of 100 best novels of all time. 

Adaptations

Undoubtedly, Gulliver's Travels was so popular that it has never been out of print ever. It was reprinted many times with small changes in the text, even within a few months later of the first publishing date the reprint of the novel was out. It was a common topic of discussion within meetings and social groups of that era.

A new edition was released in 1735 that included allegory which was not in the original edition of 1726. It was generally regarded as the more authentic and best version, though there has been debate and controversy regarding the satire and allegorical meaning of this novel. 

Film adaptations were mostly focused on the first two stories. It was adapted for an animated film (1939) produced by the Fleischer brothers. In 1977, a partially animated musical version starring Richard Harris as Gulliver, and a two-part television movie (1996) starring Ted Danson were popular adaptations of the time.

About the Author

Jonathan Swift, born on 30 November 1667 in Dublin (Ireland), was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet, and cleric who became Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, hence his common sobriquet, "Dean Swift". He was an alumnus of Trinity College in Dublin.

Besides, the most popular novel 'Gulliver's Travels' (1726), Swift wrote a short book A Tale of a Tub (1704) and A Modest Proposal (1729). Swift's other remembered work was An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1712) which is popular even today among readers, although not as much as Gulliver's Travels. 

He is regarded by the Encyclopaedia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language but he is less known for his poetry. His works were originally published under pseudonyms-- such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier, or anonymously. 

He was a master of two styles of satire -- Horatian and Juvenilia styles. He was one of the creators of deadpan, ironic writing style, particularly in 'A Modest Proposal', that led to such satire being subsequently termed "Swiftian".

He died in Dublin, Ireland on 19 October 1745, at the age of 77.

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

signature of Jonathan Swift

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Rating: 4.2/5

Author: Jonathan Swift

Publisher: Fingerprint Publishing

Publishing Date: 1 November 2015 (Originally published 28 October 1726)

Language: English

Genre: Classic Fiction, Satire, Fantasy

ISBN-10: 8175993251

ISBN-13: 978-8175993259

Pages: 312

Cost: 305 INR (Audiobook)