The 39 Steps by John Buchan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
So here’s one of the first, if not the very first, man-on-the-run stories. Here’s a spy novel before there were spy novels. And not even archetypal James-Bond type stuff. I’m talking about what the spy-genre has become lately—less international intrigue, subtle politics and craft, and more thriller-style run-and gun. I guess the genre’s returning to its roots, although I have no idea if Fleming and Ludlum drew much from Buchan.
I grabbed a copy of The 39 Steps after seeing the new hard-back re-issues in a book store, although I got mine for 99 cents on my e-reader. A fun read, and not without a little depth. It starts off with a guy who’s too bored for his own good, what James Bond might have been if he’d skipped military service and got ahold of Catcher in the Rye instead. But all of that’s just ironic prelude to the inevitable fun: murder, a wild chase through Scottish country side, disguises, ciphers, daring-do, doubt, triumph.. and then world war one.
Oh well. Buchan doesn’t bother giving us the party line on why or how the war started, blending a few made-up motivations with a touch of actual history to lend itself authenticity. But history’s not the point, nor is patriotism for that matter, or any kind of morality. This is just an adventure, one that a bored middle-class type can get into for a few hours. Nothing more.
Nor does it need to be more. And this was a nearly harsh lesson for me, since, right in the thick of things, my e-reader went all wonky. Right at the climax, whenever I turned to the next chapter, the book would turn itself off. I managed to download a version to my desktop, and realized that the page numbers were misleading me—I was, in fact, at the end of the novel (the rest was glossary and biography). No denouement to speak of, no anticlimax, which was a bit anticlimactic.
A tight little novel, readable in an afternoon. Then you can go back to your boring life.