The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan | #bookreport #bookexperience
How’s life everyone?
I bring a new section for this page. I’ll share some
book reports written for fulfilling the assignments.
Here’s the first one. It was written in November
2017.
Identity
of the book
Book
title :
The Thirty-Nine Steps
Author : John Buchan
Publisher :
William Blackwood and Sons
Date
published :
1915
Number
of pages :
95 pages
Genre(choose) :
History mystery science fiction romance biography science/technology other: ________________________
Description
- What is the story
about?
Richard Hannay, a Scotland, lives in London. One
night, a stranger comes to him, a well-traveled American, who claims to be in
fear for his life. The man reveals his name is Franklin P. Scudder, a freelance
spy, and remarks that he is dead, which holds Hannay's attention. Scudder
explains that he has faked his own death. Scudder claims to be following a ring
of German spies called the Black Stone who are trying to steal British plans
for the outbreak of war. Hannay lets Scudder hide in his flat, and the next day
another man is discovered having apparently committed suicide in the same
building. Four days later Hannay returns home to find Scudder dead with a knife
through his heart.
Hannay thinks that the murderers will come for him
next, but cannot ask the police for help because he is the most likely suspect
for the murders as he lived in the same building. He also feels a duty to reveal
Scudder’s secret. He decides to go into hiding in Scotland. To escape from his
flat unseen, he bribes the milkman into lending him his uniform and
exits wearing it, escaping from the German spies watching the house. He is
carrying Scudder's pocketbook, he catches an express train leaving from London
St. Pancras station.
He goes to escape from the enemies and the police.
He pretends to be someone else. He fakes his identities in everywhere he goes.
One day, Hannay manages to stay ahead of the pursuers,
and hides in a cottage occupied by an elderly man. Unfortunately, the man turns
out to be one of the enemies, and with his accomplices, he locks Hannay into
his storage room. Fortunately, the room in which Hannay is locked is full
of bomb-making materials, which he uses to break out of the cottage, injuring
himself in the process.
He dines at a public
house in Moffat before walking to the junction
at Beattock to catch a southbound train to England, changing
at Crewe, Birmingham New Street and Reading, to meet Sir Harry's
relative at the Foreign Office, Sir Walter Bullivant, at his country home
in Berkshire. As they discuss Scudder's notes, Sir Walter receives a phone
call to tell him that Karolides has been assassinated.
So, he can meet Sir Walter. Then, Hannay and Sir
Walter can solve the problem and catch the murderers.
- What did you like
most about the book?
I like its plot. The story is a
historical novel. It tells an incident before the 1st world war. The
Author delivers his story using communicative sentences so I can understand the
story easily.
- What did you like
least about the book?
What I like least is the conflict
of the story that is very tricky: there are more than two conflicts though it
is in one main problem.
- What did you learn
about the language and other interesting that you found in the novel?
a)
What
did I learn about the language?
I find many words that I don’t know the meaning but I just write some of them.
Feverishly = hurry Pogroms = killing
Outraged = insult Flogged = cane
Perish = die Solemn = serious
Loaf = hang about Irate = angry = furious
Stout = fat Morosely = melancholy
b)
Why
did you decide to read this book?
I read this book because I am
interested in a historical book.
c)
Were
you glad that you decided to read it?
Yes, I am. I am glad that I decided
to read it. The reason is that I did feel the main character’s feelings, and
his struggle not to be worthless and in his own life though he had to face many
problems.
d)
Would
you recommend this book to a friend?
I will recommend this book to a friend as it teaches
the importance of keeping ourselves from many possibilities and being a smart
person in bad situations.
e)
On
a scale of 1-10, how difficult was this book for you? (1=easy, 10=difficult)
How difficult this book is for me is on a scale of 7
as it has many characters and conflicts. It has simple words, but the conflict
is complicated.
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