Impressions of Book of The Thirty-nine Steps
As we all know, the Thirty-nine Steps is the most famous novel of John Buchan, and typical suspense novel in the literary history. What's more, it's one of 100 typical suspense novels chosen by the Institute of American Reasoning Writers, ranking 22 in the list. Also, it's in the list of 1000 must-read novels before death chosen by The Guardian. Actually, John Buchan is one of Hitchcock's most favourite writers. On the first looking into the Thirty-nine Steps, he said,"I reckon it could be turned into a great film from the first time I read John Buchan's the Thirty-nine Steps. "
However, I'm merely familiar with its book title. At the first sight, I'm curious about what "the Thirty-nine Steps" means, where it is and where it goes. It's a very interesting title. These words first appear in Chapter 4, "'(Thirty-nine steps)' was the phrase; and at its last time of use it ran—'(Thirty-nine steps, I counted them—high tide 10：17 p.m.)'." According to my calculation, "the thirty-nine steps" appear 9 times in total. Most part come out in Chapter 9, which focuses on how the hero, Richard Hannay figured out the code "the thirty-nine steps". Obviously, it's a clue, which Scudder left to his fellows to find out the secret place of Black Stone where they hung out, where they were going to leave Britain, though he kept the name to himself. Therefore how to find out the code is of great importance to achieve the final success.
Speak of the hero, Richard Hannay is the one who wants to adventure and has a head for things like chess and puzzles. In fact, he did a bit at it himself once as intelligence officer at Delagoa Bay during the Boer War. He is a mining engineer back to London from South Africa. But I have been wondering why the writer didn't tell his job until Hannay met Sir Harry. Apparently, Hannay was so fed up with the life in London before Scudder came to him, and he was just about to settled to clear out and get back to the African grasslands. So when Scudder came up to him for help, he didn't refuse immediately. At first, Hannay was more interested in his own adventures than in his high politics. After Scudder was killed, he turned into a quick-witted man to carry on Scudder's work. Hannay began showing his insight from the moment.
At that night, Hannay arrived home and found Scudder stuck to the floor by a long knife. He felt very sick and was succeeded by a fit of the horrors. Under such a condition, he could calm down and eventually think things out in the next a few hours. At this point, it's easy to show his intellect and capacity of handling with tough situations in this difficult trap. He kept his head and arranged his schedule in the next three weeks. It proves that Hannay is a very strong person in mind and hardly shaken in belief.
In order to get rid of those two sets of people would be looking for him—Black Stone, Scudder's enemies to put him out of existence, and the police, who would want him for Scudder's murder, he should keep hiding before he could venture to approach the powers that be. As a result, he pretended as a milkman, a Scotsman, a Colonial and free trader, a roadman and a man called Ainslie(maybe a thief). Although his get-ups are not perfect, he has a wonderful way to make it. That is a saying that an old scout in Rhodesia once told him that the secret of playing a part was to think yourself into it. He said,"If you are playing a part, ou should never keep it up unless you could manage to convince yourself that you were it." It haunted Hannay from time to time and really helped him a lot. When he acted as a roadman, he shut off all other thoughts and switched them onto the roadmending with this saying in mind. And his get-up was good enough for the dreaded Surveyor and the Black Stone. Another scene is when Hannay kept watch on the house called Trafalgar Lodge at the head of the thirty-nine steps and his owner of course. It gave a strong point to convince himself with his judgement.
Though Mr. Buchan describes Hannay as a quick-minded, intelligent and kind-hearted man who is eager to take risks, he doesn't embody him to be such a perfect man. Actually, Hannay also made some mistakes but they were turned out to be good things. For example, in Chapter 3 he did play tricks on those two sets of people successfully but he changed the plan to steal the car of the Black Stone. As a result, the big green car became the safest clue to him whether he left it and took to his feet or not. As he tried to get to the leafy cover of the valley in order not to on a bare road he was at the airplane's mercy, he ran slap into the hedge preventing a crash with a coming car. Thus he met Sir Harry, a local Liberal Candidate, who gave Hannay a hand when in a mess. Furthermore, Sir Harry introduced Hannay to his godfather, Sir Walter Bullivant, the Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Office, after Hannay took him into his confidence. Consequently, Hannay could get in touch with the Government people before the conspiracy happened. It's no doubt that Hannay made a wrong decision on the run. However, it seems that goddess was always on his side. Probably because all people believe in that the evil will not triumph over the virtuous.
Of course, Hannay could not be able to succeed in accomplishing his work without the help of those kind-hearted people—a couple of a herd's cottage, an innkeeper, Sir Harry and the roadman Alexander Turnbull. For the sake of being far ahead of any pursuit, Hannay kept going for some hours since he had tasted food when he came to the herd's cottage, set in a corner beside a waterfall. The couple welcomed him for a night's lodging and offered a large meal but refused any payment. As for Sir Harry, I have just mentioned it above. Hannay ran into the innkeeper on a bridge of the plateau and pitched him a lovely story which completely fitted in with this adventure of literary innkeeper's appetite. Hence the innkeeper provided Hannay with anything he could. With his help, Hannay had enough time to do his search for the code in Scudder's notebook and eventually found out that the whole story was in the notes,which was not the same as what Scudder told him. Meanwhile Hannay moved with those two sets of people through the innkeeper. I think the innkeeper absolutely played a key role in the story. He earned some time for Hannay to rest and got his ideas into shape. It laid a good foundation for the battle of wits and courage with the Black Stone. On his way to the shepherds after saying goodbye to Sir Harry, Hannay found the roadman in a tiny bit of road, beside a heap of stones. Hannay made believe that he was the roadman to take on his job for a bit instead of Turnbull. In this way, Hannay got rid of the Black Stone. However, Hannay exchanged his coat and collar with Turnbull's, including the most important thing—Scudder's notebook. Unluckily, Hannay was subject to the boss of the Black Stone—an old man "could blink his eyes like a hawk". With great difficulties, Hannay escaped from the enemy's headquarters. And when Hannay came back to Turnbull, he was in for a bit of Malaria and could not frame a coherent answer. Actually, Turnbull could neglect Hannay and occupy his things, even take him to the police. But he didn't. To my surprise, he carefully took care of Hannay and never bothered him with a question. And he never even sought his name and gave back all Hannay's stuff. More surprisingly, he grew positively rude and shy and red when Hannay pressed him to accept five pounds for his lodging. "He was a true friend in need, that old roadman." It's how Hannay thinks of the roadman Alexander Turnbull. Although these people all did Hannay a favor when he was in a mess, it's my belief that he liked and trusted Turnbull most. In his opinion, the couple is kind; the innkeeper is young, but he was the man for Hannay's money; Sir Harry is a good fellow, and Hannay is frank in turn as well; as for the roadman, "There never was a more independent being."
Another indispensable character is the boss of Black Stone—an old man with a young voice and eyes that blinked like a hawk. As a matter of fact, throughout the story he went only out twice. "His face was round and shiny, like Mr. Pickwick's, big glasses were stuck on the end of his nose, and the top of his head was as bright and bare as a glass bottle." His debut is so remarkable as a bald archeologist and there is something about the eye of him, so keen and knowledgeable, that Hannay could not find a word, just simply staring at him and stuttering when he faced with the old man. Even like Scudder, such a sharp, restless and brave person, who was mortally anxious about winning through with his job but didn't care a rush for his life, "he described very particularly somebody that he never referred to without shiver" when he put Hannay wise about the conspiracy. On the point, I pick out that the old man is the one big brain in the whole story, and he could not hardly correctly size up a man.
Apart from his wits and insights, he is quite good at disguises as well. Perhaps his get-ups are better than any other. The second time he came onto the story was as an old gentleman named Appleton—a retired stockbroker, owing the house called Trafalgar Lodge at the head of the thirty-nine steps. When Hannay kept a lookout over the house, he wasn't feeling very confident. "The man might be the bald archeologist of that horrible highland farm, or he might not. He was exactly the kind of satisfied old bird you will find in every suburb and every holiday place. If you wanted a type of the perfectly harmless person you would probably pitch on that." "I rubbed my eyes and asked myself if I was not the most foolish man on earth. Mystery and darkness had hung about the men who hunted me over the Scotch highlands in airplane and motorcar, and especially about that damned old man." "They all went into the house, and left me feeling a precious idiot. I had been barking up the wrong tree this time. These men might be acting; but if they were, where was their audience? They didn't know I was sitting thirty yards off in the bushes. It was simply impossible to believe that these three fellows were anything but what the seemed—three ordinary, game-playing, wealthy Englishmen, boring, if you like, but completely innocent." From Hannay's words, these showed up his successful get-up. Or maybe he is always easy and well-prepared for the things coming.
Barring absolute certainties like fingerprints, mere physical traits were very little use for identification if the hiding man really knew his business. The only thing that mattered was "atmosphere". If a man could get into perfectly different surroundings from those in which he had been first observed, and—this is the important part—really play up to these surroundings and behave as if he had never been out of them, he would puzzle the clevest detectives on earth. I suppose that it might be the big secret of all the famous criminals.
Despite the fact that he is intelligent and possesses his soul all the time, there are a scene that he didn't convince himself as usual. That is, Hannay walked straight into his headquarters unconsciously due to the police's tracking. He was very sure that Hannay was the man he wanted to vanish forever at the beginning, even though he had never seen him before. But as the reflection darted across his mind Hannay saw a slender chance. Hannay tried his best to be a thief named Ainslie. After sounding Hannay several times, he was badly puzzled. He put Hannay in the storage room and he himself went outside to look for the confirmation. Apparently, he is cautious and exact in everything.
Nevertheless, there's another side of him. At the end of the story, Hannay and he were facing out, both trying to win the last game. Hannay prevented the three men from going to town, and the old man fought Hannay so as to let his partner leave. At that time, he was looking at Hannay with blazing eyes."'He is safe,' he cried. 'You cannot follow in time... He is gone... He has triumphed... The Black Stone has triumphed.' There was more in those eyes than any common triumph. They had blinked like a bird of prey, and now the flamed with a hawk's pride. A white fanatic heat burned in them, and I realized for the first time the terrible thing I had been up against." And then Hannay kept the old man with the chains placed on his wrists. As to the old man, he didn't care about himself. He's more concerned about the Black Stone's victory. Certainly this old man is more than a spy; in his foul way he had been a patriot.
As known to all, the consequence of suspense novels has never let readers down. As a result, Hannay and his fellows crushed the plot and made everything in their hands. Hannay joined the New Army and, owing to his Matabele experience, got a captain's commission straight off.
Throughout the whole story, honestly I prostrate myself before John Buchan's skill at characterization. With obvious drama and no climax in every chapter or whatever, the author simply describes the characters in such a smooth way. Moreover, he is dedicated to the portrayal of a person with regard to distinguishing psychological or physical features.
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