A warm day today; 29 degrees C at the moment and it's already 8 p.m. It's been a lazy Saturday; Jo had a nice lie-in and I had an afternoon nap. At the moment we're watching Season 10, Episode 2 of Vera. Nice to have new episodes to watch.
So while we're watching Vera, I'll continue with my look at my favorite authors.
My Favorite Authors - Lord Tweedsmuir (John Buchan)
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| John Buchan |
"This is a classic, an interesting, exciting story. It's similar but at the same time a fair bit different from Alfred Hitchcock's movie. Interesting story of a man caught up in extraordinary events which have the potential to dramatically change the outcome of the impending war, who uses his ingenuity and basic smarts to avoid his enemies. I'll leave it there as I don't want to spoil for anyone who hasn't read before. Excellent story.
Reread - I enjoyed this reread even more than the other times I've read. As it was for a book group I took a bit more time. Hitchcock's movie was basically quite similar except for the addition of the young lady. It's a fast-paced adventure and Buchan wastes no time getting to the crux.
Hannay, bored with London, has decided to return to South Africa where he has worked as an engineer. He decides on a night out on the town and when he returns home, his upstairs neighbour, Scudder asks for his help. Scudder is aware of a plot to destroy the British fleet but fears he is being followed and he hides out in Hannay's flat. After a few days, Hannay finds Scudder stabbed to death and this begins Hannay's journey to Scotland to avoid the Black Stone and bide his time until he can advise the British government of the plot. To do so precipitously will cause the enemy to change their plans.
The black book of Scudder is in code but Hannay figures out the gist of it, including a reference to 39 Steps. Hannay must evade both the police (as he is a suspect for Scudder's murder) and also the Black Stone (German spies) as he races through the Scottish highlands. He meets many interesting helpful people who help him on his way. Eventually Hannay will get with the government and there will be another race to try and capture the enemy.
Action-packed story. Hannay is a common-sense individual who relies on his instincts, a strong, enjoyable character and an exciting story. Hannay appeared in at least 4 other Buchan adventures. Worth reading them all. (4 stars)"
"A perfectly admirable sequel to The Thirty-Nine Steps. Richard Hannay appears again, now a Major in the British Army during WWI. He and three companions are asked to go behind German lines and to follow a route to Turkey to find out what the Germans are plotting there. It's a well-paced, well-written adventure thriller. Most enjoyable, entertaining story. I look forward to reading the other stories in the series. (4 stars)"
"Mr Standfast is the third book in the John Hannay thriller/ spy series written by John Buchan. The first two, The 39 Steps and Greenmantle, were both excellent and this third story follows easily with another excellent, well-paced, thriller. In this story, John Hannay, now a General in the British Army is called back from the front (WWI) to help find an old adversary. The Germans are infiltrating pacifist factions and using these people to help their ends, as a conduit for passing information, and other activities. Hannay follows a trail to northern Scotland and back to the front in this wartime adventure. There are excellent characters in this story, Buchan writes thoughtfully and the story, especially the ending is all excellent. An excellent follow-up to the first two books. Next in this series will be The Three Hostages. (4 stars)"
"The Three Hostages is the 4th book in the Richard Hannay adventure / thriller series by John Buchan. It was originally published in 1924. I've read the complete series now and, maybe because it's the freshest in my mind, I think it was the best book in the series.
Hannay is living on his estate in the country in western Britain with his wife Mary and his young son Peter John. He is now trying to move on from his WWI experiences, to enjoy a retirement, but he is brought back to reality when he is advised of three kidnappings. He doesn't think he is appropriate to be involved in finding them but when he finds out that one is a young boy of similar age to Peter John, he changes his mind with encouragement from Mary.
Hannay agrees to assist. He returns to London and gets info; there are two related aspects. The three kidnaps; a young man, a young lady and the young boy. As well the intelligence services with his old friend, MacGillivary in charge, are trying to break up a criminal enterprise of major proportions. The timing of trying to rescue the kidnapped and breaking up the organization is critical as if they are too quick with one the other will be lost.
Hannay begins to investigate and along the way meets old friends from other books, especially Sandy Arbuthnot, who will play a major role in the resolution of the story. Hannay meets Medina, an English politician and attends a dinner along with Arbuthnot. Medina is popular with all except Arbuthnot who is suspicious. After the dinner, Hannay is drugged and an attempt by Medina is made to hypnotize and gain control of Hannay. This fails but Hannay now uses this action to continue investigating further into Medina and his organization.
The story moves along at a nice pace and finds Hannay moving throughout London and even to Norway as he searches for the kidnapped. He keeps MacGillivary somewhat out of the picture but with help from Arbuthnot (who even though keeping himself out of the picture as much as possible, plays a quite important role), Mary, and other old friends, he begins to gather more and more info.
It's a fascinating story, with hypnotism, black arts (somewhat) and a good old adventure. There is considerable tension and sufficient action, especially in the closing chapters, which are excellent. I'm almost glad that I saved this middle book until the end as it was excellent. There is another story, The Courts of the Morning, which features Hannay in a minor role, which I will also read. (4.5 stars)"
"The Island of Sheep is the fifth of five books by John Buchan featuring intrepid Richard Hannay. The most well-known book is the first, The 39 Steps, which was also made into at least two movies. I've read the first three and jumped book 4, The Three Hostages, for one of my reading challenges. I will get back to the 4th book in the near future.
With all that preamble, The Island of Sheep brings a retired Hannay and some friends back into adventure to follow up on a promise they made to an old friend many years ago. That promise was to help this man's son should he ever be endangered by the friend's enemies. Hannay is enjoying retirement, living at Fosse with wife and son but still feels that he's getting rusty. Brief meetings with other old friends, Lombard, and Sandy, lord of Clanroyden, bring back the events in Africa that lead to the promise to help their old friend, Haraldsen, a Norlander and adventurer. A group of old and new enemies are threatening the son of Haraldsen to get his wealth. Hannay and his friends decide to help him against them.
The adventure moves to Scotland, home of Sandy and then to the Island of Sheep, somewhere near Denmark / Norway, the home of Haraldsen and his clan, for the final confrontation. The story moves along nicely, with sufficient action to keep you involved and also develops the characters in a manner where you can see them shaking off the rust of their retirements and inactivity to become more resolute in their efforts to help their friend. Buchan has an excellent descriptive writing style and you can see and feel the land he describes and his characters. In many ways it's probably a man's story, the women, wives of Hannay and his friends, are strong and resolute and supportive of the men but also play minor roles. I also liked Hannay's son, Peter John, who plays a nicely major role in the events.
All in all, an excellent ending to the Hannay adventures, enjoyable to read and a satisfying ending. (3.5 stars)"
"I've read a few books by John Buchan, but they've been fiction; the John Hannay adventures. It was interesting to find one of his non-fiction books. The King's Grace 1910-1935 covers British history from 1910 - 1935, with a focus on the impact of the King. There was less focus this that I believed. It dealt more with the period before WWI, the war itself and the aftermath and how England was impacted. It especially talked about the various governments and at times talked about how the King impacted on the battlefield and also on the lives of his peoples. It was an interesting historical perspective; I've read a few books about this time and enjoyed seeing how an individual who lived through it, perceived things. Buchan has a unique perspective. Besides being a well-known writer, shortly after this book was published, he became the King's representative, the Governor - General of Canada. Interesting book. (3 stars)"
Currently Reading
"Begins in the pleasant atmosphere of a country house in the Scottish borders, where Richard Hannay is the guest of his old friend, Sandy Arbuthnot. The drama shifts to a small South American republic in the grip of a dictator. John Buchan is the author of The 39 Steps and Greenmantle."I'm enjoying so far.
So there you go. I do have two more of Buchan's novels. I'm looking forward to continuing my looks at his works. You can find a complete listing his novels at this link.
Enjoy your Sunday.
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