Is 'The Thirty-Nine Steps' the greatest adventure novel of all-time?

I recently finished reading an outstanding, older adventure book the other day that I highly recommend to those of you in the reading audience with a taste for armchair adventure, “The Thirty-Nine Steps” by Scottish novelist John Buchan.

First published in the August and September 1915 issues of Blackwood’s Magazine, this adventure novel features an old-timey action hero named Richard Hannay. Hannay, a fictional secret agent and British Army officer, finds himself in the middle of a cloak-and-dagger plot to ignite a war in Europe. Falsely accused of murder, Hannay flees from the law only to be pursued by a wide variety of unsavory assassins. The book’s a real page-turner and was good, clean fun to read.

I’ve wanted to read “The Thirty-Nine Steps” ever since I saw it listed on a great “best of” list compiled by the Web site, The Art of Manliness, called “The Essential Man’s Library: 50 Fictional Adventure Books.” The Art of Manliness (artofmanliness.com) ranked “The Thirty-Nine Steps” at No. 29 on that recommended reading list. Books ranked behind “The Thirty-Nine Steps” on that list included such classics as Jack London’s “The Call of the Wild,” Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick” and Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness."

“The Thirty-Nine Steps” has also appeared on a number of other recommended reading lists. Most recently, the rare books Web site, AbeBooks.com, ranked “The Thirty-Nine Steps” on its list of “Classic Adventure Stories,” which only consisted of 20 titles. In their 2007 book, “The Dangerous Book for Boys,” authors Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden listed “The Thirty-Nine Steps” among its recommended reading list for adventurous boys (and men). In 1995, the Mystery Writers of America ranked “The Thirty-Nine Steps” at No. 22 on its list of “Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time.” In 1990, the Crime Writers’ Association, which is based in England, ranked “The Thirty-Nine Steps” at No. 20 on its list of “Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time.”

I was interested to learn later that “The Thirty-Nine Steps” is actually the first of five John Buchan novels to feature Richard Hannay as the main character. The other four Richard Hannay novels include “Greenmantle” (1916), “Mr. Standfast” (1919), “The Three Hostages” (1924) and “The Island of Sheep” (1936.” I haven’t read “Greenmantle” or “Mr. Standfast” yet, but they must be pretty good too. The Crime Writers’ Association ranked “Greenmantle” at No. 91 on its list of “Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time” and “Mr. Standfast” was also recommended in “The Dangerous Book for Boys.”

“The Thirty-Nine Steps” has been adapted for film and television a number of times, and earlier this week I watched the 1935 motion picture adaptation, which was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. While entertaining, this black and white film didn’t follow the book very closely, but it was definitely worth watching. Supposedly, of all the movie and television adaptations, the 1978 film version starring Robert Powell most closely follows the book.

In the end, how many of you have read “The Thirty-Nine Steps”? What did you think about it? Did you like it or not? Have you read any of Buchan’s other books? Which is your favorite? Let us know in the comments section below.