Life is filled with lots of small adventures, but which one is the most attractive? The Thirty-Nine Steps is a book filled with all kinds of adventures, from having a freelance spy murdered in his home to having to dress up as a milkman to escape the police that follow. Out of all these adventures, which one is the most interesting, and the most fun? I think that the most attractive adventure to me is the one where he had to escape the leader of the Black Stone’s home, using bombs that he crafted using his mining engineer knowledge. This adventure had all kinds of action, featured lots of interesting trivia, and ultimately ended up with Richard Hannay escaping the prison from which his captor had sent him too, using a chunk of lentonite that he knew would act as a great makeshift bomb back from his mining engineer days.
Inside of an adventure, most people want lots of action and fun, so that they won’t have to sit around waiting for someone to save them, and this adventure has exactly that. It’s not just simple, grueling work like running for your life, but this involves lots of carefully thought through planning. The main character, Richard Hannay, accidentally stumbles into his enemies home seeking shelter, but when he realizes this it’s already too late. He is cast into a damp, dark prison cell, from which he finds lentonite, and easily crafts a bomb out of it, then blows a hole into the house and narrowly escapes his enemies, dodging traps around the property as he runs for multiple miles straight, choked on fumes from the bomb and tired from exhaustion. The excitement of just escaping your enemy and surviving to tell the tale is just one of the reasons why I think that this is the most attractive adventure. This action packed adventure is sure to please all thrill seekers and excite other daredevils.
This adventure doesn’t just please risk-takers and masochists, it can also test your knowledge and see if you can lie to a spy and not get caught in the process. By adding in the element of suspense and surprise, when you wander into the spy chief’s home, you have to be ready and on your feet, prepared to be suave and give reasons why they shouldn’t just execute you right there and then. Richard Hannay did this, and got himself locked into a cell. He escaped, by remembering facts about lentonite, and how you could use it to make a bomb, which will be easy for those who love trivia and interesting facts. You’ll have to be a glib talker and a smooth orator, to fool the spy chief into becoming unsure if you really are the intended target, and not just a random fool. This adventure would appeal to all kinds of people, unlike some other adventures which would only please only one type of child.
This adventure also has some of the most detail and work as Richard ponders how to escape, while using such descriptive words that it allows the reader to construct a near perfect picture of the scene. Description is an art that every author would do well to master. In The Thirty-Nine Steps, he describes the blast on lentonite as how “A great wave of heat seemed to surge upwards from the floor, and hang for a blistering instant in the air,” which seems to allow the reader to feel the blast of heat. He also describes the aftermath as “Then the wall opposite me flashed into a golden yellow and dissolved with a rending thunder that hammered my brain into a pulp,” making us feel sympathy for Richard and amazed at the power of the lentonite. Powerful words can make all the difference in writing, even more than plot and character, and John Buchan used them perfectly. These complex and sophisticated words show the skill of the author and the delicate intricacies of this chapter, and make this adventure the most attractive in my opinion.
In The Thirty-Nine Steps, the most attractive adventure is probably where he had to escape a prison while his captors are watching. This has action, and lots of physical exercise, including a requirement of a depth of knowledge to manage to craft a bomb while still confusing the spy captain so that they aren’t really sure who you are. The powerful words are stirring, and show the scene as if you were there. These three reasons are what makes this adventure the most interesting part of The Thirty-Nine Steps, and are a crucial part of what makes The Thirty-Nine Steps that millions of readers read every year. That is why this adventure is the most attractive to me.
Comments