Sunday 24 February 2013

Artful Readers - February 2013

My February book for the Artful Readers group was “The 39 Steps” by John Buchan.

I have always wanted to read this book but never got around to it. It was much shorter than I had expected, more of a novella really, but still very enjoyable.

The story centres around Richard Hannay who has recently come to stay in London after making a modest fortune as a Mining Engineer on the Veldt in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). He befriends a gentleman living in the same lodging house who is in some kind of trouble and inadvertently becomes embroiled in a political nationwide threat to Britain.

This tale is definitely a product of the time in which it was written. It is set just before the Great War and by today’s standards is not very politically correct in places but I found it to be a fantastic romp through a bye-gone age and, although it was pretty easy reading, was enjoyable. I really had a sense of the suspense throughout the book and felt the ending tied up all the loose ends. I would recommend this book which, at 122 pages in the version I read, will only take you a couple of thoroughly enjoyable hours to read.

Here is my artwork, again created using Craft Artist Professional. I am really starting to get to grip with this software and am finding each time I use it that there are more and more things it is capable of.