Thirty

Thirty-Nine Steps
I have been reading a book for many days. The books name is Thirty-Nine Steps. Thirty-Nine Steps is written by John Buchan，which was published in 2004 for a second time by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
John Buchan, a Scottish writer and politician, had written lots of adventurous novels during his lifetime. And the Thirty-Nine Steps, written in 1915, is one of his most popular novels.
The adventurous story took place on the eve of the First World War. An Englishman called Richard Hannay accidentally got a piece of information that a group of German spies plan to murder the Greek Prime Minister and steal the English military secrets so as to stir up a world war. Leaving aside his own safety and danger, our witty leading role socialized with the sly German spies bravely. After going through all kinds of hardships, he finally conveyed the information to the Foreign Secretary. He shattered the German spies’ intrigue in the end.
The leading character in the story is Richard Hannay. Hannay is an unselfish man and a person of intelligence. His most important valuable personality is that he loves peace so much. In order to create a happy life for the people all over the world, he gave up his own happiness to run a risk of handing the information. To my surprise, he figures out what the letters mean in Scudder’s notebook. He learns that the 39 steps points out that the Black Stone lives in somewhere by the sea. He always manages to escape. It shows that Hannay also has great courage in disguising as the Fishman and some other persons. No matter how dangerous it was, he never gave up.
It’s such a well-done book that I like it very much. The story is so exciting that it catches my attention all the time. I’m holding my breath every moment Hannay faces with danger and is nearly caught by the enemies. The plots change so naturally and the words seem to be attractive. What’s more,t here’s growing a great respect to Hannay from the bottom of my heart. I am deeply touched by our hero’s determination to defense his motherland. He has a strong personality. He could have lived a comfortable life in London without hardship. And he doesn’t know Scudder very well, but he likes him. He also enjoyed an adventure.
All in all, it teaches us a lesson that all of us could do our little bit to contribute to our motherland especially when she is in great trouble.
Tom Brown’s Schooldays
I have just finished the novel Tom Brown’s Schooldays, which is written by Thomas Hughes and was published by Shanghai Translation Press in 1857.
Thomas Hughes was born in Berkshire in the south of England. He was not only a writer, but also a politician and reformer. Tom Brown’s Schooldays was Thomas’ first work and also his most influential work. which is famous in England as well as in America. The story is based on the author’s own experience in his early study age. It was set on the eve of the Queen Victoria time. It showed how students felt through the vivid narration of Tom’s and some other students’ life in the Rugby schoo l and the school environment. Rugby was one of the most influential schools at that time. But the public schools were under bad government. In the school, there was a good
deal of bullying, physically punishing students and also quarrels between teachers. The teacher-student relationship was intensive. People thought masters and boys were natural enemies. But after some significant reforms on the school teaching methods by the master Thomas Arnold, the school appeared a new look. It was under such surroundings that leading role Tom was educated and grew up.
The leading character in the story is Tom Brown. The story portrays the growth of Tom Brown, the leading character, and his friends East and Arthur. At that time there was a bad atmosphere in Rugby that the big boys would make the pupils in lower forms do the fagging for them. Tom showed a sense of justice and courage to fight against the bullies. On the other hand, Tom was immature to regard it as a pleasure to do what he was told not to do. It was Arthur, a little boy, that made Tom change so much. Arthur was weak in body but strong in mind. His influence on Tom was gradual but great. Despite that East shared much in common with Tom. Arthur did become a friend, even a teacher to Tom. With the help of each other, the three finally became more of a man.
Tom Brown’s Schooldays is really a nice book for us teenagers. It is a book worth reading. When you page through the book, you may find you’re looking back upon your own childhood. You can learn some great characters from the characters, too.。