The Runagates Club vs The Thirty-Nine Steps: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: World War I, Intelligence service, World War, Great Britain, Spy Fiction, Fiction

The Runagates Club John Buchan · 1928 ★★★★☆ 3.8 342 pages · ≈ 6 h 20 m · Challenging

John Buchan’s The Runagates Club is a classic of British interwar short fiction. These twelve stories appeared from 1913 to 1927, when he was at the peak of his powers, and feature Richard Hannay, Edward Leithen, and…

English Short stories English literature Short Stories

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The Thirty-Nine Steps John Buchan · 1915 ★★★★☆ 3.6 104 pages · ≈ 1 h 56 m · Challenging

Richard Hannay has just returned to England after years in South Africa and is thoroughly bored with his life in London. But then a murder is committed in his flat, just days after a chance encounter with an American…

1 film adaptation

Hannay Richard Hannay Textbooks for foreign speakers Fugitives from justice

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Side by side

The verdict

Readers rate The Runagates Club highest: The Runagates Club 3.8 · The Thirty-Nine Steps 3.6.
The Thirty-Nine Steps is the quickest read — about 1 hours vs 6 for The Runagates Club.
The Thirty-Nine Steps has the widest readership — 48698 ratings behind its score.

How to choose

Want a one-evening read? The Thirty-Nine Steps ≈ 1h vs 6h for The Runagates Club

Scores by source

	The Runagates Club	The Thirty-Nine Steps
Goodreads	3.8 (15)	3.6 (48698)
Hardcover	—	4.0 (1)
Apple Books	—	4.0 (492)

Reception

	The Runagates Club	The Thirty-Nine Steps
Ratings	15	48698
Editions	67	881
Film adaptations	1	1
Want to read	94	25610
Reading it now	—	2384
Written reviews	15	4315
Wikipedia attention	71	9861
Pages	342	104

Questions readers ask

Which is rated higher: The Runagates Club or The Thirty-Nine Steps?

The Runagates Club has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Runagates Club 3.8/5, The Thirty-Nine Steps 3.6/5).

Which is shorter to read: The Runagates Club or The Thirty-Nine Steps?

The Thirty-Nine Steps is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Thirty-Nine Steps (104 pages, ≈ 1 h 56 m); The Runagates Club (342 pages, ≈ 6 h 20 m).

Which is harder to read: The Runagates Club or The Thirty-Nine Steps?

Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Runagates Club: Challenging; The Thirty-Nine Steps: Challenging.

Have both books been made into films?

The Runagates Club: no film adaptation on record; The Thirty-Nine Steps: 4 film adaptations.