The Gap in the Curtain is a supernatural story full of suspense. Guests at a country house party are enabled by an eccentric scientist to see a glimpse of an issue of the Times dated a year ahead of time.
Gap in the Curtain
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
John Buchan, Baron Tweedsmuir, was a Scottish diplomat, barrister, journalist, historian, poet and novelist. He wrote adventure novels, short-story collections and biographies. His passion for the Scottish countryside is reflected in much of his writing. Buchan's adventure stories are high in romance and are peopled by a large cast of characters. 'Richard Hannay', 'Dickson McCunn' and 'Sir Edward Leithen' are three that reappear several times. Alfred Hitchcock adapted his most famous book 'The Thirty-Nine Steps', featuring Hannay, for the big screen. Born in 1875 in Perth, Buchan was the son of a minister. Childhood holidays were spent in the Borders, for which he had a great love. He was educated at Glasgow University and Brasenose College, Oxford, where he was President of the Union. Called to the Bar in 1901, he became Lord Milner's assistant private secretary in South Africa. By 1907, however, he was working as a publisher with Nelson's. During the First World War Buchan was a correspondent at the Front for 'The Times', as well as being an officer in the Intelligence Corps and advisor to the War Cabinet. Elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament for one of the Scottish Universities' seats in 1927, he was created Baron Tweedsmuir in 1935. From then until his death in 1940 he served as Governor General of Canada, during which time he nevertheless managed to continue writing.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is actually not particularly suspenseful and so is not a thriller like Buchan's "The Thirty-Nine Steps." Nonetheless, I found it tremendously enjoyable. As one of the other reviewer's notes, the story involves several guests at an English country house in the early 1930s who each gets a very brief glimpse of a different page from the London Times one year in the future. Buchan is a superb writer and I found his account of the fates of these people very well done. However, you need to have some interest in England in the 1930s to truly appreciate this book. A couple of the story threads involve the political maneuverings in the British Parliament in the early 1930s as the Great Depression threw the normal party alignments into disarray. Naturally, these events were more interesting to people in England in 1932 when this book was published than they will be to readers in the contemporary U.S. One of the other reviewers found these parts of the book boring, but I think Buchan writes so well that they remain interesting.
A couple of points: The book starts a bit slowly and the best of the story threads is the one that ends the book. In fact, I found the last story thread to be quite moving. So, don't abandon the book too early! Finally, [SPOILER ALERT] I found the twist at the end a bit farfetched, but it didn't spoil the book for me, particularly as it allowed for a happy ending.
A couple of points: The book starts a bit slowly and the best of the story threads is the one that ends the book. In fact, I found the last story thread to be quite moving. So, don't abandon the book too early! Finally, [SPOILER ALERT] I found the twist at the end a bit farfetched, but it didn't spoil the book for me, particularly as it allowed for a happy ending.
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The reviewer below has done a good job of summarizing the basic premise of this book's plot: a country-house party is given the opportunity to see for an instant the front page of the Times a year hence. Each member sees something affecting himself, and the rest of the book tells what each one did with the knowledge gained thereby.
As a premise, this is great. Unfortunately, Buchan allows his story to become bogged down with uninteresting characters in contrived situations. Perhaps the up-and-coming politician's story was interesting to an Englishman in the 1930s, but today it seems dull indeed. Form a coalition government already! Or something! Don't agonize over what to do for months on end.
Ultimately, I feel that this book fails as a thriller because it can't make the dramas playing out in its characters' lives have much meaning to the reader.
As a premise, this is great. Unfortunately, Buchan allows his story to become bogged down with uninteresting characters in contrived situations. Perhaps the up-and-coming politician's story was interesting to an Englishman in the 1930s, but today it seems dull indeed. Form a coalition government already! Or something! Don't agonize over what to do for months on end.
Ultimately, I feel that this book fails as a thriller because it can't make the dramas playing out in its characters' lives have much meaning to the reader.
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
As a long-time fan of John Buchan, I especially enjoyed my re-reading of "Gap In The Curtain". At a weekend gathering in the country, several people are enabled to glimpse certain items that will be printed in the newspaper exactly one year in the future. The author proceeds to show his readers how this information is used by each individual. Buchan always writes in an entertaining manner, but his ingenuity in crafting these gripping narratives provides a unique contribution to his collection of novels. There are plenty of twists and turns, and some genuinely interesting insights into the way people think and act. Read it; you won't be disappointed.
Inside This Book
(learn more)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
