O.Henry

[ravana]

He's my favorite writer. His short stories are great. Happy end, a good humor... I like all that. My favorite one is "The handbook of Hymen" What about you?

[ravana]

OK. Now I'm trying to find out why there isnt' any response. And I suppose:

a) You've already discussed him.
b) You don't like him.
c) You don't know him.(I'm sorry)
d) You just can't stand me.

Am I right?

[den]

Uhm, I'm going with `c' here ...

And I'm sorry you're taking it personally that people aren't responding. It could be for many reasons other than ones you've already suggested. ;)

[amuse]

i looked at your thread and thought i should go back and review his stuff. i remember a movie from one of his stories, and read one from the home page here a month or so ago.
glad you reminded me; i'll take another look.
the story i saw when little - it was a black and white short film -was the one where the lady sold her hair to get her husband (?) a watch chain for christmas, and he sold his watch to get a ribbon (?) for her hair.
and the story i read recently was the one where these guys are stuck in the middle of nowhere for the winter; they spend it reading.

[ravana]

Oh, Den, sorry, 'd' was just for fun.

Amuse, that story you saw is 'The Gift of the Magi'.This one and some of his stories are a little sad. But the story you read is my favorite. "The handbook of Hymen".

I'm a little surprized that you don't know him well. I liked him so much that didn't read all stories at once. Used them as a dessert. Read only one story in a day and in that way could keep my enjoyment much longer.

[Dexter]

Den, sorry, I'm a snob about O"Henry. After you read a few of his stories, you realize they have an "O'Henry" ending, and often predictable. The are also rather sentimental. In my circles of literary hell, sentimentality is at the bottom. There is nothing wrong with the emotion, but its false - you get a quick awwww, but haven't really learned anything. Art - great art, will change your life. You can't see what the artist (writer) was talking about again without seeing it in a new light. Sentimentality is superficial, a great book is one you can go back to time and again and find something new in it - try that with O'Henry.

[den]

So Dexter I'm not sure if you're recommending him to me or not? :p I've never read any of his books and if his writing is predictable and sentimental I don't know if I'd be interested anyway. Especially trying to read it twice ...

However, as you say, the art of writing is very subjective and while there's a vast range of subject I read about, there are some `sentimental' books I've read over and over again. Like Maugham's Of Human Bondage. There are many elements to it where obvious personal identification with characters is at the surface, but there are many other underlying themes of religious and socio-political consequence that also draw me back to it.

Glad you were just joking ravana ;)




Originally posted by Dexter
Den, sorry, I'm a snob about O"Henry. After you read a few of his stories, you realize they have an "O'Henry" ending, and often predictable. The are also rather sentimental. In my circles of literary hell, sentimentality is at the bottom. There is nothing wrong with the emotion, but its false - you get a quick awwww, but haven't really learned anything. Art - great art, will change your life. You can't see what the artist (writer) was talking about again without seeing it in a new light. Sentimentality is superficial, a great book is one you can go back to time and again and find something new in it - try that with O'Henry.

[caspian]

I haven't seen Nomel around lately, I guess he was gotten like other lost ones. ;)
I remembered our talk with him about O.Henry's novel. Unfortunately I can't remember in which thread it was. That's why I have to post here:
Nomel, I found out I was right when I told that O.Henry had a novel as well. The novel is "Cabbages and Kings"

[mono]

I very much enjoyed "The Handbook of Hymen," but my favorites, if I can narrow it down to a few, are "The Higher Abdication," "The Gift of the Magi" (of course), and "A Newspaper Story."
Nearly a year back, I had the great pleasure of reading ALL of his short stories, and his rare poetry - roughly 1,600 pages in all. It took some time, but I loved each one.

[Scheherazade]

I like O.Henry stories;I like the relaxing pace, warm tones and comforting endings. I don't see anything wrong with sentimentality either. A little feel-good-kick wouldn't hurt us, would it?

[annareads]

I have always enjoyed O. Henry's stories. My two favorites are "The Green Door" (I love the romance and advnture!) and "The Last Leaf" (It is touching). My third favorite would probably be "The Ransom of Red Chief", because it is so funny!