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The Gift of the Magi and other stories
by
O. Henry
A story of sacrificial love, The Gift of the Magi is a classic for the Christmas season and beyond. A husband and wife cannot afford to give each other presents unless they give up their own greatest treasures. With touching twists, O. Henry unfolds a story of profound implications.
...moreHardcover, 159 pages
Published
November 10th 2008
by BARNES & NOBLE PUB.
(first published 1906)
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Community Reviews
(showing
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2,348)
Mar 19, 2010
Amy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2010-books-read,
short-stories
I enjoyed reading some of the lesser-known ironic stories of O. Henry in this book. My very favorite lesser-known story in this book is "The Green Door" in which a man receives a mysterious business card which simply says "The Green Door". The man is intrigued because he finds that everyone else has been handed a business card for a dentist office rather than for "the green door". So, of course, he has to go in search of this mysterious green door. I love the course of the story. I don't underst...more
An ambrosial collection of really quirky, whimsical stories, often with a twist in the end that keeps the reader on their toes and engaged in guessing. Some are love stories and some aren't; some have happy endings and some don't; O. Henry does not limit himself to one type of story and the scope of his imagination ranges from the comfortingly traditional to the wildly obscure. One of my favorites was one told from the point of view of a dog, who kept swearing by Sirius. While some are as short...more
This book is my first introduction to O.Henry and his mischievous twists of fate to all his story endings. I was forewarned about these twists and tried to guess throughout all the stories - but I was always surprised. I found this quite delightful. This book is a compilation of his short stories written between 1906 - 1911 including:
- The Gift of the Magi
- The Cop and the Anthem
- Springtime a la Carte
- The Green Door
- After Twenty Years
- The Furnished Room
- The Pimienta Packages
- The Last Leaf
-...more
- The Gift of the Magi
- The Cop and the Anthem
- Springtime a la Carte
- The Green Door
- After Twenty Years
- The Furnished Room
- The Pimienta Packages
- The Last Leaf
-...more
"Suppose you should be walking down Broadway after dinner, with ten minutes allotted to the consummation of your cigar while you are choosing between a diverting tragedy and something serious in the way of vaudeville. Suddenly a hand is laid upon your arm. You turn to look into the thrilling eyes of a beautiful woman, wonderful in diamonds and Russian sables. She thrusts hurriedly into your hand an extremely hot buttered roll, flashes out a tiny pair of scissors, snips off the second button of y...more
During his 5 years he served in prison in 1898, O. Henry wrote this book. It is ten short stories that were published under the pseudonym O. Henry. His real name was William Sydney Porter. I've never read his work before or heard of him, so when I came across this book in my 17 year old son's bookcase, I thought why not.
I really enjoyed O. Henry's writing and would had given it 3-1/2 stars instead of 3 if Goodreads gave out 1/2 stars. I love how each story has a twist and turn. I also love read...more
I really enjoyed O. Henry's writing and would had given it 3-1/2 stars instead of 3 if Goodreads gave out 1/2 stars. I love how each story has a twist and turn. I also love read...more
We all know the gift of the Magi story and all it's variations but there were a lot of other interesting stories in here as well. None of the other ones related at all with Christmas and most of them were about robbers and murderers either getting away with their crimes or being caught by the police. I found some sappy, some far fetched, some hard to follow (maybe because of the writing style and the time period in which it was written), but a few of them were actually heartwarming or at least e...more
I loved this book! I only wish each short story was a novel. O. Henry is able to introduce the characters until you feel they are your friends and a short 10 to 15 pages later, the story is over and you have to start all over meeting the next characters only for that relationship to end abruptly as well. I loved the sentiments of the stories. I loved the language and writing style. I loved the feeling.
I have heard the story The Gift of the Magi many times before but never told as beautiful as O....more
I have heard the story The Gift of the Magi many times before but never told as beautiful as O....more
BOTTOM LINE: smooth, old-fashioned, twisty stories, often with a nice little punch at the end. A truly "classic" writer (translation= not just an old-fashioned one - too many folks use "classic" to mean simply "old", IMO).
Excellent compendium of stories by the fabled writer, still interesting even if most of the twists seem terribly old-fashioned now. A classic author who is still (deservedly, in my opinion) often read in schools, his style is very slow and thoughful when compared with current...more
Excellent compendium of stories by the fabled writer, still interesting even if most of the twists seem terribly old-fashioned now. A classic author who is still (deservedly, in my opinion) often read in schools, his style is very slow and thoughful when compared with current...more
Dec 02, 2011
Angela
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
collection-by-one-author,
classics
The Gift of the Magi - the first story in the book, and the one I am most familiar with. It still makes me tear up.
The Cop and the Anthem - I had not read this story before. It was a cute story about perseverance.
Springtime a la Carte - another story I had not read before. What an enjoyable little love story.
The Green Door - all about what we expect to see and a little bit of fate
After Twenty Years -- an interesting reunion story. Funny where life takes you.
The Furnished Room - a little sad....more
The Cop and the Anthem - I had not read this story before. It was a cute story about perseverance.
Springtime a la Carte - another story I had not read before. What an enjoyable little love story.
The Green Door - all about what we expect to see and a little bit of fate
After Twenty Years -- an interesting reunion story. Funny where life takes you.
The Furnished Room - a little sad....more
I really enjoyed reading this story. I liked the two characters, and really enjoyed the philosophical inputs that Faulkner includes.
The narrator is telling the story of a young girl and how she needs to somehow get more money to buy her husband a Christmas present. Through the narrator, we hear how she thinks, and how she and others act. The narrator also interjects his philosophies into the story. It’s personal, yet not pushed.
The narrator is telling the story of a young girl and how she needs to somehow get more money to buy her husband a Christmas present. Through the narrator, we hear how she thinks, and how she and others act. The narrator also interjects his philosophies into the story. It’s personal, yet not pushed.
When a good friend mentioned that he was reading a collection of O. Henry short stories, I started feeling nostalgic and got my hands on a collection, too. I enjoyed every story therein, largely because no matter what I thought would happen in that all-important last paragraph, I was almost always wrong. If you want to read "a twist at the end" master, here's your guy.
O. Henry is a an excellent author. This book is a compilation of many short stories that he wrote. The first, The Gift of the Magi, is a beautiful Christmas story. The others are just an assortment of stories on various topics. It usually took me a page or two to become invested in the stories, but almost every ending was unexpected, which made the stories very entertaining.
This was a collection of short stories and I really enjoyed them. There were a few that I couldn't get my mind into, but about 90% of them were really interesting and I will read them again and again. The Gift of the Magi in itself is a fantastic short read, and I thinki that this book deserves a read.
As I've said before, reading collections of one author is very dangerous to me. But since I had hardly enough time to read part of a chapter at the time I read it, I was able to enjoy these stories, though some really dragged. I just loved the language and the feeling of that time being another world.
I had already read many of the stories included in this collection, but it was great to re-read them and peruse a few new ones into the bargain. I personally loved 'The Ransom of Red Chief' and 'The Pimienta Pancakes', 'Springtime a la Carte' and 'The Cop and the Anthem' are also very funny.
Mar 29, 2010
PurplyCookie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
classics,
short-stories
A young woman makes a drastic decision--and her husband has a Christmas surprise in return. A dying girl attaches her fate to that of a leaf. A writer sobs at the sight of a menu. "The Gift of the Magi" with "The Last Leaf," is the best of them all. But I'm afraid I wasn't too impressed with the other short stories featured in this collection.
Although the stories use a vocabulary and style that are reflective of the author's own era (O. Henry lived from 1862 to 1910), the humor and irony of the...more
Although the stories use a vocabulary and style that are reflective of the author's own era (O. Henry lived from 1862 to 1910), the humor and irony of the...more
I would have loved to give this a better rating, but I honestly only picked it up because it was so short and I knew I could get through it quickly. A few of the stories were mildly intriguing, such as "Transients in Arcadia", but I just zoomed through it to get closer to my reading goal.
I really like the ironic endings that O. Henry includes in most of his short stories. I also find his language to be elegant and accessible. "The Gift of the Magi" is probably one of my favorite Christmas stories. I think more people should read it at this time of the year.
O Henry knows how to twist a story. Each one has an unexpected ending which sometimes require a significant processing before understanding. He also uses his experience in life, such as his time in jail, to his advantage; all very entertaining.
I liked this but I believe I would have enjoyed this compilation better if I had spread out the reading. O'Henry's twists are wonderful but I found myself focusing on the twist more than just enjoying the story as I read these back to back.
Great Christmas classic. I've read it many times. This was a free listen on audible. Scott listened to it, and was touched; it was his first time. I'm always impressed how a good storyteller like O'Henry can move people so much.
O. Henry has been the influence of many authors but the themes and style of writing betrays close association with Lucy Maud Montgomery. Perhaps his characters do not prattle on for pages on, but the sweetness of small-town people (in cities) is apparent.
I always loved "The Gift of the Magi", but his other stories are just as good. I honestly could not help myself. It was heart warming without being too cliche or preachy. I think I'm in love.
By turns satisfying and frustrating. The prose is gloriously purple and the twists are unmissable. At the best it's a rhinestone roller coaster, gaudy and great. But it can also be annoying: Take the last few stories in the collection, e.g. "The Roads of Destiny": if he'd ended several paragraphs earlier, and evaded the twinges of racism (e.g. "the Jew from Armenia, who sold anything that came to his hand") the pieces would have been much more satisfying; instead they were a insulting.
Still, th...more
Still, th...more
This is the perfect time of year to delve into O. Henry's short stories, in addition to The Gift of the Magi. I enjoy the stories' sweetness and warmth, as well as the surprise endings.
It takes a little longer because the words are unfamiliar today, but it is definitely worth the effort. He really makes you feel the time and the place in which his stories take place.
A quick read. Most of the stories I'm familiar with but it was nice to re-aquaint myself with them. Underlying theme that I seemed to pull from most of the stories: irony.
I read these as a teenager and thought they were great fun. My favorites were from the collection "The Four Million", but "The Cisco Kid" is a very clever, cynical thriller.
christmas short stories from audible dot com this year (dec 2010): gift of the magi, the cop and the anthem, and the last leaf. well done, audible! relaxing and enjoyable.
A great collection of stories with one of my favorite Christmas stories. My review.
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William Sydney Porter lends the pen name "O. Henry" to surprise endings signed officially as Sydney Porter. His biography shows where he found inspiration for his characters. Their voices and his language were products of his era.
He was born 1862 Greensboro, North Carolina. When he was three years old, his mother died from tuberculosis. He left school at fifteen, worked five years in uncle's drugs...more
More about O. Henry...
He was born 1862 Greensboro, North Carolina. When he was three years old, his mother died from tuberculosis. He left school at fifteen, worked five years in uncle's drugs...more
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Mar 20, 2010 05:50pm
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Dec 14, 2010 04:59am