Okay, so this first one isn't actually for the Reading challenge, being as it isn't a book, it's a short story, and I read it in about three minutes. But it bears repeating. And it's about 100 years old, so if you've never read it, don't worry about spoilers: STOP READING THIS BLOG RIGHT NOW AND GO READ THIS STORY WHO LET YOU OUT OF SCHOOL WITHOUT READING IT ANYWAY IT'S FREE ON AMAZON KINDLE GO GO GO!!!
Right, now that we have that sorted out, let's begin.
That's all you get. Go read the story.
It's a gorgeous, selfless, heart-wrenching, heart-warming story. It's about love and wisdom and the reason for gift-giving in the first place. And O. Henry managed in nine Kindle pages (Kindle for PC, that is; I don't know what it looks like in other formats).
I've known this story since I was quite young; the Indiana Repertory Theatre used to put it on for school groups every December (and they may still, for all I know). The dramatic version is considerably extended and enhanced beyond O. Henry's nine pages, but I knew the story. I was quite surprised, the first time I heard the proper story read, at how short it was; IRT did such a good job with it year after year. I loved it.
So, that's my Holiday Reading Challenge kicked off. Stay tuned for reviews of full-length books. Read everyone else's reviews here.
4 comments:
okay, i left school without ever reading this, but my social studies teacher in 8th grade made us WATCH it, circa uh? black and white, probably "It's a Wonderful Life" era. I didn't know what it was called or that it was a well known story until years later when I described the story to someone. . . I LOVE it!!!
Well, I have to call watching acceptable, since that's how I was introduced to it. :)
I've never heard of this actually, thanks for letting me know about it!
No problem! People outside the US are excused from the ranting. :)
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