100 Great Short Stories: Selections from Poe, London, Twain, Melville, Kipling, Dickens, Joyce and many more

by James Daley (Editor)

"This is a wonderful collection of authors from America and around the world. Centuries are covered, making this a great resource for English teachers and any lover of literature." — Life Community Church
This treasury of one hundred tales offers students and other readers of short fiction a splendid selection of stories by masters of the form. Contributors from around the world include Edgar Allan Poe, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Dickens, Anton Chekhov, Mark Twain, Saki, Luigi Pirandello, Kate Chopin, and Ring Lardner.
The stories, which are arranged chronologically, begin with tales by Daniel Defoe ("The Apparition of Mrs. Veal," 1705), Benjamin Franklin ("Alice Addertongue," 1732), and Washington Irving ("The Devil and Tom Walker," 1824). Highlights from the nineteenth century include Ivan Turgenev's "The District Doctor" (1852), Sarah Orne Jewett's "A White Heron" (1886), Thomas Hardy's "Squire Petrick's Lady" (1891), and Rudyard Kipling's "Wee Willie Winkie" (1899). From the twentieth century come James Joyce's "Araby" (1914), Franz Kafka's "The Judgment" (1916), Virginia Woolf's "The Mark on the Wall" (1921), "The Broken Boot" (1923) by John Galsworthy, and many others.
"A fabulous collections of stories sure to please any reader! The chronological layout is perfect for those looking to explore the development of stories over time and their relation to society." — Whitchurch-Stouffville Public Library

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies

768 pages, Paperback

First published February 23, 2015

Reviews

[Annabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I relish reading short stories. So finding this collection of stories written between 1705 to 1923 was a boon. More so since I had never heard of some of the writers. And as I usually do with anthologies, I read them in no particular order.

Unlike reading a novel, which takes time to build up one's interest and suspense, reading short stories and the even shorter flash fiction doesn't require much in the way of attention spans. Some readers find the genre wanting in emotional depth, intensity, and character buildup, but quite a few writers have mastered the art of short storytelling with the flourish and finesse usually found in the most superior novels I have read, the ones which literally take my breath away.

As did some of the following short stories:

1) Mateo Falcone by Prosper Mérimée (1829) - A sinister tale from the land of Spartacus.
2) Dr Heidegger's Experiment by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1837) - This read more like a story written by H.G. Wells.
3) The Knitted Collar by Mary Anne Hoare (1851) - A bit preachy, but worked for me. Nobody writes stories like this anymore.
4) The Fiddler by Herman Melville (1854) - One of my favorites here! The writer who gave us the behemoth that is Moby Dick can pack as much wallop in barely five pages.
5) The Luck of Roaring Camp by Bret Harte (1870) - Bleak to inspiring in less than ten pages.
6) A Jersey Centenarian by Bret Harte (1875) - Harte again, writing in a different vein.
7) The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant (1884) - This has been a favorite since I read it at fourteen.
8) A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett (1886) - A simple story of a young girl and a hunter. So many possible conclusions. And my favorite among the one hundred stories in the book.
9) The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde (1887) - A fairy tale for the ages, for all ages.
10) The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde (1888) - Ditto.
11) A Horseman in the Sky by Ambrose Bierce (1889) - An immediate rereading is almost guaranteed.
12) A New England Nun by Mary E. Wilkins Freemen (1891) - A tidy little tale of a boy and a girl. And a dog named Caesar.
13) Désirée's Baby by Kate Chopin (1893) - The less said the better, else I spoil it for future readers.
14) The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes by H.G. Wells (1895) - Early science fiction fare, and together with Hawthorne's Dr Heidegger's Experiment, one of only two in this collection.
15) The Veteran by Stephen Crane (1896) - A story that ticks off most of the boxes of what I like in a short story.
16) Gooseberries by Anton Chekhov (1898) - One of Chekhov's more exalting short stories, on happiness and fulfilment in the human condition. And quoting Pushkin, who says that in "life there is always some alloy of sadness," but much like a sour gooseberry, with happiness "the illusion which exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths."
17) The Storm by Kate Chopin (1898) - An immorality tale with an unexpected ending.
18) With Other Eyes by Luigi Pirandello (1901) - A morality tale with a realistic ending.
19) The Leopard Man's Story by Jack London (1903) - It must be hard to tell a story that revolves around revenge in less than ten pages. The writer who gave us White Fang and The Call of the Wild tells it remarkably well in less than four!
20) Home Sickness by George Moore (1903) - At almost twelve epic twelve pages, I think this was the longest story in the book. It is beautifully narrated, especially the scenes involving nature, which are written in a manner reminiscent of D.H. Lawrence.
21) The Open Window by H.H. Munro, or Saki (1903) - The most hilarious story here, told in less than four pages, what would typify as flash fiction today.
22) A Wagner Matinee by Willa Cather (1905) - A heartwarming and melancholic read. As all could-have-beens are.
23) The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry (1906) - Another favorite, since I read it at fourteen.
24) The Last Leaf by O. Henry (1907) - Another old favorite with a twist ending, courtesy of O. Henry.
25) The Enchanted Bluff by Willa Cather (1909) - A coming of age story, and of those golden, waning hours of the summer of your final carefree childhood. This and A Wagner Matinee beckons me to read of Cather's work.
26) The Blind Man by James Stephens (1913) - A humdrum story, flawlessly told.
27) The Peasant Marey by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1918) - Not much in way of a story. It's Dostoyevsky reflecting on a moment in his childhood, spurring the reader to reflect on her own.

[Seoyeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Happy Prince 4 Stars
The Happy Prince was a book which delivered many emotions, the storyline of this book went with the kindness and wisdom of the prince. At first, the happy prince seemed as though if it was a classical story, of a prince living in a grand castle and does splendid deeds to his people. The classic title made it seem as though it was about a prince with a beautiful happy ending, in the short story it was almost the opposite. Firstly, it mentioned in the story a spectacular statue of a prince, with a ruby in his sword with sapphire eyes and his body covered in gold.

One day a swallow appeared, and the book was wonderful at expressing emotions somewhat like poetry, and how the prince persuaded the swallow to take away his riches and share them with the village people. I first tried to understand what the author was trying to communicate to the readers, I first thought I was kindness comes with a reward. However, this theory changed after when both the main character dies. If my theory were correct, then they both would have had lived a rich and wealthy life instead they got some sort of punishment. I tried searching the moral for the short story. The answer to my question is “society can be overcome by love and charity, which have the unique ability to unite men and make them whole” , I made a vague guess that this meant that the good-hearted will come over anything that will go against them. The story gave me a little of thoughts, of what such little unknown deeds can become. For instance, when the prince gave the children leaves of gold it gave their own families thinking of receiving such luck. This can give happiness to both the giver and the receiver. “Fragrance clings to the hand who gives the rose”.

In the end, I think this story tells many morals of kindness love and much more. Hence, I give this book 4 stars as some parts of the story gave confusion but rarely. As I recommend this story to anyone.

[Hanzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Happy Prince

4.5 stars

""Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow," said the Prince…"

The dictionary definition of the term “migratory bird” is a “bird that travels from one place to another at regular times often over long distances”. For migratory birds, traveling is not a choice. Migratory birds have to travel in order to live. If they don’t, they are likely to die because they won’t be able to keep their body temperature. Mallards, cranes, and swallows are some types of migratory birds.

Because swallows are migratory birds, a swallow must fly south for the winter. But this story is about a swallow who didn’t travel and a statue who made him stay. The swallow in the story Happy Prince should have went to Egypt, just like the other swallows he knew. However, he stays because of the Happy Prince. The Happy Prince is a statue, but he can think, see, hear, and even cry, just like a real person. He asks a swallow to stay for a night and help the poor with the jewels and gold consisting him, day after day. The swallow helps the Prince, but eventually he is in the cold city, when he is not supposed to be there, and dies.

This story can be classified as an allegory. An allegory is a story, poem, picture, etc. that has a special meaning. Usually, an allegory has a political or moral message. This story features issues about money. The people of the city, like the mayor, think that money is the most important thing. People who have enough money think that the statue of the Happy Prince isn’t useful when it wasn’t so expensive anymore, which means, to them, being useful is very much related to being expensive. People who lack money, just like the seamstress and the young man who wrote plays, can’t do what they want to do, and even can’t fulfill the basic needs of survival. This even works among birds. The swallow’s friends all say he shouldn’t marry the Reed because she is poor. Probably, Oscar Wilde was trying to say that focusing too much on money can hurt people. He probably believes money effects all people, but not always in good ways, and money isn’t everything.

There are several symbolisms in this story. In this story, the lead symbolizes the poor and problems people don’t want to think about. The gold symbolizes luxuries and the rich, things people want. The swallow is kind of surprised to find out that the Happy Prince’s heart is made out of lead. People like the mayor think the statue is beautiful because of the jewels and the layers of gold. But they would have made the statue gold in the outside because they didn’t want to see lead on it. They try to ignore the lead deep inside. Like this, the story talks about how people don’t want to think about poor and cheap things, and instead beautiful and expensive things.

This story also illustrates how people judge others often but how the judgments are often wrong. The maid-of-honor thinks the seamstress is lazy, but actually she is very hard-working. The citizens assume that the happy prince must be happy. The prince was happy indeed, when he lived in the palace, not knowing what tears are. Yet he feels miserable as a statue later and even cries. This made me rethink about my thoughts about celebrities. Before, I thought many celebrities would be almost completely happy because they are rich, famous, and popular. So, I couldn’t understand why some of them suicide. But just like the Happy Prince, they might not be “happy” all the time. Some of them might even not be happier than me. I got to understand better that happiness doesn’t depend on wealth or what others think, and how the judgments can be wrong in many times.

Although this story contains so many ideas, it was still an enjoyable story. However, the ending was sad. The swallow died, and people threw away the statue of the Happy Prince, which means the prince died, too. The part of the swallow saying goodbye was particularly sad. Even though I knew the ending of the story because I read it before in another book, it was still sad. I wish they somehow survived every time I read the ending of this story. But maybe it was better for the Happy Prince to go to heaven because life in the city as a statue was miserable for him. I think the swallow would have been quite happy if he never met the happy prince. But still, he lived a meaningful life anyways. I think it would have been great if the story ended with the swallow and the prince meeting again in heaven because then it won’t be a sad ending.

To me, the contrast between the swallow and the Happy Prince was also interesting. Unlike his name, the Happy Prince is not happy. He is sad all the time he sees the people in his city suffering. He always thinks about how to help the poor. He talks about the miserable things he sees in the city, and is quite pessimistic. In contrast, the swallow is always thinking and talking about Egypt at first. He is quite optimistic, and tries to see positive things. As a result, he talks a lot about how beautiful Egypt is. In this way, they are so different. However, they are similar in a way, as they both make sacrifices and want to help others. The contrast between them was interesting because they were so different, and in many times, the opposite from each other, and yet they were similar at the same time.

However, I don’t think what Happy Prince and the swallow did helped a lot. Sure, with the jewels and the layers of gold, the poor people who got their help could eat bread and live slightly more comfortably for a while. But again, they would be poor, when they run out of money. Eventually, they can still starve to death later. Also, it didn’t help all the people who desperately needed money. Maybe it inspired somebody to help the poor. I hope it did, but I don’t really think so. Yes, they couldn’t do much, because one was a statue who can’t move and one was merely a bird. Still, it wasn’t a very good solution to all the problems. Maybe, the prince could wait a little after giving away one jewel until people put another one into the statue as a repair work. If it was just one or two jewels, the people would have repaired it. This way, at least they would have been able to help more people for longer time.

Overall, the story Happy Prince was great although it was just a short story that was not even 10 pages long. I understood why this story is so famous and really got to admire the writer for putting so many things in small space. There was something I didn’t fully agree with and some kind of feeling of something missing, probably because the prince and the swallow just died without meeting again. So, I didn’t give it 5 stars. Nevertheless, except these things it was good, and hence, I gave this story 4.5 stars.

The Mortal Immortal

2.5 stars

“If you could remain healthy without growing old, how long would you want to live for?”

Living forever might not be always the best option. But let’s say that you can live forever without growing old or becoming ill. In this case, living forever might not seem like the worst option. However, when about two thousand British adults were asked the question above, only 17% replied that they would like an immortal life.

This story might help explain why. The Mortal Immortal is a love story. However, it is not a common love story; it is also about immortality. This story is about a man named Winzy who loves Bertha. Thinking that he will be able to forget Bertha, he drinks some elixir. Turns out, anyone who would drink it would be immortal. This story talks about how living forever can be bad even when you don’t get sick or grow old.

It at least made me think about immortality. The story described how an immortal actually feels. Especially towards the end Winzy feels more and more confused and the story becomes tragic. The descriptions and expressions of his emotions were vivid so I could put myself into his shoes and think more about immortality. So, although the ending was kind of too predictable it was interesting, and I don’t think an unpredictable ending will fit well with this story as it would be very awkward and abrupt.

The reason I gave this story only 2.5 stars, however, is because there was nothing so good or unique in particular. It wasn’t so bad and I couldn’t find anything that made this story very boring or tedious. But for me, it wasn’t so unique either. This story at least makes me think, so I didn’t give it 1 star. But don’t the other stories do that, too? Because there are so many other books that make me think, I don’t think that makes this story so great.

Besides, the topics weren’t so unique either. The mortal vs immortal thing was quite familiar to me. The arguments this story used to say that being immortal is not so good were all things I heard about before. Also, the several morals in this story were too expectable and they made this story look like a fairy tale. Of course, morals are almost always expectable, and I’m not saying that fairy tales are bad. However, since this story also talks about realistic matters. I think the two didn’t match well, and it would have been better for me if the morals weren’t so obvious.

For example, The Mortal Immortal talks about how money can ruin people. Bertha was Winzy’s neighbor and playmate for a long time. She had a humble life. Yet when her parents die, she gets adopted by a rich protectress. At first, she remains humble and continues to be friends with Winzy. But as time passes, she begins to be angry at Winzy because he’s poor. Basically, this all happened because Bertha became greedy of money. However, the “money spoiling someone” thing is quite common in many stories and books, so it wasn’t so unique to me. It is a very realistic thing that many people talk about. Still, I think the morals in stories are almost always similar, so it was kind of dull.

Hence, this story was not so bad as there were vivid descriptions and made me think. But it didn’t have anything great, and it wasn’t so perfect in my opinion. Therefore, I gave it 2.5 stars.

[Jake]

'100 Great Short Stories' is a bold claim. I mean, sure, there are thousands of amazing short stories scattered throughout the world's authors, but to collect 100 of them in one book? There's certainly going to be some conflict throughout it. And I find that to be evident throughout the placement of the stories. The editor chose to arrange these stories by Author, which seems smart at face value. However while some artists like Poe write about similar topics and themes, other authors leap around from story to story. This can make things fairly confusing. If I were to make a suggestion, I would say that the editor should create overarching 'chapters' of short stories that discuss similar themes. This would reduce the jumpy nature. But that's only one broad problem. Truly the authors behind all these short stories are genius, and no matter how complicated or simple each story is, they are all a joy to read.

One of my favorite 'kid' stories is called 'Wee Willie Winkie' by Rudyard Kipling. Straight up, it sounds like a nursery rhyme. That's because there actually is a nursery rhyme by the same name. This however is a story about the child of a high ranking colonel and his journey to find bravery and when it is truly okay to 'disobey orders'. Another one I found very interesting was 'The Blind Ones' by Isaak Babel. This story dealt with more adult themes, which is surely not a coincidence considering all the stories that take place in Russia are for the most part much more mature. The Blind Ones is about the casualties of war and the saddening realization that they have nowhere to go, and no one to care for them other than family.

I have to say, this is an extremely long read if you truly want to digest every story. However it's certainly worth it, because these short stories have more substance than most books out now.

[Serim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Happy Prince: 4 stars

Once upon a time, in a miserable city, stood a statue of the “happy prince”. Gold covered his skin, his eyes were blue sapphires, and a large ruby glistened in his sword-hilt. He was well admired and was brought up every time people were mourning about their poorness. However, even if he did want to help the townspeople, he could only watch over them for he was a statue, after all. He longed for the day when all he could hear in the city were sounds of laughter…

One night, a little Swallow flew over the city, heading to Egypt in order to meet his friends. He laid right under the happy prince and was about to sleep when a drop of water drenched him. The Swallow quickly realized that the water was actually the tears of the “happy” prince. The prince was weeping because he couldn’t stand the ugliness and the miserableness of his city. He asked Swallow to bring his ruby to a seamstress and her ill son. Even though Swallow wanted to fly to Egypt, he couldn’t disagree because he felt sympathy for the depressed, weeping prince so he did as the prince commanded.

The Swallow keeps obeying the prince until one day, the Swallow gives both of the prince’s sapphire eyes away. The prince thanks the Swallow and tells him to fly to Egypt, but surprisingly, the Swallow refuses and vows to stay with the prince. So they spend more time together, until even the gold that surrounded the prince’s skin has been given away. Meanwhile, the Swallow gets colder and colder because of the freezing weather in the city. Eventually, the Swallow dies and the prince’s heart breaks seeing his beloved Swallow die.

When they realize how shabby the prince is, the Mayor and the Town Councillors of the city remove the statue and throw the Swallow and the prince’s heart out. Then, angels bring the dead bird and the heart to heaven as God ordered.

I personally think the Swallow could have stopped all of these from happening. If he had obeyed the Prince and went to Egypt, he wouldn’t have died and the Prince wouldn’t have broken his heart. The Prince would still have his skin covered with gold as well, and he would be able to hear his townspeople laughing and in joy. The Swallow could have changed the whole story for a better ending, but his loyalty stopped him. However, I admire the Swallow’s loyalty. I had the feeling that he was going to be the selfish kind, but he surprised me with his helpfulness.

The part where the Swallow bids his last good-bye to the prince is very sad but touching at the same time. I cannot imagine how the prince would have felt, for the Swallow died right in front of him. However, when the Swallow died, I remembered the many good deeds he performed for the prince. If there ever is a sequel, I would love to know what would happen to the prince and the Swallow in heaven.

There are a few parts that bothered me a bit. When the workmen threw the prince’s heart out, I expected for there to be a “catch-phrase”, or in this case, a warning or a sneak peak of what would happen next. But the story skipped to when God commanded his Angels to bring the two most precious items to him. It felt like the author “jumped” across the story and honestly, I was disappointed because of the abrupt switch. I was also very confused about what God meant when he said the Swallow will sing evermore and the prince would praise him. I predicted God was referring to the spirits of them, and these were metaphors, but I still couldn’t deduct what the metaphors meant. If these minor problems were fixed, I think this story would be touching, addicting, and adventurous all at the same time.

[Claire Ki · Rating 4 out of 5]

The happy prince

“The Happy Prince” didn’t ring a bell, and so I started reading. And when I finished the first sentence, I knew what this story was. I watched it when I was very young, maybe 4. Through Pinkfong, I remember my parents showing me the video. It tells the story of the happy prince but changing it around so that it became a little bit different from the original version. For example, the happy prince’s eyes were emeralds, and it only mentions that the swallow was going south, not to Egypt. And since I only knew that story, it was quite interesting to read it again, but in a different and more formal way.

To summarize the story, it is about the story of a beautiful golden statue, named the Happy Prince. He has a ruby in his sword, sapphire eyes, and is covered in pure gold. He is on top of a tall column, so he can see everything in the village. One day a swallow bird seeks shelter under the statue and discovers the prince not happy, but sad. The bird becomes friendly with the prince and makes him happy by assisting him in his desire to help them by giving them his precious jewels and eventually the gold that he was covered into for those in need. The statue eventually turns “sad” and because of the cold weather the swallow dies beneath the statue and the bird and the statue eventually meet again in heaven

I personally really liked this story, because it was a nice, simple story that doesn’t need a lot of skill to read it and analyze it, and because the Happy Prince ended happily...but sad. I tend to like sad endings and it usually feels weird if the ending isn’t satisfying. But this ending was actually interesting, and I really liked it. Another reason I enjoyed this book was that the characters in the story also had a deeper meaning that you could find. For example, the happy prince is a golden beautiful statue that wants to help people. But actually, his heart is made not of gold, but simply lead. It could lead up to the conclusion that the author was trying to tell me that anyone can help those in need. And even though the outside is gold, you may have a stone heart. But for a particular reason, Oscar Wilde made the heart made of lead. It was an interesting point. The last thing I really like was that the swallow was caring. It was already late and was rushing to get to Egypt for the winter, but it helped the happy prince and stayed when it became blind. And I was surprised it didn’t try to run away, and instead stayed to help him.

However, every story has its problems and of course, this one did as well. The one thing that wasn’t so good was the swallow’s death. In a way, the Happy Prince killed the swallow, even though the swallow wanted to stay, he could have gone a little bit south to somewhere a little bit warmer. The prince and the swallow died together, but it made me frown and feel kind of unfortunate for the swallow. He didn’t even die near his loved ones. He just died beneath the “Happy Prince’s” feet. It was very unfortunate.

Even though it has a minor part in the story, I still really enjoyed it and It really has a good ending, characters, and lesson. I rate this book 4 stars. I thought this book was a very entertaining story, and I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a simple but fun story.

[SEAL · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Happy Prince
By Oscar Wilde
From “100 Great Short Stories”

The little prince, I know it. But the Happy Prince? I never heard of it. The happy prince is an approximately 9 page short story. The Happy Prince is a statue covered in gold leaves, two bright sapphires for eyes, and a ruby on his sword hilt. Though the Happy prince is not the only main character. There is also the swallow. The story is a fiction- fantasy and it capsuled much feeling into it.

It’s about a swallow not going to Egypt even though it is winter. The swallow decided to sleep under the statue of the Happy Prince. Then the swallow finds out that the Happy Prince talks to him. Then the Happy Prince starts asking the swallow to take the expensive jewelry and gold and to give it to the poor. The swallow each day said that he had to go where his companions are. However, the Happy Prince said “ one more day” and the swallow stayed. The book showed friendship between these two characters as they no longer are lonely.

I liked the part where these two gave the poor or people in hard situations good things. For example, there were two young kids that did not have shelter or food. So the Happy Prince asked the swallow to give his gold leaf to them. I thought I was like the swallow, doing these acts because teachers or adults said it. So I should change. The story shows us the things what we people have. The Happy Prince seems similar in purity to the little prince. Anyhow I liked the short book for it’s story.

To sum up, this short story was interesting and I didn’t know that I was already at the end of the story, unlike other short stories. The short story showed a different world we never imagine of. I thought it felt like reading a story all squeezed into page though it seemed like it wasn’t short. I recommend to anyone who like fiction or short stories. Truly, it was the best short story I read. I rate this as 4.5 stars.

--------------------------

The Mortal Immortal: A Tale

Mary Shelley

In Roman and Greek stories, there are gods. And the myth is that they are immortal. This short story is a story about another immortal, but a half immortal. His name is Winzy. He was the assistant of a philosopher. The story of him becoming a half immortal was like this. The philosopher he worked for made a liquid that made the person who drank it immortal. So he drank half of it, secretly while the philosopher slept. So that was how he became 323 years old.

It was both “wow” and “oh”.

To sum up the story, it has the usual theme that you can imagine. At first, they want to be immortal and also good so they drink it. Then, they regret it because they don’t age or die. A similar book I know is “Tuck Everlasting”. In this story, the family is immortal because they drank water from a magical tree. I think people think and dream about living forever so they make it into stories. It seems like our human instinct. I also wanted to live forever( including my family). Thus, I thought that the author’s point is of the theme: Immortality.

In conclusion, this short story holds the regret when others die, and he doesn’t, when he doesn’t age but others do. Maybe the author wanted to express this. It was fun and interesting. I recommend it to anyone who likes these types of stories and I give it 3 points.

[alex]

"The Apparition of Mrs. Veal" by Daniel Defoe
rating: tbd/5

"Alice Addertongue" by Benjamin Franklin
rating: tbd/5

"The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving
rating: tbd/5

"Mateo Falcone" by Prosper Mérimée
rating: tbd/5

"Napoleon and the Spectre" by Charlotte Brontë
rating: tbd/5

"The Mortal Immortal: A Tale" by Mary Shelley
rating: tbd/5

"Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne
rating: tbd/5

"Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" by Nathaniel Hawthorne
rating: tbd/5

"The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe
rating: tbd/5

"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
rating: tbd/5

"The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe
rating: tbd/5

"The Knitted Collar" by Mary Anne Hoare
rating: tbd/5

"The District Doctor" by Ivan S. Turgenev
rating: tbd/5

"Nobody's Story" by Charles Dickens
rating: tbd/5

"The Fiddler" by Herman Melville
rating: tbd/5

"The Lightning-Rod Man" by Herman Melville
rating: tbd/5

"Selecting the Faculty" by Robert Carlton
rating: tbd/5

"The Cold Embrace" by Mary E. Braddon
rating: tbd/5

"The Pope's Mule" by Alphonse Daudet
rating: tbd/5

"Journalism in Tennessee" by Mark Twain
rating: tbd/5

"The Luck of Roaring Camp" by Bret Harte
rating: tbd/5

"Bill Nations" by Bill Arp
rating: tbd/5

"A Jersey Centenarian" by Bret Harte
rating: tbd/5

"The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" by Mark Twain
rating: tbd/5

"A Literary Nightmare" by Mark Twain
rating: tbd/5

"The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" by Stephen Crane
rating: tbd/5

"The Peterkins Decide to Learn the Languages" by Lucretia P. Hale
rating: tbd/5

"The Parson's Horse Race" by Harriet Beecher Stowe
rating: tbd/5

"How I Killed a Bear" by Charles Dudley Warner
rating: tbd/5

"Uncle Remus and the Wonderful Tar-Baby Story" by Joel Chandler Harris
rating: tbd/5

"His Pa Gets Mad!" by George W. Peck
rating: tbd/5

"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant
rating: tbd/5

"A White Heron" by Sarah Orne Jewett
rating: tbd/5

"How Much Land Does a Man Need?" by Leo Tolstoy
rating: tbd/5

"The Goophered Grapevine" by Charles Waddell Chesnutt
rating: tbd/5

"John Adams' Diary" by Bill Nye
rating: tbd/5

"The Sphinx Without a Secret" by Oscar Wilde
rating: tbd/5

"The Happy Prince" by Oscar Wilde
rating: tbd/5

"The Selfish Giant" by Oscar Wilde
rating: tbd/5

"A Horseman in the Sky" by Ambrose Bierce
rating: tbd/5

"A New England Nun" by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
rating: tbd/5

"Squire Petrick's Lady" by Thomas Hardy
rating: tbd/5

"A Ghost Story" by Jerome K. Jerome
rating: tbd/5

"Désirée's Baby" by Kate Chopin
rating: tbd/5

"The Dark Lantern" by Jules Renard
rating: tbd/5

"The Idiot's Journalism Scheme" by John Kendrick Bangs
rating: tbd/5

"Active Colorado Real Estate" by Hayden Carruth
rating: tbd/5

"The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes" by H. G. Wells
rating: tbd/5

"The Veteran" by Stephen Crane
rating: tbd/5

"The Fortune-Teller" by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis
rating: tbd/5

"Rollo Learning to Read" by Robert J. Burdette
rating: tbd/5

"A Pair of Silk Stockings" by Kate Chopin
rating: tbd/5

"The Tables of the Law" by W. B. Yeats
rating: tbd/5

"Gooseberries" by Anton Chekhov
rating: tbd/5

"The Storm" by Kate Chopin
rating: tbd/5

"Wee Willie Winkie" by Rudyard Kipling
rating: tbd/5

"The White Silence" by Jack London
rating: tbd/5

"How Old Timofei Died with a Song" by Rainer Maria Rilke
rating: tbd/5

"The Path to the Cemetery" by Thomas Mann
rating: tbd/5

"With Other Eyes" by Luigi Pirandello
rating: tbd/5

"The Only Son of Aoife" by Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory
rating: tbd/5

"The Leopard Man's Story" by Jack London
rating: tbd/5

"A Piece of String" by Guy de Maupassant
rating: tbd/5

"Home Sickness" by George Moore
rating: tbd/5

"The Open Window" by H. H. Munro, or Saki
rating: tbd/5

"A Wagner Matinée" by Willa Cather
rating: tbd/5

"The Set of Poe" by George Ade
rating: tbd/5

"The Furnished Room" by O. Henry
rating: tbd/5

"The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry
rating: tbd/5

"The Last Leaf" by O. Henry
rating: tbd/5

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce
rating: tbd/5

"The Enchanted Bluff" by Willa Cather
rating: tbd/5

"The Cottagette" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
rating: tbd/5

"Germans at Meat" by Katherine Mansfield
rating: tbd/5

"Tobermory" by H. H. Munro, or Saki
rating: tbd/5

"How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped" by Katherine Mansfield
rating: tbd/5

"Smoke" by Djuna Barnes
rating: tbd/5

"The Blind Man" by James Stephens
rating: tbd/5

"If I Were a Man" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
rating: tbd/5

"Araby" by James Joyce
rating: tbd/5

"Eveline" by James Joyce
rating: tbd/5

"Second Best" by D. H. Lawrence
rating: tbd/5

"The Signal" by Vsevolod M. Garshin
rating: tbd/5

"The White Mother" by Theodor Sologub
rating: tbd/5

"The Ploughing of Leaca-na-Naomh" by Daniel Corkery
rating: tbd/5

"The Judgment" by Franz Kafka
rating: tbd/5

"The Coffin-Maker" by Alexander Pushkin
rating: tbd/5

"Mrs. Frola and Mr. Ponza, Her Son-in-Law" by Luigi Pirandello
rating: tbd/5

"The Blind Ones" by Isaak Babel
rating: tbd/5

"A Malefactor" by Anton Chekhov
rating: tbd/5

"A Christmas Tree and a Wedding" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
rating: tbd/5

"The Peasant Marey" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
rating: tbd/5

"Pink Flannel" by Ford Madox Ford
rating: tbd/5

"A Country Doctor" by Franz Kafka
rating: tbd/5

"The Egg" by Sherwood Anderson
rating: tbd/5

"The Mark on the Wall" by Virginia Woolf
rating: tbd/5

"A Hunger Artist" by Franz Kafka
rating: tbd/5

"The Golden Honeymoon" by Ring Lardner
rating: tbd/5

"A Raid Night" by H. M. Tomlinson
rating: tbd/5

"The Broken Boot" by John Galsworthy
rating: tbd/5

[SEAL · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Happy Prince
By Oscar Wilde
From “100 Great Short Stories”

The little prince, I know it. But the Happy Prince? I never heard of it. The happy prince is an approximately 9-page short story. The Happy Prince is a statue covered in gold leaves, two bright sapphires for eyes, and a ruby on his sword hilt. Though the Happy prince is not the only main character. There is also the swallow. The story is a fiction- fantasy and it capsuled much feeling into it.

It’s about a swallow not going to Egypt even though it is winter. The swallow decided to sleep under the statue of the Happy Prince. Then the swallow finds out that the Happy Prince talks to him. Then the Happy Prince starts asking the swallow to take the expensive jewelry and gold and to give it to the poor. The swallow each day said that he had to go where his companions are. However, the Happy Prince said, “ one more day” and the swallow stayed. The book showed friendship between these two characters as they no longer are lonely.

I liked the part where these two gave the poor or people in hard situations good things. For example, there were two young kids that did not have shelter or food. So the Happy Prince asked the swallow to give his gold leaf to them. I thought I was like the swallow, doing these acts because teachers or adults said it. So I should change. The story shows us the things what we people have. The Happy Prince seems similar in purity to the little prince. Anyhow, I liked the short book for its story.

To sum up, this short story was interesting and I didn’t know that I was already at the end of the story, unlike other short stories. The short story showed a different world we never imagine of. I thought it felt like reading a story all squeezed into pages though it seemed like it wasn’t short. I recommend it to anyone who likes fiction or short stories. Truly, it was the best short story I read. I rate this as 4.5 stars.

[Euigine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The summary of this book starts with the happy prince statue. It stands up high on a tall column overlooking his city. The prince statue is decorated with jewelry and gold leaf. His eyes were sapphires, and his sword was topped with big ruby. The people that lived there admired him a lot. Then, he met a little Swallow. The swallow's friend already started to migrate to Egypt, and he was trying to catch up. At night, the swallow needed to place to have a break, and the swallow went to the happy prince statue. The swallow sees that the little prince was crying, and the prince said that he had a happy life, but after he died, he couldn't do anything for the city. He got help from the swallow and firstly gave some ruby to the mom that doesn't have money to buy medicine for her child. After giving the ruby, the swallow felt warm even when it was cold. I think that this meant we are proud that we helped somebody, so we feel good and happy about it, and that makes you feel warm. I have felt this feeling when I help my friends or families. After that, he gives all the jewelry and gold leaf to the people that need money. I was really surprised when they gave all the jewelry to people that need help. Then, I was quite sad that the swallow died because of coldness. I think that the swallow might think that he did a job that is really proud of, but I think that it was just bad luck. I think that when the swallow just passed the statue and rested at a different place, the swallow might have a nice time in Egypt right now. This story made me feel a lot of different emotions; which sometimes were proud or sometimes sad. I enjoyed reading this book, so I give it a 5 star.

[Ziu · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” This is a quote by Oscar Wilde, the author of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and the short story “The Happy Prince”. It is said that Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, the early 1890s saw him become one of the most popular playwrights in London. Oscar Wilde wrote some of my favourite books “The Happy Prince” and “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. After reading The Happy Prince once again, this time more mature, I learned new things about our society and what’s actually happening.

When I was young, just a little kid, I thought the ruby, diamond, the jewels were a symbol of beauty and how this beauty helps poor people. Literally, I think the exact opposite now. This might not make any sense but here we go. Jewels are what only the rich can own. I mean the cost of the Hope Diamond was $250 million, the most expensive in the world. And if this is on a statue which looks grand because of the jewels, I thought the book suggested that there are discrimination because jewels simply don’t make you nicer or more “elegant” but the Mayor thinks that without the jewels on the statue, it looks ugly and burns it down.

The story of the Happy Prince dwells upon the themes like social injustice/inequality, redemptive power of love and the loss of innocence. In this story, a swallow sees a statue during his travel, who, at one time, was a real Prince. When the Prince was alive, he was a wondrous person. He lived in a grand palace and did not know about human suffering. His life was full of joy and happiness. Upon his death, his statue was built at the top of a towering column in the center of the city.

The statue was covered all over with thin leaves of fine gold, for eyes he had two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby glowed on his sword-hilt. The statue of the Happy Prince looked beautiful and everyone in the city loved to see their own Prince. Since he was placed high above the city, on a tall column, the Prince was able to witness all the sorrows and sufferings which the common people faced in their daily life. He had not experienced this in his previous life and was sorrowful, going against his name “Happy Prince”.

The swallow, in this story, had the role of the messenger and delivered the ruby to the seamstress who had no money to feed her ailing child. Then he plucked a sapphire from one of the eyes of the statue and gave it to the playwright who was too poor to make a fire in the winter to continue his writing. He was also very hungry and feeling weak.

One day, the Prince saw a match girl who was being beaten by her father for letting her matches fall in the gutter. The Prince’s heart filled with pity for the girl. He immediately commanded the swallow to pluck out his other eye and help the girl. This gives the impression of how giving and caring the prince is after looking at the actual world and what’s happening instead of the covered reality.

This was the sentence or the summary that led to an original but satisfactory ending. When God asked one of His Angels to bring the two most precious things in the city, the Angel brought him the leaden heart and the dead bird. God welcomed the two in his garden of paradise and deemed them beautiful creations. This, in one perspective doesn’t make sense because it’s the statue of the prince and the prince already died which means he shouldn’t be able to die again. It was a bit unrealistic and some parts just showed the selfishness of the "Prince". But still, this story was beautifully structured with just enough message and a bit of context regarding our world. Therefore I rate it 4 stars.

I want to end this review the same way I started it off, with a quote from the author. “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” -Oscar Wilde-

[Julia Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Happy Prince
5 Stars

I give The Happy Prince 5 stars because it was very touching. The prince wanted to share everything he had, to people who needed the gems than he did. I thought that he was very generous. I mean, there was a similar incident in Korea, when they ran out of money. They donated their treasured items. The similarities between these two incidents is that they were not selfish. They cared about something bigger than themselves. They cared about the community(maybe I am a little off track…?). Anyways, I thought that the people were a bit greedy. I think that way because they melted the prince just because he was a piece of rock. The look on the outside was beautiful, but the inside, it wasn’t as pretty.

I think that this book wants to teach us that beauty is on the inside and not the outside. For example, the prince LOOKED happy when the people looked at him. But the truth was, he was not. He felt bad for the people that could not afford food or clothing. So, he sacrificed himself, and asked the sparrow to take the ruby to a kid, and other parts of himself. When the village found that out, they were petrified. They had thought that the prince was such a beautiful item. On the inside, it was not. They even found the dead sparrow, and melted the prince. The heart didn't melt though. So, the prince and the sparrow lived in heaven(I don't know what to call it).

As a conclusion, I recommend this book to all ages. It was very easy to understand, and had a very good lesson.

[Soomin · Rating 4 out of 5]

While others heard this story before and knew about it (I heard that it's common), I don't know why I never heard about this story. Maybe I did but doesn't remember.

By reading the title, It sounds like its going to end in a happy ending, but it founds out it dosen't have a happy ending... This story really had a strong impression on me.

I think this book was similar to Disney movies. A lot of Disney movies especially Disney princess movies. Think about it. Theres a prince who has a kind heart and an animal which is a bird. The statue prince and the bird talking to each other was really ~fantasy~ kinda. It reminded me one of the movie called 'The princess and the frog' and 'Ariel'.

The reason I took out 1 star is because..... I know it was one of the short story in 100 short stories so it was really short. I would recommend to myself, try reading the book that is separate because it needed more story in the beginning and after.

This book wasn't too bad since I read and watched similar books and movies, and I got kinda used to it... (I think) I recommend this book to people who likes fiction stories and people who likes sad stories. Therefore I give this book 4stars out of 5.

[Euigine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mortal Immortal
This book is told by 323 years old man called Winzy. He drank a mysterious drink and had eternal life. He marries his true love, Bertha, but he suffers because eventually she would age and die. I was quite curious at the beginning because when he lived for 323 years, that means that he is immortal, but he asks this question over and over again, "Am I, then, immortal?" I have wished I could live forever, but my mind changed a little bit after reading this book. I have never thought about this, and it was very new to me. I have never thought that I should see people that I have loved age to death. This reminded me of the precious of time. I don't want to go deep into death because it still scares me and also, I have plenty of time left. Death makes me curious because I wonder what happens when I eventually die. Is there any place we could go after we die such as what we call 'Heaven?' I also got curious about this question. If all of the people become immortal, how will the world change? Will people be all happy?
I give this book a 3 star because it was interesting to read, but it was not really fun; (It was not just my style)

[Julia Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mortal Immortal: A Tale
3 Stars

I honestly don’t know how to start with this review. I will start with the bright side. The writer was really creative with all of this. Starting from the Immortal part, to the end. I also found it interesting that the writer chose to write in a “mythical” way. That is, in my opinion. It was actually a bit longer than the other short stories that I read (Or is this a normal short story and I only read short ones? Yeah. This doesn’t make sense.).

OK. Now the reason(?) why I had to take out 2 stars. This short story was kind of confusing to me. It was confusing because at the beginning, it was almost like the narrator was Immortal. I mean, yes, she/he IS immortal, but I didn’t know that at first. It was talking about a three hundred and twenty third anniversary. Whew. That was a LONG time that this person was immortal. To me, that was very confusing. Other than that, it was a good book.

I recommend this book to people who like mythical stuff but don’t like things like history (That's me. I don't like history).

[Youngseo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The happy prince
5 stars

This is a wonderful short story by Oscar Wilde. The main character is the happy prince and the swallow. The happy prince was a rich and happy person, and then he was turned into a statue, made of gold and beautiful jewels. When he was a person, he didn’t know about sadness and sorrow, but now that he was a statue, he could see his whole village so he could see all the sadness of people. He was terribly sad because he wanted to help the people but he couldn’t. then, a swallow came to rest on his feet before going traveling again. Swallow was supposed to fly to Egypt for the winter, but he was late because he had fallen in love with Reed. He wanted to leave next day, but the happy prince asked him to do many things for the poor people. Swallow gave the happy prince’s jewels and gold to a sick boy’s mother, a poor and cold man, a match-girl who ruined all of her matches, and some poor children. When swallow finished helping, he decided to stay with the happy prince. But, because of the cold weather, Swallow died soon, and the happy prince was thrown away because he was no longer beautiful.

I think this story’s moral is to be kind to people whose situation is worse than yours. I already knew this story, so I knew the moral. You can know this at the last part after the happy prince and Swallow die. After they die, in heaven, two angels bring the body of Swallow and the lead heart of the happy prince which didn’t melt as the two most precious thing in the city. You can see that the author thought the act of the happy prince and Swallow helping was “the most precious thing”, which means it is important, and that we should do acts like them. Also, there is another part where Swallow says “It is curious but I feel quite warm now, although it is so cold.” And the happy prince replied “That is because you have done a good action”.

The part I remember most is the part when people looked at the happy prince statue and realized all the jewels and gold had come off and that it was no longer beautiful. They said it was shabby, and that it is “little better than a beggar”. And without hesitation, they pulled it down to make another new statue. When they were melting it the lead heart didn’t melt so they threw it in the trash, along with the dead body of the swallow. I was disappointed because they called him a beggar. They didn’t know anything about the good things the prince and Swallow did. Then I had a thought about how there must be lots of good people like the prince but we are not noticing it.

So, I really liked this short story. Even though I read this story lots of times, it was still interesting, and I was moved. I gave this story 5 stars because it was easy to read and understand, and because the moral was good too.



The Mortal, Immortal

This short story is about a man named Winzy, who is immortal. At first, Winzy was just an ordinary man loving Bertha. He didn’t want to work for the alchemist Cornelius Agrippa, but his love for her made him to accept his work, to give Bertha a comfortable living. The alchemist worked hard for a long time to make an elixir, although Winzy didn’t know what sort of elixir it was. When the liquid was finished, Winzy chose to drink it, because he thought it was a cure for love. He wanted to be free from love, because he thought Bertha didn’t love her anymore, and loved Albert Hoffer. However, the elixir wasn’t a cure for love, but a potion that made the person who drank it immortal. The professor reveals the truth after five years later, when he is just about to die. Winzy has to live knowing that while he still looks like a twenty years old, Bertha keeps getting older. Bertha eventually knows the secret, and they move to western France. The they Winzy sees Bertha die, and realizes he won’t be able to love anyone like her.

One of the most important topics in this short story is Winzy’s difficulty in choosing between wanting to die and fearing death. Winzy says “the more I live, the more I dread death”. His immorality was a blessing to him, but a curse at the same time. He was happy because he could stay young forever, but he despaired when he watched Bertha die, and realized he was different, and he couldn’t die with the people he loves. I really couldn’t help imagining what I would have felt if I were Winzy, and if I would prefer immortality or just normal. And I thought about it, and I think I would just choose normal. The reason is, even though being immortal will be really good, I want to be like everyone else, so I won’t be lonely.

The author of this short story is the author of “Frankenstein”, and I noticed there were a lot of similar parts between these two stories. The “curse” is like the creature’s dilema in “Frankenstein”. The creature was created outside the laws of nature, so it was doomed to be feared by everyone. And Winzy drank an elixir of immortality, he broke the laws of nature too, because he can live forever. Just like the creature in “Frankenstein” was created outside of the bounds of nature, Winzy is outside the nature as a mortal immortal.

So, this short story was great, and it had a lot to think about while reading it, even though the story was short. I liked “Frankenstein”, and the author of that book wrote this story, so it was more interesting, so I give this story 5 stars.

[Judy Hanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Linda Finney OLLI class. Classic short stories

[John Fetzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good mix of American and foreign stories

There are both well known classics, and others by both known and once-known authors. A very interesting variety of tales.

[Moosemom · Rating 4 out of 5]

One story a day!

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you believe that you know the true sadness you around you? Or did you ever felt that you were always happy throughout your life? I believed and did not feel both things before I read the . The funny thing is that, I still do. Though the belief changed its course a bit. Now I believe that I 'only' know the sadness that are only found around me, and I did not feel happy 'always' but 'most of the times'.

The story seems to be telling us the beautiful mind of the 'happy prince' as it starts the story. The generous happy prince who always cries when he sees an unhappy and sad face of a poor person. The brave kindhearted little bird who kindly accepted the prince's request and stays with him until he dies. When I was young, I only remembered that part since the kid's was literally written for kids and ended very simply. The prince's heart turned into a hard pretty gem, and somehow the bird came back from the dead with the happy prince in everyone's mind. It was not long ago when I found the shocking and tragic parts of the story.

The first thing I noticed was that the prince did plead to the bird a few times but later used a commanding tone saying "Do it!". Second, the prince actually 'used' the bird until its death on the behalf of his unmovable arms and legs. Third, you can easily find that the people or characters value gems and gold very much. Fourth, people in the story don't care about the mysterious hard metal in the prince's heart. Lastly, by showing the 'god' who later decorates his gold palace with the happy prince, it tells us that even the god thinks the kindness is as important as gold, which means gold is also very much important to him. I might have been imagining too much, but it seemed as if the story was actually trying to tell us the evil minded ideas of human beings and the god is with them too. It felt strange to read the book this way.

Because this story felt deep and thoughtful, I give it 4.5 stars. I recommend this story to the one's who are willing to figure out the parts where you couldn't find when you were young, and to the ones who want to read the in a perspective they did not know.

[Freddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

2021.06.05 - “The mortal immortal” by Mary Shelly

Winzy, a young guy who has lived for 323 years, is the subject of The Mortal Immortal. He reminisces on the events that led to his invincibility. Winzy worked for Cornelius Agrippa, a scholar, and alchemist. Initially, he turned down Agrippa's offer of work. However, Winzy’s love for Bertha, his childhood sweetheart, and the love of his life, prompted him to accept the offer in hopes that the money he made could be sufficient to give her a comfortable living. Winzy has to live with the fact that Bertha is getting older while he continues to look twenty years old. Bertha accepts the situation and tells Winzy that she wants to start a new life with him somewhere neither one of them can be recognized. Winzy also discovers that he feels the effects of old age taking a physical toll on him despite the fact that his outward appearance continues to be that of a twenty-year-old. Winzy also discovers that he feels the effects of old age taking a physical toll on him despite the fact that his outward appearance continues to be that of a twenty-year-old.

This semester’s theme is about WWII, but I think this story was not based on WWII much than other books that we read. I think it is the story of Winzy, a young guy who is immortal. Maybe a fantasy? Normally, the theme of the previous books we read was about the Nazi invasion, chaos of the war, etc. But this story was kind of ambiguous to judge whether if it is a story about WWII or just a boy that drank something and became immortal. I think the 2nd one fits more. So, I wandered on the internet to find the theme of this story and it said the theme was Immortality and the character of The Wandering Jew, unrequited love, and alchemy are all popular themes and motifs in Romantic Gothic fiction. Shelley's other short works, such as "Transformation," are known for their fragmentary shape and confessional language. Shelley's novels, especially Frankenstein, include similar themes, motifs, and storytelling approaches.

Winzy is the immortal narrator of the story and he is the subject of readers’ sympathy. Winzy is a caring and devoted man, but immortality changes him from someone who is content with life to one who is embittered, wanting only to see how eternal his suffering must be. Winzy worked for Cornelius Agrippa, a scholar, and alchemist. Cornelius spends his days conducting various scientific studies. Cornelius Agrippa is known to be a real person, according to historical sources. He was an alchemist who lived between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. There are other characters, but I’ll stop here and rate this story.

I rate this story 4 stars and recommend this story to people who like to read about stories about fantasy stuff.

2021.04.10 - The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde

The statue of the Happy Prince looked beautiful and everyone in the city loved to see their Prince. A little swallow, who had alighted between the feet of the Happy Prince to spend the night there, became curious to know where did the drops of water fall from. He looked up and saw the eyes of the Happy Prince full of tears. He became the messenger of the Prince and agreed to remove the fine gold and jewels from his statue to distribute them among the poor and the needy. The little bird decided not to leave the company of the Happy Prince who had gone blind now. The bird followed his words and picked off leaf after leaf of the gold, till the Happy Prince looked quite dull and grey.

I remember I read this story when I was 7. It was in the Korean version, but I really liked it. At that time, I didn’t read books that often. The only book that read was comic books. They were funny and satisfying to read. But then my mom recommended me this book. At first, I didn’t look at the book that well. I thought that it was going to be boring. But when I read it, it was educational somehow. I enjoyed reading the book.

There are about 5 characters in this book if I remember correctly. It is the happy prince, the swallow, the reed, the little match-girl, and the god. The Happy Prince is both the protagonist of this story and its namesake. Once a sheltered prince who led a life of pleasure, the Happy Prince was turned into a gilded statue upon his death. The other protagonist of “The Happy Prince,” the Swallow, is a bird en route to Egypt for the winter. Although she appears relatively briefly in the story, the reed still has an important role. A young girl selling matches on a street corner whose father beats her if she does not return with sufficient money. God appears in the very last lines of the story to rescue the Sparrow’s body and the Happy Prince’s leaden heart and to promise them eternity in Paradise for their sacrifices. The characters were okay in my opinion.

I rate this story 5 stars and recommend it to those who like stories that are impressive or have happy endings.

[Minchan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review for The Happy Prince
I remember watching The Happy Prince as a play when I was young. As this story is extremely short and simple, the play didn't last long and was not that impressive. After all, if you see full-grown humans pretending to be swallows as a 10-year-old child, you tend to lose concentration. The story itself was touching, I guess, with a very obvious moral. Nothing was out of the ordinary back then and The Happy Prince was just another normal short story.

The Happy Prince makes it clear that we should help people. Not only does the happy prince sacrifice himself for poor people, but a swallow also dies helping the prince sacrifice himself. They both are great example of true love and sacrifice. Very touching. (Did not cry)

At least that was what I thought when I was young.

After reading The Happy Prince again, I realised that the story doesn't make sense at all. Sure, the setting that a swallow and statue can speak the same language doesn't make sense in the first place, but there are other more 'realistic' problems in this story.

First off, the prince repeatedly mentions that the jewels on his body are very expensive. Because they are expensive, they could help poor people start a normal life. Great! The only problem is that once a very rare, expensive jewel goes missing, the people who were in charge of the jewel would look for it. If the owners find the jewel sitting on a poor person's window sill they are obviously going to presume that the poor person stole the jewel. Nobody is going to believe that a sparrow gave the jewel to the person. The poor person wouldn't be able to hire a proper lawyer to defend his/herself from the allegation. Basically, the person's life will be ruined. The prince's intent was good but unfortunately, it wasn't realistic enough.

Second, why did the prince have to keep the sparrow from leaving? Sparrows are migratory birds; meaning that they will most likely die if they don't move to a warm place in time. The sparrow in The Happy Prince also mentioned it multiple times too. Yet the prince insisted and the sparrow was too nice to decline. Being the massive statue that he is, plenty of other birds rest on the prince every day. In my opinion, the prince was just selfish.

Overall, The Happy Prince is a touching story. Its a decent light read, as it is only around 5 pages. However, it is one of the books that you should definitely not overthink.

Review for The Mortal Immortal: A Tale (4 stars)
No matter how great a human is, one will always face death. For all living things, death is the end of life. Although humans have learned to conquer almost everything on this earth, death is one thing that seems untouchable. So far, no study has revealed how we can cheat death. Humans tend to imagine things that are seemingly impossible. Beating death is a very common topic for imagination. Some people still believe that immortality is really achievable and countless people have died trying. Take Qin Shi Huang, the legendary Chinese emperor, for example. As he gained total control over China, the only thing left for him to conquer was death. Qin did not hesitate to do anything if he heard something might grant him immortality. He wasted his fortune looking for a mystical plant and drank mercury, thinking that it was the elixir of immortality and ultimately shortened his life.

Yet many people still long for immortality. Most people think that being immortal can only be a positive thing; most people do not think about the downsides of immortality.

The Mortal Immortal: A Tale explores the more realistic part of becoming immortal. Although you might live forever, that does not mean that the ones you love will also live forever. Being immortal means that you will have to witness the death of everyone around you. At first glance, living forever may seem like a treat but in fact it isn't. The main character suffers as his loved one gets older while he doesn't. This concept isn't unique, but the fact that this short story is written in great detail makes this story interesting. Reading realistic approaches to some kind of fantasy is always captivating and this story did not disappoint. To those who enjoyed The Mortal Immortal: A Tale , I recommend watching the drama series Forever which deals with a similar concept (And it is one of the best dramas I've seen).

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Happy Prince
5 stars

"The statue of the Happy Prince stood high above the city. It was covered with gold, its eyes were
bright blue jewels, and a red jewel hung from its waist. Everyone thought that it was very beautiful."

I've actually heard of this story very commonly, here and there. I've actually heard of different versions of it, too. I personally really like this story. I think it's very... logical. But for this story there are two 'versions' of this word. One is a good theme. By theme I mean a good lesson. By a good lesson I mean something we should learn from this story to have a 'better future'. By a good future I mean a good life.
A lesson I learned from this story is,"help people who are in need and god will help you in the end."
(I'm just joking on this one... It probably has a MUCH better lesson).
Two is 'an original'. As an example, you could look at the disney movie, 'The Little Mermaid'. In the 'cartoon version' Ariel marries the prince and has a happy ending. But in the original version, one of Ariel's sisters gives her a knife to 'kill' the prince. But Ariel can't bring herself to do that so she sacrifices herself by using the knife to suicide, and then turns into bubbles.
Just like that this story had a happy ending but my question after reading this is,"is this the original?". My guess is that, it IS.
* This was also my first time that I heard the bird was migrating to EGYPT. At one point I heard someone in my class say Canada. But isn't that geese?

I also thought that the ending was happy (I guess). But I was 'devastated' when the bird died. The bird couldn't even go to where he intended to go because he was helping the prince help people in need of help (a lot of helps...). Because of this reason I think that the bird could've deserved better, for example, maybe he could've seen his friends for the last time, or maybe at least accomplish one of his goals before entering the house of death.

I ALSO thought that the book was very simple but easy to understand WITH the contents of a great lesson to think about throughout our lives.

Overall, I really liked this book and in fact, would recommend this to all of you guys.
*Especially kids my age since I thought that this short story had a good lesson.
*AND since it was short and only took me like 3 minutes to read.







The Mortal Immortal
3 stars

It's July 16, 1833. Winzy explains that it's his supposedly very special 323rd anniversary. To quickly introduce Winzy, he is a poor boy who is in love with an (once was) orphan who was raised by a noble family, Bertha. When he asks Bertha to marry him, Bertha refuses. She's only interested in the amount of money he has (I don't get why he still likes her). Meanwhile a philosopher, Cornelius Agrippa, is trying to persuade Winzy to become his apprentice for gold. Well, problem solved, right? One day heis unable to meet Bertha and Bertha claims that he doesn't truly love her. Soon after that he finds Cornelius making an elixir. Cornelius tells him that it's a love cure and to not drink it. Well, yeah Winzy idiotically drinks it and then boom, he's immortal.

I don't get why the main character always does something very stupid just to overcome something with time. And what's the point of living over 300 years? Are you just going to brag to your crush that you drank a mysterious potion and that you can't love him/ her anymore? Well, I certainly wouldn't. To conclude this manner, most main characters are always causing the climax and doing something stupid to cause it in the first place. Not to mention that he still loves Bertha very much.

I also don't get why Cornelius didn't think that Winzy will definitely drink it if he tells him that it's a love potion. If I was Cornelius, I would've told him that if he drinks the elixir, he would die or something. See? Another u-know-what mistake.

To come to an end, I think I wouldn't make my characters (if I was going to write a book anyway) this foolish.

[Stefan · Rating 2 out of 5]

100 Great Short Stories, The Happy Prince, book review (not the whole book).

I only gave this book a 4 star because it is the closest to the average and I don’t want to give this book a unfair review. The part I am writing a review about (The little prince), I give it a 2 star.

A swallow is one of those small birds which migrate to the south when it gets too cold for them to live in the north. The main character in this book, at least I think, is a swallow and it has become time for them to migrate to the south, for warmth. This particular swallow, however, stayed back because it was love with a reed. However, when it became autumn the swallow had no choice than to fly to Egypt. On the way to Egypt, the swallow made the bad choice of trying to rest under a statue of the happy prince. When it tried to sleep under the statue, the statue cried. It had seen a poor mother having to give his son river water. The happy prince, the statue, told the swallow to give the ruby in the hilt of his sword to the family and so it did to sleep an extra night below the statue. Then the statue ordered the swallow to give the poor his eyes, sapphires, and his skin, gold, to the poor. As a result the swallow had to stay a total of 4 extra nights. The swallow, sadly, could not stand the cold and died. Just before the swallow dies, the prince told the swallow to leave for Egypt but the swallow did not leave because the prince didn’t have eyes and could not see.

I don’t like the happy prince (not the whole book) as it kills the swallow. I think that the statue of the happy prince kinda brainwashed the swallow to stay and made the swallow loyal to him. I think that the prince wanted the poor people to live more than the swallow as it is the happy prince’s fault that the swallow died.




The Mortal Immortal part of the book review

The Mortal Immortal is a well written book by Mary Shelly.

It is a book about a scholar of Cornelius Agrippa being half immortal half mortal. In this book, Cornelius Agrippa brews a potion that can make a person love you but can also make you immortal. Cornelius trusts his scholar to guard his potion while he sleeps before he drinks the potion. Unfortunately the scholar of Cornelius was in love with a girl named Bertha who did not love him back so he had to drink it instead of guarding it. He could only drink half of the potion because Cornelius woke up and he smashed the potion but it was enough to make Bertha fall in love with him and make him live long or maybe even make him immortal. Cornelius, and Bertha ends up dying while Cornelius’s scholar lives until he is three hundred years old when the book ends. At the final part of the book he considers suicide but the book ends before he can do anything.

I think that this is a well written book that is really interesting but this is the sort of book that makes you really mad. Everyone knows the types of books that is really funny and stuff but is really frustrating because the some of the characters are just really stupid. These characters are usually the ones that survive whilst the kind character dies or something. For example Malfoy from Harry Potter or Manny from the Wimpy Kid. The examples I mentioned above are all really good books because the funny and interesting parts of the book are much bigger than the frustrating part of the book, but in the Mortal Immortal, the frustrating part of the book is way much larger than the interesting part of this book.

Therefore, I think that this Mortal Immortal deserves a 2 star(obviously not the’100 great stories’, just the Mortal Immortal).

[Michaela Kwon]

The Happy Prince - Oscar Wilde (1888)
[★★★★★]
The Happy Prince is a short story that I think most of the students or children have read once in their life for any reason. It is very famous, but also because it contains complicated plots and the character's motivation which made me interested while reading the story even though it wasn't the first time of reading this story.

In the whole story, we can several themes and morals of the story that also applies importantly to our real life. Not only the theme but also some scenes really touched my heart. For example, the scene where the prince also asks the bird to take his other eye was very touching. The reason why I picked that scene is that, even though he is losing his chance of watching and learning about the real world, he is giving up the opportunity and he helped others.

Another part that I really enjoyed was the ending part. The ending wasn't very bright or full of happiness between the character. The prince statue loses all of his jewelry and golds, he becomes just the same as other irons. This was the saddest scene inside the whole story, but the most miserable fact about this story is that actually, this story is describing real people very well. When the statue was shining bright in gold color and had all of the jewelry, they loved the statue and every day thought about it and felt proud of it. But after he gave all of his jewelry and also his golds to the others who really needed those, he was ignored by the citizens and treated like something that is not needed or something that needs to be took away. These parts really show how people are acting to the helpers of the people who need help.

Also, the other theme of this story is very touching even though time passed. Within these facts and all of the important themes, I recommend strongly this book to many who didn't have read it yet, and also I want new readers to learn about the real people in the society who are scared and only think about their profit.

-----------------------------------------
The Mortal Immortal - Mary Shelley (1833)
[★★★★☆]

"Am I immortal?"

This short and but complicated question started all of the misfortune that Winzy needed to face because of many reasons.

This short story used a very simple but also complicated topic to express many different social issues that cause big differences in one's life. For example, in the story, Winzy loves a girl named Bertha, but they are placed in different social classes. Bertha has a lot of money, basically, she is of nobility, but Winzy doesn't have any money, basically, he is at the lowest level of the social hierarchy. Because of this problem, he started to work under a person named Cornelius Agrippa.

Here is where the main event and the problem of the whole story began. He only started to work under Cornelius Agrippa because he said he will give a lot of money to the one who is working as the assistance. But because Winzy was too busy, he missed meeting Bertha and lost her trust. She was frustrated because she thought Winzy was lying to her.

Bertha chooses to ignore and disregard him, but he didn't know it was because she was mad at him. So, he made a perfectly wrong choice. This one simple choice brought him to the end of misfortune and dropped him in the deep black hole of unhappiness.

Even though I enjoyed the story and I liked how the author used interesting fantasy stories to tell the readers about the problem that was made because of the difference of classes, but it was a little bit too dark to read, and hard to understand the character's emotion while I am reading the book.

[Jeff Hobbs]

Read so far:

Daniel Defoe: The Apparition of Mrs. Veal (1705)--2
Benjamin Franklin: Alice Addertongue (1732)--2
Washington Irving: The Devil and Tom Walker (1824)--3
Prosper Mérimée: Mateo Falcone (1829)--3
Charlotte Brontë: Napoleon and the Spectre (1833)--1
Mary Shelley: The Mortal Immortal: A Tale (1834)--3
Nathaniel Hawthorne: Young Goodman Brown (1835)--3
Nathaniel Hawthorne: Dr. Heidegger's Experiment (1837)--3
Edgar Allan Poe: The Masque of the Red Death (1841)--3
Edgar Allan Poe: The Tell-Tale Heart (1843)--3
Edgar Allan Poe: The Cask of Amontillado (1846)--4
Mary Anne Hoare: The Knitted Collar (1851)--
Ivan Turgenev: The District Doctor (1852)--2
Charles Dickens: Nobody's Story (1853)--3
Herman Melville: The Fiddler (1854)--2
Herman Melville: The Lightning-Rod Man (1854)--2
Robert Carlton: Selecting the Faculty (1855)--
Mary E. Braddon: The Cold Embrace (1861)--2
Alphonse Daudet: The Pope's Mule (1868)--3
*Mark Twain: Journalism in Tennessee (1869)--
Bret Harte: The Luck of Roaring Camp (1870)--3
Bill Arp: Bill Nations (1873)--
Bret Harte: A Jersey Centenarian (1875)--2
Mark Twain: The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1875)--2
Mark Twain: A Literary Nightmare (1876)--
Stephen Crane: The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky (1898)--3
Lucretia P. Hale: The Peterkins Decide to Learn the Languages (1878)--3
Harriet Beecher Stowe: The Parson's Horse Race (1878)--3
Charles Dudley Warner: How I Killed a Bear (1878)--2
*Joel Chandler Harris: Uncle Remus and the Wonderful Tar-Baby Story (1881)--
George W. Peck: His Pa Gets Mad! (1883)--
Guy de Maupassant: The Necklace (1884)--4
Sarah Orne Jewett: A White Heron (1886)--3
Leo Tolstoy: How Much Land Does a Man Need? (1886)--3
Charles Waddell Chesnutt: The Goophered Grapevine (1887)--2
Bill Nye: John Adams' Diary (1887)--
Oscar Wilde: The Sphinx Without a Secret (1887)--2
Oscar Wilde: The Happy Prince (1888)--5
Oscar Wilde: The Selfish Giant (1888)--3
Ambrose Bierce: A Horseman in the Sky (1889)--3
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: A New England Nun (1891)--3
*Thomas Hardy: Squire Petrick's Lady (1891)--
Jerome K. Jerome: A Ghost Story (1892)--3
Kate Chopin: Désirée's Baby (1893)--4
Jules Renard: The Dark Lantern (1893)--
John Kendrick Bangs: The Idiot's Journalism Scheme (1895)--
Hayden Carruth: Active Colorado Real Estate (1895)--
H.G. Wells: The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes (1895)--3
Stephen Crane: The Veteran (1896)--3
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis: The Fortune-Teller (1896)--4
Robert J. Burdette: Rollo Learning to Read (1897)--
Kate Chopin: A Pair of Silk Stockings (1897)--3
W.B. Yeats: The Tables of the Law (1897)--1
Anton Chekhov: Gooseberries (1898)--3
Kate Chopin: The Storm (1898)--2
*Rudyard Kipling: Wee Willie Winkie (1899)--
Jack London: The White Silence (1900)--4
Rainer Maria Rilke: How Old Timofei Died with a Song (1900)--2
Thomas Mann: The Path to the Cemetery (1901)--
*Luigi Pirandello: With Other Eyes (1901)--
Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory: The Only Son of Aoife (1902)--2

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Happy Prince
5 stars

[The Happy Prince] is a sad and touching story. A story of a little swallow, and a statue prince’s beautiful thought.

The happy prince, well, actually who is a shape of a prince (statue) who was once alive, wasn’t happy after becoming a statue. Not that the fact he is a statue, but the fact that he couldn’t see the people of his country when he was alive, happy and blind in the castle. They weren’t as he imagined. One day, he saw this little swallow going by his side and a poor mom with a sick child. He asks the swallow to give his ruby in his sword to the poor mom. After that, the swallow becomes the happy prince’s giver of poor. Maybe starting from then, he really became the happy prince.

[The Happy Prince], yes, it’s a love story. Not the kind of prince and princess things, but the kind of love that wise kings feel for their people. A very beautiful and charming, a short story where you can feel a new kind of love. Maybe you could describe what word to describe this. (Not me) To thank the happiness this short story gave me, I rate this book 5 stars.

[The Mortal Immortal: A Tale]

4 stars

Just a small fact before starting the review. Someone or something that is immortal will live or last forever and never die or be destroyed.

“Am I immortal?”

It’s a question that Winzy asks to himself, and now to us. He told us that he can’t decide. However, it is a question we cannot answer. If he is dead right now, he’s not immortal. If he is alive right now, we can assume that he might be immortal Of course, do not fear of this wrinkled old man who cannot even harm you. Living long doesn’t make you strong. Then is being immortal good?

I suppose it’s NOT. I think Winzy would have thought like it too. Partly. He might have acted all happy and so, but deep inside him, there must have been a dark whisper that told him, “You were wrong to drink that potion. Your master was wrong to make that potion. Everything is wrong about the potion! You shouldn’t BE immortal. It’s outside the Nature’s laws. You shouldn’t be immortal…..”. Anyway, why do I think being immortal isn’t good? It is JUST simple. Simple itself. You have to keep seeing people around you dying and you can’t do anything for them. NOTHING. You feel like you might want to die, but you CAN’T because you’re stuck in the curse of immortal. There are good parts though. It’s just that I don’t think it is good enough to fight back the big bad part.

Overall, this book was fun, interesting, and… A little bit complicated. Therefore, I give this book 4 stars and recommend it to someone who is immortal… Just kidding, someone who is interested in a love story(?) between someone immortal and someone who is not.

[Ieun · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Happy Prince

The Happy Prince is about a statue of a prince and a swallow who did not go to Egypt with all his other friends. When the swallow layed down to sleep under the statue, he found out that the prince was crying. The prince was crying because the town filled with misery and sadness. The swallow decided to stay with the prince for only one night. During the night of the swallow’s stay, the prince asked him to give the ruby on his sword to a poor home where a boy was very sick. After the ruby was delivered, the boy and his mom were very happy. In the next two nights, the swallow gave the two sapphires in the statue’s eyes to a play writer and a match-girl. Then the swallow did not want to leave the prince since he was blind.

In The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde, there are two main characters. There is a statue of a prince who was covered in gold, ruby and sapphire. There is also a swallow, who did not want to help the prince make the people in the town be happy in the first place, but changed its mind after the prince got blind. There was also one character that I like. I liked the town councillors, and how they always repeated what the mayor sayed, just like a perret.

There were also three parts that I liked.
Firstly, in the beginning of the story, each of the different people who lived in the town said all their own opinions about the statue. I especially liked how the author said that the mathematical master did not approve of children dreaming. That sentence showed the reader that the mathematical master only sticks with facts.
Secondly, there was a paragraph where the professor of ornithology found the swallow in winter and wrote a letter to the local newspaper. It was very funny that the local newspaper told him that they liked it, but actually they did not even understand it because it was full of many words.
Thirdly, like I said before, I liked how the town councillors always repeated what the mayer says. But in the last part when they melted the statue, the mayor said that the new statue will be of him. Then the town councillors said “ will be of me!”. But the mayor ment himself, not the councillors.

This book made me think about the title. Does the ‘happy’ mean the happy prince who lived in a beautiful castle, or the prince who was happy because he gave happiness to other people?

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic selection of short stories starting with Daniel Defoe's story "The apparition of Mrs. Veal" written in 1705 and ending with John Galsworthy's story "the Broken Boot" written in 1923. It is a great selection of short stories for students and short stories lovers. The stories are written chronologically which shows us how the short story has stayed the same but has evolved at the same time. The authors chosen are a delight to read in this book.

Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book free from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I was not obliged to write a favorable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.

[Krystie Herndon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories, written well, give us memorable characters and vignettes of life that stick with us, and, pondered upon, help us to live our own lives a little bit better.