Book Review: 100 Selected Stories by O. Henry

I started this book (ISBN: 1853262412) on 28 February 2012. It ended
on 29 march 2013, 0300 a.m. 1 year and 1 month to be exact. In the
hundred gems of stories, I came across a multitude of colors of
humanity, the range of characters, from each extremes, painting the
tales a man tried to pen down sitting in a prison cell. I could not
stop myself from admiring each and every piece of this anthology. The
first and the last being the Hottest Favorite. One simply can not
escape the illusion O. Henry created with his characters and plots.
Playing with words and phrases as a street magician plays with smoke
and mirrors. Pulling tricks of hands from his shirt sleeves,
enchanting his audience each single time. And the way the stories are
told- the myriad of dialects and accents, the reservoir of his wits
and wisdom never running dry in the middle of any-one. Each piece with
a definite theme, similar to others, but so profoundly strong, that
each one could have been a separate genre in itself.

O. Henry has written in so many styles that he could be labelled the
'master of spices' when it comes to Masala-fying his tales. Each tale
comparable to a multi course mega-meal-- complete with its appetizing
soups for starter being the introductory paragraph, followed by
delicious entree's, showing the unfolding of the plots, followed by a
series of main course dishes, varying in number, quantity, and quality
depending on the plot, but nonetheless gratifying the hunger of the
soul, followed by mouth watering desserts in the form of
twists-in-the-tale he was so fond of putting in the last para or two.
I am strongly of the opinion that had he not been a writer, he would
have surely made a star-chef of some revolutionary restaurant.


Besides all this,there is the way O. Henry portrayed human emotions
that would make you bow in respect. From tummy-turning laughter to
heart wrenching sorrow. From razor sharp satire to superbly contrasted
irony. Not a single shade has been spared by the nib of his pen. The
gift of writing he had possessed was of such a great extent many
writers will kill for.



With the last word of the last story, I smiled with the irony of the
situation- O. Henry writing about a premature ending of a life when he
himself is taken victim of the death-angel's conspiracies: dying
Mid-sentence. Yes, in the middle of a sentence. It is written clearly
there-on the last page, how he even couldn't put a period at the end.
Such is the Irony of the end of a great story-teller!


Reading that book, I ticked all those stories that put an impression
on my mind, and when in the end I looked up the index again, more than
Half- yes, more than half were my favorite! Still, to put into this
post I had to sieve out only a few of them. Here's the list-


While the auto waits,
The third ingredient,
The last leaf,
The furnished room,
The gift of magi,
The Dream,
The cop and the anthem,
The adventures of Shamrock Jones,
Madame Bo-peep,
Springtime a la carte,
Double dyed deceiver,
Roads of Destiny.