C. Alphonso Smith (1864–1924)

This was downloaded for free on my Kindle App. The original "hard copy" version of this collection was first published by C. Alphonso Smith, back in 1916. As an aside, in this he is described as being the Edgar Allan Poe Professor of English in the University of Virginia. So it is no surprise that a Poe short story is included here.

In his introduction, Smith states that "Every short story has three parts, which may be called Setting or Background, Plot or Plan, and Characters or Characters". He then defines each part -- and, then, before each short story is introduced, he describes what these three parts are (which occasionally causes spoilers). This feature sets this short story collection a bit apart from most others.

Some stories were re-reads for me (i.e. The Gift of the Magi); some were ones in which the basic plot I was familiar with (i.e. Rip Van Winkle), and some were completely new to me (The Necklace, though I had heard of the author before). Most would probably not be new to someone highly educated in literature, and such a person might not need Smith's discussion before each story, but I enjoyed this over all. I admit though, that I skimmed over Kipling and didn't really read it at all. My favorites were O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" and de Maupassant's "The Necklace" -- I like the surprising twist endings that those provided.

The short stories in this volume are as follows:

"Esther" -- Old Testament
"Ali Baba and the Forty Robbers" -- The Arabian Nights
"Rip Van Winkle" -- Washington Irving
"The Gold Bug" -- Edgar Allan Poe
"A Christmas Carol" -- Charles Dickens
"The Great Stone Face" -- Nathaniel Hawthorne
"Rab and His Friends" -- Dr. John Brown
"The Outcast of Poker Flats" -- Bret Harte
"Markheim" -- Robert Louis Stevenson
"The Necklace" -- Guy de Maupassant
"The Man Who Would be King" -- Rudyard Kipling
"The Gift of the Magi" -- O. Henry… (meer)

Remarkable not so much in the selection of the tales in general, since most of them are among the favorites of many anthologists, but for the inclusion of the book of Esther as an example of a short story and the scrutiny afforded it as a work of literature. This is not uncommon today, but I'm guessing that in 1918 it wasn't typical for a respectable person to analyze scripture using the tools of literary analysis. If I'm wrong, I deserve censure and my punishment will be re-reading "The Gift of the Magi."… (meer)

Short Stories Old and New (1916) is a collection of some of the best short stories of all time, according to ca. 1916 U of VA professor C. Alphonso Smith. The collection contains:

*"Esther", from the Old Testament
*"Ali Baba and the Forty Robbers", from The Arabian Nights
*"Rip Van Winkle", by Washington Irving
*"The Gold-Bug", by Edgar Allan Poe
*"A Christmas Carol", by Charles Dickens
*"The Great Stone Face", by Nathaniel Hawthorne
*"Rab and his Friends", by Dr. John Brown
*"The Outcasts of Poker Flat", by Brete Harte
*"Markheim", by Robert Louis Stevenson
*"The Necklace", by Guy de Maupassant
*"The Man Who Would Be King", by Rudyard Kipling
*"The Gift of the Magi", by O. Henry

It is an enticing list because while some of them are obviously the most well known and popular stories of all time, others are obscure and largely forgotten - who today puts "Rab and his Friends" or "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" on the same pedestal as "The Gift of the Magi" or "Christmas Carol" - much less even heard of them. But great stories they are and still worth reading. Most of the stories have the same timeless theme of redemption, passing through a trial or challenge and becoming a better person in the end (with some exceptions).

This collection is freely available from a number of sources: Internet Archive, Gutenberg, Amazon Kindle Store, etc..

--Review by Stephen Balbach, via CoolReading (c) 2008 cc-by-nd… (meer)