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The best of Henry

Book worm The cover page of “The Best of O Henry”

It’s Behrman’s masterpiece – he painted it there the night that the last leaf fell.” (The last line from O. Henry’s classic short story, “The Last Leaf”). It is one of those textbook tal es that stayed with you long after school. Probably, “The Last Leaf” along with “The Gift of the Magi” initiated many into the cliff-hanger tales of O. Henry, where the final line often quelled the suspense, but also gave a chilling finish to the story as revelation dawned on the reader.

Not surprising then, that yet another collection of O. Henry’s tales opens with these masterpieces of the popular author. “The Best of O. Henry”, a package of 20 stories published by Scholastic, aims to give a feel of the master’s world. Though there is no dearth of O. Henry collections, the latest from Scholastic seems to suggest the storyteller’s charm has not waned even almost a century after his death.

“It is good to take a fresh look at O. Henry,” says Tina Narang, Associate Editor, Scholastic, explaining the reasons behind the new compilation.

Though the primary aim of the collection is to introduce young readers to O. Henry, it is a compilation that adults too would find engaging.

“Anyone who has read O. Henry would want to read more,” says Tina. The collection gives a fair idea of O. Henry’s range. Be it the story of a couple who would do anything for their loved ones or that of two friends who meet after 20 years, all tales have the typical “on the edge” feeling of O. Henry stories.

It took two months to compile this 220-page collection, and the editors went through a vast collection of O. Henry’s stories to zero in on the material for the book.

“We thought it would be an injustice if we do not include his well-known stories,” says Tina explaining the reasons for the presence of “The Last leaf” and “The Gift of the Magi” in the collection.

“The Best of O. Henry” also brings together some relatively unknown works of the author.

“Stories like ‘Transients in Arcadia’ and ‘The Social Triangle’ are not really well known,” says Tina. The stress was on making it a harmonious collection, she adds. But they all leave you with the eerie feeling of an O. Henry story.

P. ANIMA

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