“The Most Dangerous Game”, also published as “The Hounds of Zaroff”, is a story by Richard Connell, first published in Collier’s on January 19, 1924. The story features a big-game hunter from New York City who falls off a yacht and swims to what seems to be an abandoned and isolated island in the Caribbean, where he is hunted by a Russian aristocrat. The story is inspired by the big-game hunting safaris in Africa and South America that were particularly fashionable among wealthy Americans in the 1920s. The story has been adapted numerous times, most notably as the 1932 RKO Pictures film The Most Dangerous Game, starring Joel McCrea and Leslie Banks, and for a 1943 episode of the CBS Radio series Suspense, starring Orson Welles. It has been called the “most popular short story ever written in English.” Upon its publication, it won the O. Henry Award.
Captivated Reader
My blog is about the books I'm reading, the independent bookstores I visit, the author and book events I attend, and any bookish related things I come across in the months and years to come!
Monday, May 8, 2023
The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
Sunday, May 7, 2023
The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin
The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is a very short story I read years ago for either a high school English class or college English class. I enjoyed reading it back then and am happy that I recently rediscovered The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin again last month.
Above is the FREE audio edition of The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin I listened to on YouTube. It's roughly 6.5 minutes in length, so if you're up to listening to a short story originally published in Vogue magazine in 1894, check it out as it is a lovely period piece that is well worth a listen.
I am giving The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.
Until my next post, happy reading!!
Saturday, May 6, 2023
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
I've read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman twice in college in the 1990s for two different English classes. I enjoyed reading this story back then very much.
The gist of this short story is a young woman who is a wife and new mother is suffering from postpartum depression shortly after giving birth. Her husband is a doctor and he prescribes complete bed rest in the country where she will overcome the issue according to her husband. The husband claims to know what is best for his wife as he is a doctor after all... Let's just say this theory blows up in his face.
Read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman to glean the full details. This short story makes for interesting reading.
Diagnosed by her physician husband with a “temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency” after the birth of her child, a woman is urged to rest for the summer in an old colonial mansion. Forbidden from doing work of any kind, she spends her days in the house’s former nursery, with its barred windows, scratched floor, and peeling yellow wallpaper.
In a private journal, the woman records her growing obsession with the “horrid” wallpaper. Its strange pattern mutates in the moonlight, revealing what appears to be a human figure in the design. With nothing else to occupy her mind, the woman resolves to unlock the mystery of the wallpaper. Her quest, however, leads not to the truth, but into the darkest depths of madness.
A condemnation of the patriarchy, The Yellow Wallpaper explores with terrifying economy the oppression, grave misunderstanding, and willful dismissal of women in late nineteenth-century society.
Friday, May 5, 2023
The In and Out Book Tag...
Thursday, May 4, 2023
Throwback Thursday - Book Reviews I Enjoyed Writing!!
1. Jackie as Editor: The Literary Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis by Greg Lawrence
2. Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on The Decision Not To Have Kids by Meghan Daum (Editor)
3. Asking For It by Louise O'Neill
4. The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy
5. Cartomancy - Fortune Telling With Playing Cards by Julian Moore
6. Changing Laws: Politics of the Civil Rights Era by Judy Dodge Cummings
7. The Little Book of Lost Words: Collywobbles, Snollygosters, and 86 Other Surprisingly Useful Terms Worth Resurrecting by Joe Gillard
8. Dracula [Audible Edition] by Bram Stoker
9. The Vegetarian by Han Kang
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos
I've watched the 1953 movie version of 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell, but I never realized the movie was based on the novel of the same name and written by Anita Loos.
So, what did I think of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos? It was a fun, easy peasy read. I enjoyed listening to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and found the narrator to be delightful! Yes, this novel was funny throughout. However, at times, I felt some of the lexicon to be rather repetitive at times. I would recommend this book if you want to read a bestselling 'comic novel' written during the 1920s!
One of the most popular novels released in the 1920s on the hedonistic Jazz Age, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was declared the great American novel by Edith Wharton. Told from the point of view of a blonde flapper named Lorelei in the form of her diary, this novel follows her adventures around the world in search of a gentleman companion who can elevate her position within society. As Lorelei cycles through multiple men, she discovers things about herself and the way that she lives her life in retrospection—while also chronicling her changing moods and petty disputes with her brunette companion, Dorothy. Hilarious and a true classic, this revered novel transcends decades and continues to be relatable in this day and age.
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Top Ten Tuesday - The First 10 Books I Randomly Grabbed from My Shelf
By the way, I gave away the paperback edition of Queenie to another high school classmate. I ended up purchasing a remaindered hardback copy of Queenie hoping to reread it again. I still haven't made time for a reread of Queenie.... Maybe some day I'll reread it.
Monday, May 1, 2023
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Funny Bunnies by Ann Omasta
While I was on vacation the week of April 16th, I listened to the unabridged audio version of Funny Bunnies by Ann Omasta for free via Ann Omasta's YouTube Channel. Click on the above link to listen to the above novella for free as well.
Funny Bunnies is the third installment of 'The Pet Set' series and is a contemporary romance novella. Listening time is approximately an hour and 12 minutes.
I've read a couple of other things written by Ann Omasta before with mixed feelings. I think that Funny Bunnies may be my last read by her. Funny Bunnies is narrated well enough, but the storyline was not that exciting, nor engaging enough to captivate me. In fact, the storyline was rather boring and too simplistic. The dialogue and interactions between characters was dull as well.
Below in the plot summary for Funny Bunnies by Ann Omasta that I found on Amazon's website:
Hope Montgomery has no doubt that she is the right person to become the next mayor of her beloved town, Nestlebrook Cove. She and her sweet pet, Honey-Bunny, won’t let anything stand in their way––especially not the current mayor––as they sway voters to their side.
Mayor Michael Snow loves his town, his job, and his country. He has big plans for growth in his thriving community, and he’s not going to let Hope or her cute little cottontail rabbit stop him.
Hope and Michael are vying for the same elected position. Neither is willing to admit to the dazzling spark of attraction simmering just beneath the surface between them. Will they find a solution that makes them both happy? The town’s snuggly bunnies may have to insist on it.
I am giving Funny Bunnies by Ann Omasta a rating of 1 stars out of 5 stars.
Until my next post, happy reading!!