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The Most Dangerous Game
The Most Dangerous Game
A big-game hunter from New York is shipwrecked on an isolated island in the Caribbean, and is hunted by a Russian aristocrat.The story is an inversion of the big-game hunting safaris in Africa and South America that were fashionable among wealthy Americans in the 1920s.
Book Excerpt
When I shot some of his prize turkeys with it, he did not punish me; he complimented me on my marksmanship. I killed my first bear in the Caucasus when I was ten. My whole life has been one prolonged hunt. I went into the army--it was expected of noblemen's sons--and for a time commanded a division of Cossack cavalry, but my real interest was always the hunt. I have hunted every kind of game in every land. It would be impossible for me to tell you how many animals I have killed."
The general puffed at his cigarette.
"After the debacle in Russia I left the country, for it was imprudent for an officer of the Czar to stay there. Many noble Russians lost everything. I, luckily, had invested heavily in American securities, so I shall never have to open a tearoom in Monte Carlo or drive a taxi in Paris. Naturally, I continued to hunt--grizzliest in your Rockies, crocodiles in the Ganges, rhinoceroses in East Africa. It was in Africa that the Cape buffalo hit me and laid me up for six months. As soon
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3.9
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Maybe the plot was a novelty in its time, but now you find it twice a week in TV series.
Nothing to say about the narrative, it gets most from the naivish story, but the book is for the easily impressed.
Nothing to say about the narrative, it gets most from the naivish story, but the book is for the easily impressed.
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Addendum: One of the things which I hate, which won't bother most, is the ignorance of nearly all writers when it comes to guns. Connell has Rainsford see the General with "a small automatic pistol", then when the General avoids the deadfall he doesn't lose his revolver. This makes as much sense as if Ivan were sometimes a huge Cossack and then became a Bolshoi ballerina.
07/03/2013
I like so many here read this in HS and have since read several stories and at least one book with the same plot. The writer has to really be bad who can fail to write a good story based on this plot. I didn't realize how old it is, but other than the Russian it doesn't make a difference. If somehow you haven't read it, do so now. It's one of the classics in literature [with a small "l"].
07/02/2013
Because my 14 yr old daughter had to read this last nite, I decided to and was pleasantly surprised. I read it as a high schooler myself and remembered loving it. I still do. Great story! Even the second time I was surprised.
09/20/2012
Even knowing what\'s coming, the story is creepy. The actual hunt is less detailed than I\'d have liked, given the fantastic set-up.
03/18/2012
I really didnt like this book, it over saturated my taste for intensity
12/14/2011
thz book its amazing onece u put ur mind into it. and its kind off fun wen ur imaging it in ur head its kind of cool.
11/17/2011
What a great short story, action and suspense to the end.
10/30/2011
This was a very good story. Don't pay any attention to losers who are think they are going to die because they have to read 30 pages of anything. Very good story!
10/19/2011
Arguably the best short story of all time for those who seek adventure. Richard Connell's timeless story of man versus man not only stirs the blood but has inspired countless literary allusions and modern emulations in both literature and film.
This is top-drawer; please disregard the two angst-ridden 1-star reviewers who were forced to read this before they flunked out of high school. (FYI I have a top-tier MBA and currently command a SWAT team in Afghanistan, thus I consider myself reasonably well-equipped to recommend an adventure story...)
This is top-drawer; please disregard the two angst-ridden 1-star reviewers who were forced to read this before they flunked out of high school. (FYI I have a top-tier MBA and currently command a SWAT team in Afghanistan, thus I consider myself reasonably well-equipped to recommend an adventure story...)
10/17/2011