| Title | : | The Four Million |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1434625818 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781434625816 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 154 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1906 |
The Four Million refers to the population of New York City, where O. Henry was living at the time of its composition. Containing twenty-five works of short fiction, the collection includes several of the author's best-known stories. "The Gift of the Magi" is a heartwarming story of a young married couple who struggle to afford gifts for one another in the days leading up to Christmas. Delia, placing her husband's happiness before her own, sells her own hair in order to afford a platinum pocket watch chain. When she returns home, however, she finds that Jim has made a similar sacrifice. In "The Skylight Room," a typist named Miss Leeson tries to find work while renting the smallest room at Mrs. Parker's boarding house. In a moment of quiet desperation, she names a star "Billy Jackson" while staring out of the room's tiny skylight, a view she soon struggles to afford. "The Cop and the Anthem" follows a homeless man named Soapy. As winter approaches, he commits a series of petty crimes in order to be taken to the shelter of jail. When his attempts fail, however, he discovers that justice has a cruel way of revealing itself.
The Four Million Reviews
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You think O. Henry and you think unexpected twist and romances and happy endings, but one thing that really struck me throughout all these New York stories is that O. Henry's world is really very dangerous and very scary. People could literally starve to death, regularly brawl in the streets, be ruined by a husband, resort to suicide and that very present loneliness of the big city, which enables the cute turns, but also presents very real risks.
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Very entertaining, lighthearted and funny stories with often surprise endings. The author is a superbly versatile language master and clearly enjoys writing. Wise cracks and original descriptions galore:
‘Gradually Mrs. Parker crumpled as a stiff garment that slips down from a nail.’
‘He arose, joint by joint, as a carpenter’s rule opens,...’
‘Sarah’s fingers danced like midgets above a summer stream.’ (She is typewriting)
‘He was fat; he had the soul of a rat, the habits of a bat, and the magnanimity of a cat...’
‘“Name is Mr. Wiggins.” By such epithet was Piggy known to unfortunate ones who had to take him seriously.’
‘The young lady had been Maxwell’s stenographer for a year. She was beautiful in a way that was decidedly unstenographic.’
Highly recommended in case you’re a little sad, sure to make you smile again. -
The Four Million is the second collection of short stories by O Henry that was published in 1906. The title refers to the population of New York City at that time and is where all the stories are based. I like such random links.
The common thread that runs through most if not all the stories in the collection is the soullessness of the big city. The city is a paradoxical mix of promise and glitz and suffering and the different characters conjured up by the writer take us through the diverse array of emotions that the common dreamy failing resident of the city goes through.
The collection is solid. Some stories clearly stand out like The Gift of the Magi (which along with The Last Leaf from his third collection is probably amongst his most famous stories). Another favorite of mine is The Cop and the Anthem – A story of a destitute street dweller who is scared of the fast approaching winter and is trying his best to go to the warm and cozy confines of a prison.
O Henry is a master capturer of the human condition. He blends misery with humor to bring out a potent flavor. Of course the language itself is not completely what we are used to in the 21st century, but it is not a significant deterrent as well. I mean he uses words like ‘pulchritude’. Before you go for the dictionary, let me tell you that it means ‘beauty’. So you get the idea… Having said that, will I recommend this collection of short stories? Yes. Go for it, especially all you lovers of short fiction and those who one day might be… -
Clever and imaginative collection of short stories. Welcome O. Henry's New York City.
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“’Tis a weary thing to count your pleasures by summers instead of hours.”
First published in 1906, this collection still resonates with wit and insight. Each story ends with a twist, usually but not always pleasant. Even knowing its coming, the reader is rewarded with a surprise.
“The almanac lied and said spring had come. Spring comes when it comes.”
O. Henry loved New York City every bit as much as Walt Whitman, if not so poetically, though the NYC they heralded may be as distant as the hanging gardens of Babylon.
“Gabriel had played his trump; and those of us who couldn’t follow suit ….”
O. Henry loved words: big words, French words, slang words, puns. His stories are a verbal fusillade. Modern electronic readers will find themselves seeking help deciphering his prose.
“In Soapy’s opinion the law was more benign than Philanthropy.”
Over a hundred year old, this story reflects some attitudes now discarded. O. Henry seemed to love his neighbor, even if he expresses himself in a manner which might set modern teeth on edge. (You’ve been warned.)
“We can’t buy one minute with cash; if we could, rich people would live longer.” -
Some of the best stories by O. Henry are in this collection. My favorites are:
-The gift of the Magi
-A service of love (very similar to the previous)
-Tobin’s palm
-The cop and the anthem
-Springtime a la carte
-The green door
-From the cabbie’s seat -
THE FOUR MILLION
"Tales of olde New York--Woodhouse with a Bitter Twist"
This anthology contains 25 tales of old New York city at the dawn of the 20th century. Plus the bonus of 4 tales set in the exotic tropics of a fictitious banana republic. O. Henry focuses his curious microscope on the diverse lives of various residents of this metropolis. A few protagonists claim idle-rich status, but most represent the middle class or poverty-stricken milieus. Indulgent readers will discover the flavor of a century past, rub shoulders with men on the other side of the law, commiserate with thwarted lovers--trustingly expecting the typical O Henry twist at the end.
But the author's style represents more than his own inspiration as several tales remind us of Woodhouse's moonstruck romantic pairs--or "Love--American style", in which we do not take their amorous escapades seriously. Then, to throw us off guard, he spikes the anthology with a few pathetic and even tragic stories. One wonders if he was trying gently and mildly to raise social consciousness.
Various ethnic groups with their inherent city-acquired bigotry become
the target of his witty pen: mainly the Irish, but also Italians. Told in the first as well as third person, some in slang and one offering a canine narrator, this collection includes antiquated vocabulary words
intermingled with literary, Biblical and artsy references. Plus a
liberal sprinkling of foreign words to research. Like the British
before him, O. Henry contemplates the danger of the temptations of a
tropical Paadise. Will Yankees "go native" as so many British did
before them? The real challenge, of course, is to choose your five favorites!
(April 1, 2012. I welcome dilaogue with teachers.) -
A collection of O. Henry’s short stories bearing his trademark irony, comic misunderstandings, and surprise endings. I liked the memorable characters, the humorous slang, and O. Henry’s use of obscure vocabulary and analogies.
Besides the popular The Gift of the Magi, I also liked the stories Between Rounds, The Cop and the Anthem, Lost on Dress Parade, Memoirs of a Yellow Dog, and A Service of Love.
I listened to the
free Librivox audiobook of The Four Million. -
This was a family bookclub selection, picked by my uncle, a nostalgic fan of O. Henry. I selected this collection of stories, his second, for its focus on New York City and in particular the titular response to an Astor socialite claiming not but 400 individuals were worth knowing in the City. These are humble stories of everyday ‘types’ of people. At times they appear more as caricatures, frequently with mild to offensive depictions. Surely these may represent the time, yet the cringe-worthiness of the words or images remain.
At its highest achievement, there are stories of tenderness, love and generosity. Others are humorous, ironic and entertaining. All follow a formula of conceit with a surprise ending. They are short, simply-structured, often with a paragraph here or there unrelated to the narrative which provides foreshadowing and setup to the punchline. After 25 stories the repetition from my perspective was a bit much, lacking some greater, deeper meaning.
They were written in 1901, before Joyce wrote Dubliners. And yet those stories are what my heart and head contemplate. If in Joyce one finds a perfectly-structured, beautifully-worded story, in O. Henry one comes upon a far more jocular, talkative proletarian American sing-song kind of voice. The written story has about as much structure as one might expect in a short tale retold at a diner or at a bar. The joy to entertain, no need for a fully-fledged structure. And yet, there is great beauty and subtly to many of the phrases, imagery, or conceits of the story. I am glad to know who this author was, and how he came to be O. Henry. -
A VERY REFRESHING READ.
“When ye run down politeness ye take the mortar from between the bricks of the foundations of society” [‘Between Rounds’]—page 23
O. Henry is one of my favorite go to guys whenever I need to cleanse my reading pallet. ‘The Four Million’ is a collection of 25 short stories all set in New York City in the early 1900s. Although I was already familiar with many of these tales, having read them in other O. Henry compendiums, they none-the-less provided a very refreshing and relaxing reading respite.
Recommendation: O. Henry needs no recommendation: he’s that good.
“She was tall, beautiful, lively, gracious and learned in persiflage.” “Tildy was dumpy, plain-faced, and too anxious to please to please.” [‘The Brief Debut of Tildy’]—page 152
Adobe Digital Editions [ePub]
http://www.feedbooks.com, 162 pages -
No time to read long-long novels these days. But I've been feeling lately that I'm forgetting how a decent story feels like. So tried to explore my Books app for nice and free and short stories to read. O. Henry was the first name that popped up.
So here I am. Feeling alright after a long time. -
At one time, these stories would have been fascinating, surprising, satisfying. They harken back to a simpler time of hourly wage earners in rented furnished flats, cabbies who drove a horse-drawn hansom, and neighborhoods where everyone knows everyone's business. O Henry's endings are almost always a surprise (a couple you could anticipate), and almost always pleasing. OK, we are all jaded and sophisticated, and everyone has read "The Gift of the Magi" now, so it's harder to enjoy. But, it's a quick and easy read (listen), so I rate this a solid 4 and thank Mr. William Sidney Porter. I should mention he has an amazing way to turn a phrase. When he mentions a young man out on the town, the man is "accurately dressed." You can't forget a mention like that.
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Some bad language of the time, but I feel like im just getting to know O. Henry and his humor.
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Delightful, pleasant little stories, each with a peculiar twist for which O. Henry is known. I particularly like the way the author gives us character through dialog and makes us feel as if we know, or could have known, these very individuals if we'd been in his neighborhood. Henry cuts thick slices of urban life in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century and serves them hot and buttered with expression. Nice stories to fill gaps when a longer work is just too much for the moment.
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Although all of the stories are worth reading, approximately 10 of them are lovely. And three of them are gorgeous.
O. Henry is very funny, and since the stories are all quite short, the weak parts are over pretty quick.
My three favorite stories are "The Gift of the Magi," "The Green Door," and "Mammon and the Archer."
I'm looking forward to the next collection. -
I recently read and reviewed The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson and mentioned that it reminded me of O. Henry’s story, The Gift of the Magi, with its twist ending. The Lottery and The Gift of the Magi were two of the most memorable stories from my high school English classes. So, I figured I needed to re-read The Gift of the Magi. Fortunately I found The Four Million, an Anthology of Twenty-Five O. Henry short stories.
I’ve always been a sucker for a twist ending. Whether it be a story, a book, or a joke I just love the feeling of being caught off guard and being surprised when the story does not end the way you expected. Surprise endings are what O. Henry is famous for and he never disappoints.
O. Henry, real name William Sydney Porter, was charged with embezzling bank funds, which was actually technical mismanagement. He fled the country but returned to visit his dying wife and was subsequently jailed for three years. That alone is a love story! After jail, he moved to New York City and commenced to writing a short story a week for newspapers and magazines. His stories are most often about the poor and the down trodden. Many feature and focus on poorly paid working women. All of his stories include a twist ending.
This book, The Four Million, includes the story he is most famous for, The Gift of the Magi. I cannot read this story without crying both for the sorrow and the undying love of the couple portrayed. It has been made into a movie as least four times but Hallmark movies have nothing on this story!
Most of O. Henry’s stories were written in the early 1900’s yet they are as topical today as they were then. His concern for working women, salaries, office politics, and love were decades ahead of their times. In his own way he was on to second wave feminism sixty years before it became a household topic.
Some of these stories are better than others. Some you can anticipate the “surprise” at the end. But all of them are well written, heart wrenching, and heart warming. I loved this book and highly recommend it. If you read and loved The Gift of the Magi in high school, here is a chance to re-experience the story and many more. If you never had the pleasure of meeting O. Henry before, I envy you your first introduction. -
It seems to me that following the publication of his only novel,
Cabbages and Kings William Sidney Porter must have realized where his true talent lay: the creation of lighthearted short stories with a characteristic twist at the end. I doubt if he has ever been surpassed in that genre. In assuming the pen name O. Henry, he seems to have created a formulaic caricature of himself. That said, the formula can become predictable and less than engaging if you read too many of these stories in short order. And many there were, 10 volumes over the succeeding years, each volume featuring a somewhat different overall theme. A few of his stories are regarded as classics, reprinted in numerous anthologies: “The Gift of the Magi”, the second story in this volume, is one that has received wide acclaim. It’s deserving of its fame but of the 25 stories in this set, I consider “An Unfinished Story” to be the best of the lot. O. Henry had a keen awareness for the absence of social justice in the society he inhabited and his levity was often just a thin veneer covering his resentment of the abuses suffered by the underpaid masses, especially the hordes of shop-girls, typists and waitresses he encountered on the streets of New York.
O. Henry’s use of a breezy vernacular and self-consciously clever quips places his work in a category that is hard to take seriously. It’s intended to be simple entertainment with no pretense at great literary merit and it was well suited for inclusion in “pulp” magazines of his day. I first read this book way back in the late 1950s when it already seemed dated; and it’s even more so today. Nevertheless, several of the tales in this volume, featuring people we would today regard as the “working poor” in NYC have a lasting appeal and make for amusing light entertainment. I find it a welcome relief after subjecting myself to the news of the day. -
I found a 1906 edition of this book at a give away. The edition was very lovely hardback with thick, creamy pages and old fashioned font, typeface that split words at the end of a line if it didn't fit - in short all things I like about older books. The book stayed open by itself while I read it. I'd give it three stars alone just based on the edition I had. I like the stories too. Like 'em or hate 'em they are quite the time machine back to last century.
As other reviewers have pointed out not all of the stories in this little anthology end so nicely. In those days a person could starve to death, or die of cold, or get beat up. Life was tough. Henry writes sad stories, tragic stories, happy stories, funny stories - in one he takes the viewpoint of a dog. One thing that surprised me is his enormous vocabulary. I sat reading with a dictionary available at my side. But in a good way; his word choices are excellent. His slang hilarious. I would not consider this fine literature, by its own admission this is a book for regular people. It is uneven in execution - but certainly enjoyable reading and absolutely an important primary source for early 20th century fiction.
The bad news is, yesterday when I was out and about I seem to have lost the book! I can't imagine where, I went so many places. I felt a little sad because that particular edition is an antique, but I can't complain since I got it for free myself. I just hope, very, very, sincerely, that it does not end up as landfill somewhere. O. Henry is not as popular as he used to be - I fear this particular edition will not be reprinted. -
I absolutely love O. Henry and "The Four Million" collection a nice mix of short stories with romance, humor, mystery and so much more. I reviewed each story individually.
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I read these stories from Delphi collection of O. Henry's works which included the synopsis below:
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 3026
The Four Million This is O. Henry’s second published collection of short stories, first released in 1906. There are twenty five stories of various lengths including several of his best known works, including The Gift of the Magi and The Cop and the Anthem. The collection’s title refers to the population of New York City, where many of the stories are set, at the time of publication.
The 25 stories below-
TOBIN’S PALM
THE GIFT OF THE MAGI
A COSMOPOLITE IN A CAFÉ
BETWEEN ROUNDS
THE SKYLIGHT ROOM
A SERVICE OF LOVE
THE COMING-OUT OF MAGGIE
MAN ABOUT TOWN
THE COP AND THE ANTHEM
AN ADJUSTMENT OF NATURE
MEMOIRS OF A YELLOW DOG
THE LOVE- PHILTRE OF IKEY SCHOENSTEIN
MAMMON AND THE ARCHER
SPRINGTIME À LA CARTE
THE GREEN DOOR
FROM THE CABBY’S SEAT
AN UNFINISHED STORY
THE CALIPH, CUPID AND THE CLOCK
SISTERS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE
THE ROMANCE OF A BUSY BROKER
AFTER TWENTY YEARS
LOST ON DRESS PARADE
BY COURIER
THE FURNISHED ROOM
THE BRIEF DÉBUT OF TILDY -
Reading O. Henry's stories for the first time made me realize a few things. Firstly, that I knew quite a few of them from childhood. Some had managed to become anecdotes (surely a major compliment to any writer) I remember for their wit, others I'd read in newspaper and magazine supplements without registering much beyond the enjoyment of a good story well told (that's how one becomes an avid reader). Secondly, that satire relies not only on acquaintance with the context but also on recognizable types (including racial stereotypes). O. Henry's humour is often dated and largely politically incorrect by today's standards but readers can still understand how it had worked back when it referred to actuality. Thirdly, that melodrama softens comedy and satire; it creates a mellow atmosphere within which much elicits a smile of sympathy rather than a roar of laughter at somebody's expense. I'm not saying that this improves on the comedy; it just makes it palatable to an audience looking for safety.
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I was introduced to O Henry's short stories in high school and immediately liked them because a) they were short, and b) they had a plot twist that you usually didn't see coming. This collection of short stories has the common tread of all being set in New York City during the first decade of the 20th century. First published in 1906, the title "The Four Million" represents the population of New York City at the time. This collection of about 20 slice of life short stories all possess O Henry's gift for wit, humour and plot twists. A few miss the mark, leaving the reader scratching their head. A couple are dated and don't translate well to the 21st century. But the majority are classic pieces of inventive and imaginative writing that rarely fail to leave a smile on the reader's face. Included in this collection is arguably O Henry's most famous short story, The Gift of the Magi. Light enjoyable reading for stressful times.
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I first became acquainted with the beloved short story writer O. Henry, when I was a teenager, and happened upon “The Ransom of Red Chief”, a hilarious tale of two would be kidnappers, who find that a life of crime is not all it’s cracked up to be. In the early 1900s, William Sydney Porter (O. Henry’s real name), responded to one New York publisher’s assertion that out of the 4,000,000 residents of NYC, “only 400,000 were worth knowing”, by writing a series of stories about the ordinary people he met every day. The 4,000,000.
Not only are these stories brilliant on their own, but the glimpse into the lives and vernacular of people from over 100 years ago, is truly fascinating. I very highly recommend this collection. -
This collection of short-stories has not aged particularly well. O. Henry uses racially inappropriate words, creates humour through demeaning racial stereotypes and assumes role dominated gender relations. Of course these tales were written in 1906 and that explains (but does not condone) a great deal.
Still, there are genuine gems scattered throughout. “The Green Door”, “The Cop and the Anthem”, and “Lost On Dress Parade” are among them. But what strengthens the stories is the fact that O. Henry does not sentimentalise as much as one might think. On the contrary, O. Henry portrays a cruel world where there is grief and poverty for these four million people. Love and joy may be present too but they come as a matter of chance or coincidence and may be missed as often as found. But the darkness of his world is always present. -
Tobin's Palm
The Gift of the Magi
A Cosmopolite in a Cafe
Between Rounds
The Skylight Room
A Service of Love
The Coming-Out of Maggie
Man About Town
The Cop and the Anthem
An Adjustment of Nature
Memoirs of a Yellow Dog
The Love-Philtre of Ikey Schoenstein
Mammon and the Archer
Springtime à la Carte
The Green Door
From the Cabby's Seat
An Unfinished Story
The Caliph, Cupid and the Clock
Sisters of the Golden Circle
The Romance of a Busy Broker
After Twenty Years
Lost on Dress Parade
By Courier
The Furnished Room
The Brief Debut of Tildy -
أولى قرءاتي للكاتب أو هنري الذي لم أكن لأسمع عنه من قبل لولا حدوث ذلك بالصدفة المحضة وهذا ليس لقلة شهرة الكاتب إذ أنه ذائع الصيت في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية ومن أشهر كتاب القصة القصيرة هناك .ولكن لعدم دراسة ما كتبه أثناء دراستنا في كلية اللغات والترجمة قسم الترجمة الفورية بالإنجليزية وإن كنت أرى أنه لابد لأي طالب يدرس اللغة الإنجليزية وفنونها وآدابها أن يمر ولو مرورا عابرا على إحدى قصصه القصيرة التي لن يستخلص منها فقط مادة علمية ولغة قوية ولكنه سيستخلص أيضا درسا أخلاقيا في قمة الروعة والإبداع ليستفيد منه في حياته العلمية والعملية.
