| Title | : | The Ransom of Red Chief |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0194232158 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780194232159 |
| Format Type | : | Kindle , Hardcover , Paperback , Audiobook & More |
| Number of Pages | : | 32 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1907 |
The Ransom of Red Chief Reviews
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The Ransom of Red Chief by
O. Henry
This story is really amusing. And the ending was quite unexpected and hilarious.
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When Sam and Bill decide to kidnap 10 year old Johnny, they get much more than they bargained for. It’s difficult to imagine a more monstrous child than this one, but it does make for a really amusing read. Only 16 pages long, but what it lacks in length, it makes up for in originality, and the readability factor. A great free read, and here’s the link
https://dwcaonline.org/wp-content/upl... -
Two men kidnap a wealthy man’s little boy for ransom. But things don’t turn out as well as they expected it too.
A very funny short story! I thoroughly enjoyed it! -
THE RANSOM OF RED CHIEF by O. Henry is one of many short stories written by Henry. This one was first published in 1907 and the humor still comes through in 2020. When two men need money for a fraudulent scheme, they decide to kidnap the only child of Ebenezer Dorset and hold him for ransom. What they got was more than they bargained for.
It has been many years since I originally read this story and it is still amusing. Antics and boisterousness make for an engaging story. But underneath it all, there is a serious element of father-son relationships and much more. This story can be found for free in several places online. -
3.5 stars
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Classic, funny stuff
I read this with our 11 year old for the accelerated reader program at her school. Must be dozens of times now that I have read this engaging story by America's premier author of short stories. If you don't find this story funny or at least amusing, you either have a very strange sense of humor or no sense of humor at all.
The plot device of a willful, clever child outwitting adversaries continues to resonate with Americans. Dennis the Menace and the Home Alone movies demonstrate the appeal, but O. Henry wrote it best over 100 years ago. Ransom of Red Chief has been made into several movies and television plays, even the worst of which is funny in my opinion. Our daughter and I just finished watching O. Henry's Full House, a great 1952 movie, but the Red Chief segment is weak and was removed from the original movie only to be restored for television. Weak but still funny. Daughter liked the story better. She also liked the Gift of the Magi segment of the movie better than the other parts. -
It has been a long time since I have read a short by O. Henry. Reading this reminded me of how much I enjoyed this author. His writing is both literary and amusing. In this one s kidnapping for random goes awry, but not through the fault of the kidnappers. Too funny.
Another web freebie
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/sto... -
O. HENRY ~ 1907
A perfect scheme ~ A kidnapping ~ A ransom paid.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA......Fun classic short story, and a perfect book cover illustration....the little devil.
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Read here
https://americanliterature.com/author...
RTC when I stop laughing!
& here is my review!
I reread my favourite novel
Devil's Cub this year, so I decided it was high time I reread my all time favourite short story.
My tutor read it to our class (I did a Creative Writing course many years ago) & I found the story so fresh & funny! (& the story was over seventy years old, even then) & anyone who has parented a Red Chief will understand the temptation to
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess... -
December buddy read with my non-crunchy pantsless group of crazies.
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I have a very temperamental relationship with this author. At times, I read things he's written and I'm like:
And other times I'm like
With Ransom of Red Chief I was like
O. Henry is notorious for writing short stories with a twist ending. Sometimes the twist is satirical, sometimes comical, sometimes ironic. In this case it was flat out hysterical. Two men decide to kidnap the son of a wealthy man in order to collect a $1500 ransom. What they got was a hell of a lot more than they bargained for. This story had me grinning, laughing, and thinking. An excellent combination for something this short. I got it for free on my kindle, but there are loads of places to read it for free online. Do yourselves a favor and look it up. It currently holds the place for my favorite O. Henry short story. And just remember:
4 stars. -
I first read this story in high school and I reread it to see whether it still holds up. While it wasn't nearly as rib cracking as I found it when I first read it, I still found myself laughing a lot. This was especially necessary after I watched
a summary of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.
The Ransom of Red Chief (ignore the vaguely racist title) is a story of two bumbling kidnappers Sam and Bill who fall victim to their abductee. Sam, the narrator, while being the dumb to Bill's dumber is at first the object of our scorn and derision when he plots to kidnap the nine year old only child of a mortgage financier. In the opening scene, Sam tells us how fast things went to hell.
It looked like a good thing: but wait till I tell you. We were down South in Alabama - Bill Driscoll and myself - when this kidnapping idea struck us. It was, as Bill afterward expressed it, "during a moment of temporary mental apparition"; but we didn't find that out until later.
That Bill confused the word aberration for apparition tells you all you need to know going forward in this story.
Read it. -
I know this kid! Wait, I married him.
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The Ransom of Red Chief is by far my favorite short story by O. Henry. Sam tells how he and Bill Driscoll needed cash to put together a fraudulent land scheme they had planned for West Illinois, but they had only $600 and needed $2000 more to pull it off. So, while stopping in Summit, Alabama, Sam convinces Bill that this town of “undeleterious” country bumpkins, where self-satisfaction breeds “philoprogenitiveness”, would surely be easy pickings for his kidnapping scheme. Poor Bill. The red-headed son of the town’s biggest penny-pincher is whisked away by the pair and a day later Sam writes up a kidnapper’s ransom note signed “TWO DESPERATE MEN” - I’m pretty sure that O. Henry intended the double-entendre.
Having raised four children (all born within five years), I declare that there was never a dull moment in our house when they were little. Our mischievous little red-headed son ran circles around all of us. OH BOY, was he a handful! So, in the case of TRORC, I can tell you that I relished in the irony of the kidnapping, and greatly admired the ability of Red Chief’s parents to turn the tables to their advantage.
That is all I’m going to say about this hilarious little tale - if you’ve never read it you can find this short (16 page) story all over the internet or at the link below:
https://dwcaonline.org/wp-content/upl... -
5/5
When Sam and Bill Driscoll need money to have sufficient funds to pull off a fake land ownership scheme, they hit upon a clever plan. They decide to kidnap the only child of Ebenezer Dorset, a prominent citizen in the sleepy town of Summit and demand a ransom of two thousand dollars to release him. The plan seems perfect and the kidnappers are confident that this will be the easiest work of their lives. So they store their provisions in a cave about two miles away from Summit and set off to kidnap the boy. This is a humorous story about a kidnapping that gone wrong. It was a funny story. Loved it.😂✌🏻 -
Bill and Sam are short of money and so decide to kidnap and ransom the nine year old son of Ebenezer Dorset in Summit, Alabama. The boy is .... shall we settle for a feisty talker? What unfolds is very funny and the end has a really good twist. This story may be 110 years old but it proves there is no time barrier to good humour. If you fancy reading this short story (about 15 pages) follow the link in tamar’s excellent review. Thank you for leading me to this tamar and I’m not surprised your mother remembers this one!!!
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This book has the honor of being on my mom's favorite list. And she was the one who made me aware of this fun little book.
My mom has never picked wrong. This book is no different. I loved it.
Unlike most of the books about Native Americans I read as a kid, this one is actually funny. Razor sharp humor and a smart aleck kid who gets himself kidnapped but the kidnappers can't stand him because he drives them to the brink of insanity.
Fun, easy to read and short and witty. Five fun stars. -
Dois homens na pindaíba resolvem sequestrar um garoto para conseguirem algum dinheiro....Pra que! O garotinho é uma peste! Agora vcs podem imaginar o que vai acontecer a esses pobres sequestradores... muito divertido. Assistam também o filme aqui
https://youtu.be/-1RjEQTodLU -
I read this story ages ago when I was in grade school and never forgot it. I just sent copies to my grandsons, ages 12 and 10, and had to re-read it again. A classic, hilarious story written over 100 years ago.
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I remember reading this story in 8th or 9th grade; ever since, the premise and hilarity of O. Henry's handiwork would randomly pop into my head.
And then today, one of my awesome friends posted a review for it COMPLETE WITH A LINK TO THE FULL STORY (it's only 16 pages long). And I smashed the link and read it right then and there. Still just as funny. Maybe funnier.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&s...
Sidebar: this was written in 1910, so there are some racial references that may make some people squirm. They aren't being used maliciously in any way; it was part of the vernacular back then. If this will bother you, don't pick this one up.
I'd rate this book a PG for the racial references and violence. -
Free online link to the story here:
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/sto...
More for a kid than an adult. Read it to your son or grandchild maybe. -
Well, that was a fun and diversionary read about two hapless kidnappers who ended up getting more than they bargained for, after kidnapping their young victim.
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This short story was one of my favorites growing up, and after a quick read through, it’s still as hilarious as ever. 5 stars, January 2022.
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Fun read. It is like the predecessor to Home Alone. Bad guy buffoons who get whipped.
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Two men kidnap a kid, but before they can ransom him the men are driven crazy by the boy's antics and adhd level of energy, and end up paying the boy's father to take him back. Good solid humor in the Twain vein.
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4.5
So funny!! It was a short fresh story, I loved it :D -
Love it as much now as I did when I first read it about 40 odd years ago.
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I thought I’d read this story. Nope. All I knew was the conventional wisdom version. I’m glad it came to mind. It’s a chuckler!!
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Veoma zabavna kratka priča.
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This short story is quick and to the point, and absolutely hilarious! Red Chief is such a cruel little boy, but you can't help but pity him because he's so distant from his father. How O. Henry came up with such an evil little boy and yet straight forward theme is beyond my understanding.
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Loved this story as a kid when my Dad would read it aloud on family trips. Even better as a parent. Read this one!
