In Vain with Classics

William Sidney Porter a.k.a. O. Henry

Does The Gift of the Magi ring a bell? It's one of his famous short stories.

I (accidentally) read it back when I was in gradeschool, either grade four or five, from an old textbook we don't own, probably our cousin's. That was the time when I was so bored of school I decided reading other textbooks, including the Sandigan series, the highschool Filipino textbook (from first to fourth year) used by my older sisters in St. Raphael.

Anyway, the last time I recalled the story was when Coline and I had lunch on Beach House months ago, maybe even a year ago. Since she was an English major, I was asking her what sort of books they're reading and what the interesting books are (aside from the holy Catcher in The Rye). She mentioned O. Henry's name and I said it sounded familiar, so she retold me the story of The Gift of Magi. She further added the story of The Last Leaf. Then we jumped onto the other classical writers, Fitzgerald and Faulkner, both of whom I've attempted reading before (but failed to comprehend, haha!). I begged her to spoil me the famous stories of The Great Gatsby and The Sound and the Fury.

Then last night, I was so disappointed with my exam I needed a booster. I surfed the web and searched random names that popped out my mind: Zaoldyeck family (HunterXHunter), Mikhail Bakunin (again), William Godwin (again), Chobits, vampire, and finally O. Henry.

I've downloaded nearly all the writings of Bakunin and selected essays of Godwin. Yes, I'm dead serious of learning about anarchism. Then, some stories of O. Henry.

I finally read (myself) the story of The Last Leaf, and another one, The Last Ingredient, which I both found lovely and uniquely O. Henry, just like The Gif of Magi.

Today I'm going to find out more about Andrew Lang, the one behind the Tales of the Arabian Nights, which I also enjoyed reading and re-reading, alongside Sandigan.