Goodbye Books Giveaway

I'm giving away some books; I was looking at my bookshelves and decided there were a few books I didn't need to keep, for various reasons.  So, I’m parting with them even though I'm a crazy book hoarder.  I'm going to giveaway one book a month, telling you a bit about the book and why I'm giving it away.  Some of the giveaways will be international, some not, because of how much it would cost to mail that book out.

The first is The Red Badge Of Courage, by Stephen Crane.  I'm giving this one away because I have another copy.  It's nothing fancy.  The copy up for grabs is the Dover thrift edition. I don't think I even read this copy.  I'm pretty sure I bought it while in school, forgot I had it and bought it again.  I enjoyed it and I don't tend to gravitate towards war stories.  Since blogging, I reviewed another of Crane's stories, A Poker Game.

This one is international, so if you'd like it, leave a comment below.  I'll choose someone at random on February 29th.

A Poker Game, by: Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane was an American writer from the late 19th century. He is well known for his story, The Red Badge of Courage. Being the kind of girl I am, I didn’t just buy the novel, I bought, The Red Badge of Courage and Other Stories. A Poker Game (click the link to read the text online) is the last in the collection of stories.

Maybe it’s because I’m unfamiliar with his style or maybe it’s because I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. I don’t know, but I had to re-read the story just to make sure I understood the ending. Once I read it the second time and thought about what the actor, Archie Bracketts said to the main character, Bobbie Cinch, did I fully understand the end of the story. Basically, being nice can pay off in the end.

The ending seemed simplistic. Bobbie and Archie did learn something from Bobbie’s behaviour playing the last hand, but it seemed like there was a lot of build-up without enough pay off. Crane was known to write in a realist style. Maybe that’s all this is. Instead of inventing an unrealistic scenario, Crane is relaying what actually would happen.

I read The Red Badge of Courage a long time ago in school. I can’t exactly remember it, I know a soldier gets what is called a red badge of courage, but he didn’t really earn it. I remember really enjoying the story and I was glad I purchased a collection that had more of Crane’s work. A Poker Game was easy to read and I liked it, but I don’t think it lived up to my expectations.

Short Story Monday is hosted by John at The Book Mine Set.