Richard Connell (1893–1949)

This was a short but very entertaining read. It is a story of two man brought together by destiny - Rainsford, professional big game hunter that thinks of himself as apex predator and does not bother himself much about the prey, and general Zaroff, eccentric Russian aristocrat who grew tired of the big game hunting and decides to hunt prey that actually can fight back.

When these two personalities collide former gets acquainted with the life of the prey, chased by relentless pursuer using everything he can put his hands on to catch him while latter soon gets what he wished for but not to the result he expected.

Excellent short story, full of action and wonderful scenery.

Recommended to all fans of action thriller.… (mer)

Read this again for the third time in several years and it's still just as good as I remember. It's a short but thrilling and dark exploration of the hunter vs. hunted dynamic that governs so much of our world, and how easily roles can be reversed even when one thinks he or she is at the top of the hierarchy. At its core is a clash between the morality that we deem intrinsic to our nature, and its opposite - the part of humans that revels in power, control, and destruction.

As I personally detest hunting animals for sport on principle, I sided only with Whitney in the beginning - since he's the only character who seems to consider both sides of the hunter vs. hunted situation, while Rainsford begins as a confident hunter who doesn't care about the animals he kills. However, when the tables turn and he becomes the hunted instead, I started to root for him because he at least recognized the value of human life while General Zaroff did not, and that humanity along with his ingenuity were his saving graces. I'm guessing that the aftermath of that harrowing hunt would have cured Rainsford of hunting for sport forever, though we have no way of knowing for sure. All in all, this was a gripping story with an important message, and I especially love the double meaning of its title. Absolute genius.… (mer)

Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game is one of the most enduring and timeless short stories ever penned. Its reputation is well deserved, as Connell grabs the reader instantly and spins a tale that while exciting, has broader implications than a simple adventure tale. It is probably most famous today due to the film starring Joel McCrea and Fay Wray, which was shot around the same time as King Kong and used many of the same sets. Connell's short story, while not having the feminine character or her brother, is equally atmospheric, and terribly exciting.

Big Game hunter and writer Sanger Rainsford and his friend Whitney are aboard a yacht somewhere in the Caribbean, on their way to Brazil to hunt jaguars. There is talk of a nervous crew as they pass Ship-Trap Island, a mysterious place the sailors dread. The talk of Rainsford and Whitney turns to the hunt, and it is this conversation between the two men about what the jaguar does or does not feel while being stalked that lies at the heart of this tale.

Shots are fired, and in an effort to discover what is happening on deck, Sanger falls overboard, making a harrowing escape to said island. There he discovers not madness, but the ultimate extension of himself. The “hunt” which eventually ensues is tremendously exciting, the brevity of the story creating great movement in the narrative.

Sanger, General Zaroff, and his towering right-hand man, Ivan, are memorable in this thrilling tale of adventure which also ponders larger questions. Connell was perhaps most successful at the short story, a slew of them published in The Saturday Evening Post and Collier’s. But he was also a journalist and screenwriter. Though Robert Riskin wrote the screenplay for Frank Capra’s wonderful film, Meet John Doe, the original film treatment was written by Connell and Robert Presell, who received an Academy Award nomination for it.

Despite its age, this tale feels timeless, and is near perfect. On the technical side, there are a few typos in the transfer to Kindle, but rare, so not too distracting. A thrilling story everyone who loves the short story form should read. Marvelous stuff.… (mer)