"It will be light enough in Rio," promised Whitney. "We should make it in a few days. I hope the jaguar guns have come from Purdey's. We should have some good hunting up the Amazon. Great sport, hunting."

"The best sport in the world," agreed Rainsford.

"For the hunter," amended Whitney. "Not for the jaguar."

"Don't talk rot, Whitney," said Rainsford. "You're a big-game hunter, not a philosopher. Who cares how a jaguar feels?"

"Perhaps the jaguar does," observed Whitney.

"Bah! They've no understanding."

"Even so, I rather think they understand one thing—fear. The fear of pain and the fear of death."

"Nonsense," laughed Rainsford. "This hot weather is making you soft, Whitney. Be a realist. The world is made up of two classes—the hunters and the huntees. Luckily, you and I are hunters.

...and I suspect we all know the rest. This is another of those stories we were all assigned in Junior High back in the day, and from the number of online study guides available one assumes it's still a staple. It won an O. Henry short story prize when it was published, was made into one excellent film (in 1932) and spawned myriad remakes and pastiches. It even shows up in Zodiac, because it is thought to have influenced the Zodiac Killer. It is, by any measure, one of the greatest short stories ever written.

There's oddly little known about the author, Richard Connell, though it suffices that he started out covering baseball and got an Oscar for his screenplay to the classic film, Meet John Doe. [see corrected version of events in Orrin's review of Connell's A Reputation]

(Reviewed:27-Jul-24)

Grade: (A+) Orrin C. Judd

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Richard Connell Links:

    -WIKIPEDIA: Richard Connell
    -FILMOGRAPHY: Richard Connell (IMDB)
    -PAPERS: “Richard E. Connell Harvard University, 1915” , December 1971 (Harvard University Archives)
    -WIKIPEDIA: The Most Dangerous Game
    -ENTRY: “The Most Dangerous Game” (Encyclopedia.com)
    -WIKIPEDIA: The Most Dangerous Game (1932 film)
    -INDEX: Richard E. Connell (Internet Archives)
    -INDEX: Richard Connell (LibriVox)
    -INDEX: Richard Connell (Project Gutenberg)
    -ETEXT: The Most Dangerous Game (Library of Short Stories)
    -RADIO PLAY: The most Dangerous Game (Radio Play Revival)
    -AUDIO: The Most Dangerous Game (Orson Welles on Suspense, CBS Radio)
    -PODCAST: The Most Dangerous Game, by Richard Connell (The Classic Tales Podcast with BJ Harrison, Ep. 892 Of The Classic Tales Podcast Vintage)
    -VIDEO: The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell | Short Story (The Essential Reads)
    -VIDEO: The Most Dangerous Game (1932) film
    -PODCAST: The Most Dangerous Game (Just Listen, Nashville Public Library)
    -STUDY GUIDE: The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell (SparkNotes)
    -STUDY GUIDE: The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell (Lesson Plans by Rebecca Ray, Storyboard That)
    -STUDY GUIDE: The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Edward Connell (eNotes)
    -STUDY GUIDE: The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell (Study.com)
    -STUDY GUIDE: The Most Dangerous Game (OwlEyes)
    -STUDY GUIDE: The Most Dangerous Game (SuperSummary)
    -STUDY GUIDE: A Summary and Analysis of Richard Connell’s ‘The Most Dangerous Game’ (Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University), Interesting Literature)
    -STUDY GUIDE: The Most Dangerous Game (LitCharts)
    -ESSAY: The Continuing Appeal of Richard Connell’s ‘The Most Dangerous Game’ (Ole?ka Wellisz, May 17, 2022, Collider)
    -ESSAY: THE HUNTER, THE HUNTED, AND “THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME": A political thriller author and former SEAL Team member reflects on the warrior's life and a classic short story. (JACK CARR, 4/23/20, CrimeReads)
    -ESSAY: The most dangerous of short stories: As it turns 100, the influence of Richard Connell’s tale of man hunting man remains undimmed. (THOMAS W. HODGKINSON, 2/21/24, Englesberg Ideas)
    -ESSAY: A Tale of Two Centuries: Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" (Terry W. Thompson, Spring 2018, The Midwest Quarterly)
    -ESSAY: Natural Selection in Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" (Terry W. Thompson, Fall 2011, Interdisciplinary Literary Studies)
    -ESSAY: Analysis of Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game (NASRULLAH MAMBROL, MAY 30, 2021, Literary Theory and Criticism)
    -ESSAY: Being Sisyphus: The Mythological Basis for Connell's 'The Most Dangerous Game (Daniel E. Lees, University of Rhode Island, 2013)
    -ARCHIVES: The Most Dangerous Game (YouTube)

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