Customer Reviews

Lady or the Tiger and Other Short Stories

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4 star:		(1)
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While not all of the stories in this book count as great literature by today's standards (although some certainly do), the title story in this collection is seriously thought provoking. Some of the best discussions in my 8th grade English class were spurred on by "The Lady or the Tiger," which is an excellent story to use to further the development of critical thinking skills. It also serves as a literary Rorshach test, promoting self exploration and evaluation. Frank Stockton obviously respected children's ability to think for themselves, and his appreciation for the intelligence of the young clearly comes through in these stories. I enjoyed reading this one when I was a teenager, and love passing it on to my students. If somehow, you have missed reading this, I highly recommend it.

I regret waiting until I was 31 to read this gem. It appears this book has been well read and well recognized the world over for some reason or other. I never have heard of it until I picked it up in a second hand book store. I sure am glad I did.
Stockton wrote in the late 1800s to early 1900s. His works, mostly fiction, tell stories of the oddest occurences and strangest events. However, they are amusing and linger in the readers mind and heart, making his writing resilient.
I haven't shared these stories with my students yet, but I certainly plan on doing so. The title story and it's sequel are great reads, but I also found The Griffon and the Minor Canon to be just as entertaining. Our Archery Club will also stick with me for a long time to come.
Stockton's style is excellent. He creates complex plots surrounding profound paradox and irony. This is appealing for its witty impact and satirical humor. His characters are genuine, colorful and memorable.
Stockton also demands a little more than an attentive audience with his readers. He penned interactive literature with the title story and its sequel, but also demands that listeners or readers be thinkers. He tends to tuck moral and ethical principles in his stories as well, but this does not make them preachy in any way.
The copy I have is an older publication of this mass market paperback edition. I would like to find a collection of Stockton's stories in an anthology, but I'm not sure one exists. I believe that everybody should read Stockton's work and that he should be remembered as one of America's best authors of adolescent literature.

this is great piece of american literature that is too often overlooked. i've read that 'the lady or the tiger' was the birth of the mystery novel - i'm not sure if that's true, but does take an analytical look at human nature that's far ahead of its time (even though it's a bit 'flat' by today's standards). i find the sequel, 'the discourager of hesitantcy' even more interesting with a much more structured narrative.

I had to read "Lady or the Tiger" for Language Arts, and then write a possible ending to it. I think it was the most amusing project I've ever had to do, it gave me thousands of ideas and I wanted to write down each and every one.
It really got my brain running and I still have ideas for how to make my ending better, and more believable...(somehow I changed this story to sci-fi with my ending.. but it will make 100% sense when I'm done with it)

Very disappointing - I returned this book as the text was hard to read. The print looked as though it had been typed on a typewriter which had keys that didn't strike fully. Weird.....

An educational short-story that began a never ending argument

In "The Lady or the Tiger," Frank Stockton intended to make readers believe that the princess chose the door with the tiger behind it because she seemed like the type of person who would rather see her lover die than marry another woman. After all, she is semi-barbarian. Maybe if she weren't semi-barbarian, she'd choose the door with the lady whom she hated behind it. She chose the tiger's door because she was jealous. She saw her lover and the woman speaking and trading glances, which obviously creates jealousy. Ultimately, jealousy makes everyone seek revenge, which is why the princess chose the tiger as her lover and the woman's punishment. This short-story was a good read. However, the movie that compliments the story is absolutely horrible. I wouldn't recommend it. Which door would you have chosen: the lady or the tiger?