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An Occurrence at Owl Creek by Ambrose Bierce

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Taylor

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An Occurrence at Owl Creek by Ambrose Bierce

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I have been re-reading Kurt Vonnegut's autobiographic "A Man Without A Country", I've read it several times and each time I am just drawn by an old mans frankness and logic. I can appreciate the honesty that comes with old age, particularly when it comes from a person whom I consider smart, man or woman, doesn't matter, old folks have just seen a lot and I appreciate when they let go of pretense and tell you what they think. but I digress. Early in AMWaC Kurt V. after defining what a twerp is,(a guy who uses false teeth implanted in the derriere to bit the buttons from the back seats of cabs) goes on to write that he considers anyone who hasn't read the greatest American short story which is "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" to be such a twerp. Well I can't say what a twerp is in todays parlance as its just not a word I find myself using, and considering his definition, I'm not inclined toward wanting to be a twerp, so I read a public domain version and I must say that it was an incredibly intense read. Bierce packs a harrowing adventure into the blink of an eye, If you like, if you need, if you are drugged by surprise endings then (DO NOT SKIP TO THE END OF THIS SHORT STORY!, sorry for yelling) do yourselves a favor, read the story and see if you think whether it is worth while to pass along or to just be familiar with.
The version I read was from project Gutenberg, here's the link, http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/375/pg375.txt also a link to Ambrose Bierce at, http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrose_Bierce
Last edited by Taylor on Thu Feb 05, 2015 9:23 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: An Occurrence at Owl Creek by Ambrose Bierce

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Kurt Vonnegut is one of my favorite authors. He's written a few of these autobiographical sketch books. I believe A MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY was his last? I don't think I've read it yet.

OWL is indeed a classic story. There have been some Old Time Radio shows of that one as well that are worth looking into..
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Re: An Occurrence at Owl Creek by Ambrose Bierce

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I believe A MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY was his last?
You are correct sir, it was his very last.
There have been some Old Time Radio shows of that one as well that are worth looking into..
I did a quick search but have not found one yet.
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Re: An Occurrence at Owl Creek by Ambrose Bierce

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Taylor wrote:
I believe A MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY was his last?
You are correct sir, it was his very last.
There have been some Old Time Radio shows of that one as well that are worth looking into..
I did a quick search but have not found one yet.
Here's one at least done by Suspense.

http://www.myoldradio.com/old-radio-epi ... e-ep-677/7

EDIT: I found some more versions. Suspense did another version with Vincent Price and Escape did a version too.

http://www.escape-suspense.com/2008/04/ ... n-occ.html
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Re: An Occurrence at Owl Creek by Ambrose Bierce

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I have read both Vonnegut and Bierce. While I admire Vonnegut, I prefer Bierce. Just personal preference. I remember reading "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (at least that is how I remember the title. I remember when I got to the end all I could say was "Whoa!"

One of my favorite short stories by Bierce was in the horror genre, "The Damned Thing." See if you can find it.
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Re: An Occurrence at Owl Creek by Ambrose Bierce

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Cattleman wrote:
One of my favorite short stories by Bierce was in the horror genre, "The Damned Thing." See if you can find it.
The Damned Thing can be found right here! :wink: http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/23172/pg23172.txt
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The film version

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If you haven't saw the short film, then take a look.
It was once shown on Twilight Zone I believe.
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Re: An Occurrence at Owl Creek by Ambrose Bierce

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I read An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. It's a fine story, but overrated.

Bierce's other American Civil War stories, however, are absolutely superb. By stating the effects of war in a matter-of-fact style, his war stories are the finest anti-war stories I've ever read.

Sadly, Bierce's horror and "tall tale" stories are nowhere near as good as his war stories.
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