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Tough-O-Meter

We've got your back. With the Tough-O-Meter, you'll know whether to bring extra layers or Swiss army knives as you summit the literary mountain. (10 = Toughest)

(3) Base Camp

On the one hand, we are talking about a straightforward, no tricks, nothing-fancy adventure story here. Richard Connell was clearly not interested in winning any awards for experimental prose. In fact, it’s not all that surprising that he was a screenwriter because he is so sparse with language and makes it all about action and less about depth of character.

But if you pay attention to the dialogue, you'll see that some complex ethical issues come up—and you may even have to draw some tough conclusions all by yourself.