The Man Who Would Be King (Art of the Novella series, The)
by Rudyard Kipling
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 287)
Read in August, 2007
Sometimes the virtues of a good read are underappreciated. In the midst of all the experimental fiction and self-obsessed confessionals that are being published nowadays, it can be refreshing to sit back and enjoy the storytelling pleasures of Kipling.
These stories meet my main standard for high-quality fiction: an apparently easy style masquerading a depthness of thought. Kipling makes the act of creating thought-provoking characters and situation seems as simple as putting pen to paper, an...more
These stories meet my main standard for high-quality fiction: an apparently easy style masquerading a depthness of thought. Kipling makes the act of creating thought-provoking characters and situation seems as simple as putting pen to paper, an...more
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Very dated with its Victorian, imperialist ideals, but it remains a great story of adventure, friendship and exotic peoples. You could enjoy the book as a socialogical study of British attitudes of Kipling's day, or as the adventure it was written to be. It has a mythical quality to it, and employs interesting story-telling conventions. This is probably more of a man's story. Given current events, it's intriguing to read about the perils of skirmishing with Afghan tribes.
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This beautifully packaged series of classic novellas includes the works of Anton Chekhov, Colette, Henry James, Herman Melville, and Leo Tolstoy. These collectible editions are the first single-volume publications of these classic tales, offering a closer look at this underappreciated literary form and providing a fresh take on the world's most celebrated authors.
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A very imperialistic view on a maddeningly improbable event. While it was vaguely interesting, the writing was very colloquial and antiquated. I'm all for history books, but fictionalized history about a soldiering society I have no ties to or understanding of was difficult without proper preparation, which I really wasn't ready to invest in.
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The movie adaptation of this is the closest that any Hollywood production has come to capturing Kipling's style. Also this one has a corker of an ending. But before you get to the end, you have to sweat through the heat of an Indian night alone in a newspaper office and shiver in the high mountain passes on the way to Afghanistan.
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I read Kipling when I was young so I think of it as juvenile fiction but this one in more mature. I like the story and how he tells it.
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I'm putting this on my realism shelf but boy was he a major colonialist. I should make a colonialist shelf just for him.
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I actually have to recommend the movie over the book. Kudos to Kipling for providing the plot, though.
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Loved this one. Also loved the movie. Two of my favoriet actors: Connery and Caine. Classic.
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Read in January, 1987
recommends it for:
all adventurers
the best short story ever written - completely perfect and a bally good film to boot
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Read in April, 2008
recommended to Elizabeth by:
Morgan
Let me just say that the Norton Anthology has terrible footnotes.
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