The Jungle Book (Tor Classics)
by Rudyard Kipling
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1744)
Read in June, 2008
Before Tarzan there was Mowgli, lost in a jungle in India as a child and taken in by a family of wolves. He is raised by the animals of the jungle, and has adventures with them. He learns loyalty and devotion and the Jungle Law. Every small boy eventually grows up but, to pararphrase Kipling, his adult adventures are a different story. Written in 1894 and 1895 the two collections of adventure/jungle/wilderness stories are included in one volume. Mowgli and his stories are the vast majority,...more
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Read in June, 1984
I'm sure most people have heard of Mowgli and the wolves and Shere Kahn and Bagheera and Baloo and all. And almost as many people know of Rikki-tikki-tavi (mostly because of the movie, which was pretty good for animated movies of that time.) And the copy of the book I had while growing up also had the story of The White Seal and Toomai of the Elephants, also very clever stories. But the copy at my grandmother's house was my favorite, because it ALSO has "Quiquern" (a story of the Inuit...more
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Read in May, 2005
The Jungle Book was a Project Gutenberg e-text that I read in spare moments on my PDA - it's well suited to this type of reading, as each chapter is more or less stand alone.
I had forgotten that (contrary to Disney) only the first half of this book deals with Mowgli the Man-Cub and his adventures in the jungle. The remainder of the book is short stories and related poetry about wild (and not so wild) animals, mostly in India.
My personal favorite is Rikki-Tikki-Tavi - possibly because I...more
I had forgotten that (contrary to Disney) only the first half of this book deals with Mowgli the Man-Cub and his adventures in the jungle. The remainder of the book is short stories and related poetry about wild (and not so wild) animals, mostly in India.
My personal favorite is Rikki-Tikki-Tavi - possibly because I...more
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Have been reading this book to the girls - after putting them to bed tonight I picked it up again and finished it. It's an old, yellowish, and cracking edition - different from the Signet here - but the one I read growing up. It is a remarkable story, so much deeper and darker than the cotton candy Disney served up (or frankly that Edgar Rice Burroughs served up in its wake). Baloo and Kaa are serious characters and Mowgli's interactions with the Man-pack much grimmer (and more human) than th...more
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Read in July, 2008
This story is great. I had never read it before and so I decided to read it last time that I was at the library. It is a pretty light read and is full of adventure and fun. The thing that is hardest about the book is that there are different stories and each chapter you have a new character to remember. Don't be surprised when you read the story that the popular cartoon has little resemblance to the story. I liked the book better but that is my own opinion. I think that my favorite part wa...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
Anyone, really
My mom gave me a lot of classics when I was growing up, all big-text on pulpy paper and bright covers, perfect for the young book nerd. I loved the Jungle Books, I always thought she'd read them too, but talking to her recently, I guess she never read much Kipling. I'd forgotten that the first Jungle Book has side stories about Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and the bit about the elephants dancing and whatnot. Only the first half is really about Mowgli at all. The point of reading this, besides my obvious add...more
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Read in January, 1958
recommended to Maureen by:
Miss Edith Wyattrecommends it for: everyone
In my usual methodical child way, when I got to the library shelf with the Kipling books on it, I read them all. I have to say, though, The Jungle Books rank right up there with other childhood classics. As a child, I completely believed that animals could talk, and I yearned to be reared in the jungle by wolves. Kipling wrote these stories with great heart, and obviously a great desire to pass along a reverence for all life. Don't let the children you love see the sanitized Disney version o...more
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One of the very very few great things to result from the British conquest of India-- Kipling's Jungle Books. The language, the characters, the stories (and songs!) are all so wonderful, fun, sad, and more often than not a little dark. If you're a kid, you can enjoy the singing monkeys. If you're older, you can ponder the messages of alienation, oppression, freedom, and friendship. Also, come on: seals with national anthems? Jungle children raised by wolves? Secret elephant dances at night?...more
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Read in January, 2005
I ran out of stuff to read in Argentina and the English language selections were limited. I'm glad I picked this one up again though. It had been a long time since I'd read Kipling, and my favorite part of the book is still the opening poem:
Now Chill the Kite brings home the night
That Mang the bat sets free--
The herds are shut in byre and hut
For loosed till dawn are we.
This is the hour of pride and power,
Talon and tush and claw.
Oh, hear the call!--Good hunting all
That kee...more
Now Chill the Kite brings home the night
That Mang the bat sets free--
The herds are shut in byre and hut
For loosed till dawn are we.
This is the hour of pride and power,
Talon and tush and claw.
Oh, hear the call!--Good hunting all
That kee...more
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Read in April, 2008
My original plan was to read this with the kids, but that didn't last past the first two chapters (with editing). This is definitely for an older crowd (at least the over-8 set). However, it peaked my interest so much that I kept reading in my own time and really enjoyed it. How did I miss this one growing up? Kipling is a master story-teller and the writing is almost lyrical at times. The jungle world he creates is utterly original and completely fleshed-out. Definitely recommend.
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3 comments
I feel almost like a traitor to the Children's-Book-Lover Club when I say this, but I hated this book. I can't really tell you any specific reason for it, but I thought it was stupid and boring and a waste of paper and time. I suppose it had a great moral about humans learning to honor wildlife and nature, and for that I have great respect for what this work has done for the world. But for me, someone already on that bandwagon, the book sucked. To put it eloquently.
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Read in October, 2006
I'm not sure how many stars to give this book. There were about 7 different stories in the Jungle Book, which Disney took the first four for their movie. I can see why they did choose the ones they did. Simply, they were better. Maybe I thought this because I was in the play and was only familiar with the Disney movie, but I seemed to enjoy the firstcouple ones more, for they had the characters I had grown to love; Bagheera, Baloo, Mowgli, Colonel Hathi and Kaa.
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at the very base of the himalayas, there's the lush green of tropical rainforests: rhododendron blossoms, rivers, tigers, snakes; mowgli's rainforests, if you know the jungle books. but ten days of walking (there are no roads, of course) bring you to the high altitude desert of jomsom: windswept, desolate, utterly beautiful in a barren, bleak way. and still, the mountains tower thousands of feet above. these books imbued my childhood with wonder.
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Yeah, yeah, ignore the White Man's Burden stuff. Kipling is one of the best storytellers who ever lived, and neither the author's obnoxious politics nor a complete butchery of this wonderful wonderful story in its many terrible movie incarnations can take away the fact that the Mowgli stories of this and the Second Jungle Book are some of the greatest tales ever created. Read this, for real. It's a classic.
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Read in March, 2008
The first half of the book is the story most of us know (from Disney) about Mowgli, Baloo and gang while the latter half contains four or five short stories. It was nice to get the real story, but didn't find a whole lot to rave about. Some of the short stories were good, the last one took some pushing to get through. Glad it's under my belt, but don't plan on ever reading it again (even to the kids).
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I read this for my college history class. Yes this is the book about the meat packaging and all the nasty stuff that's in it, but it has a story about a guy named Jurgis and his family living during this time period. I really thought the story was captivating. Much more enjoyable than I thought it would be. I say it's a nice read. But you won't want to eat packaged meat anymore... maybe
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I especially enjoyed the story titled the White Seal. I found the story to be slightly confusing on first read because it is very clearly metaphorical, but I could not identify the metaphor. Finally, I read elsewhere that the story was about imperialism. Understanding that, I found it to be the best of the Jungle Book stories. Even without the understanding, it was exciting to read,
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Read in September, 2007
I enjoyed most of the stories I've read so far though I do believe our notions of what qualify as "children's stories" have change a bit since Kipling's days. Some of these stories are brutal! The Mogli stories are worth reading just to compare the content to what you've seen in the movie. But my favorites of the bunch were "Rikki Tikki Tavi" and "The White Seal."
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My mother read this to me and my two brothers when we were very small children for what seems like a year. The boys would fall asleep, and I would beg her to keep reading. I had her to myself for the minutes I could convince her to keep going, and I would get lost in Mowgli and his adventures. It is one of my fondest childhood memories.
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recommends it for:
adventure and the anthropology inclined
Books 1 & 2 are very serious, sometimes disturbing, great stories. The main story is continually interrupted with various "songs" and off topic short stories (such as Rikki-Tikki-Tavvi). I appreiciate the first book for its fast pace but the second has an amazing adventure plot. Mowgli is a very intimidating god.
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