The Phantom 'Rickshaw and Other Tales

by Rudyard Kipling

Nell’anno 1888 sulle banchine delle stazioni ferroviarie indiane si vendeva un modesto fascicolo firmato da un ignoto ventitreenne: Rudyard Kipling. E chi si fosse seduto a leggerlo in uno sgangherato scompartimento si sarebbe imbattuto in alcuni dei più bei racconti che mai siano stati scritti: da quello che dà il titolo al libro alla Strana cavalcata di Morrowbie Jukes, all’Uomo che volle essere re. Così si rivelò quella «voce di rauca sirena» che presto avrebbe incantato il mondo intero.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Ebooks, Classics

211 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was a journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist.

Kipling's works of fiction include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901), and many short stories, including The Man Who Would Be King (1888). His poems include Mandalay (1890), Gunga Din (1890), The Gods of the Copybook Headings (1919), The White Man's Burden (1899), and If— (1910). He is regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story; his children's books are classics of children's literature; and one critic described his work as exhibiting "a versatile and luminous narrative gift".

Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the United Kingdom, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Henry James said: "Kipling strikes me personally as the most complete man of genius (as distinct from fine intelligence) that I have ever known." In 1907, at the age of 41, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first English-language writer to receive the prize, and its youngest recipient to date. He was also sounded out for the British Poet Laureateship and on several occasions for a knighthood, both of which he declined.

Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907 "in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous author."

Kipling kept writing until the early 1930s, but at a slower pace and with much less success than before. On the night of 12 January 1936, Kipling suffered a haemorrhage in his small intestine. He underwent surgery, but died less than a week later on 18 January 1936 at the age of 70 of a perforated duodenal ulcer. Kipling's death had in fact previously been incorrectly announced in a magazine, to which he wrote, "I've just read that I am dead. Don't forget to delete me from your list of subscribers."

Reviews

[Ginny_1807 · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Laconici capolavori"
Scritti quando Kipling aveva poco più di vent’anni, questi racconti stupiscono per la sapiente articolazione dell’intreccio e la finezza compositiva che li rendono stilisticamente e strutturalmente perfetti. Simili qualità, infatti, farebbero piuttosto supporre l’arte collaudata dall’esperienza di uno scrittore maturo.
Il tema che accomuna le storie è la presenza dell’arcano, ma l’aspetto che le differenzia da altre illustri prove del genere è il fatto che l’elemento misterioso, soprannaturale o terrificante resti per lo più suggerito e come consegnato alla decodificazione del lettore tramite interrogativi inespressi.
Questo a mio avviso le rende particolarmente inquietanti, in quanto restano impresse a lungo nella mente in attesa di una interpretazione univoca e convincente. Ciascuna vicenda, poi, si avvale di ambientazioni, personaggi e situazioni talmente originali e sagacemente definiti da costituire una sorta di universo a sé stante, un piccolo immenso contesto dal quale lasciarsi turbare e incantare.
Difficile esprimere preferenze in quanto, per usare la definizione di Borges, si tratta in genere di “laconici capolavori”.

- Il risciò fantasma
- La strana cavalcata di Morrowbie Jukes
- L'uomo che volle essere re
- La mia vera storia di fantasmi

[Amaranta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un racconto che parte dalla spensieratezza di giorni felici e si attorciglia man mano in una spirale claustrofobica che spinge il protagonista quasi alla pazzia. Un contrappasso per un torto commesso che lo perseguiterà a vita, senza scampo.
Il ritmo è incalzante, la narrazione veloce, portano il lettore verso l0unica possibile soluzione.
Racconto perfetto.

[Chequers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piu' "disturbante" di tanti altri horror moderni, e leggendo "l'uomo che volle essere re" non si puo' non pensare a Michael Caine nella parte di Peechy e Sean Connery nella parte di Dravot nell'ottimo film diretto da John Huston

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it's true that the only Kipling I've read before now was "The White Man's Burden," which is a really weird thing to say, but, in fairness, and arguably weirder still, I believe it was part of my seventh-grade English class, for some reason. I think we read "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" as well, but... I feel there's a wonky contrast.... Anyway, nearly two decades later, I'd gained a greater interest in "adventure" stories, and so wanted to check out The Jungle Books and Kim soon-ish, but ended up reading The Phantom 'rickshaw, partly because I assumed the ghost stories would tie somewhat well into the Lafcadio Hearn I'd been reading earlier, but also because I expected "The Man Who Would Be King" to bear some resemblance to King Solomon's Mines and the like.

The title story and "My Own True Ghost Story" are quite decent, but not, I wouldn't say, much to "write home about," other than perhaps "novelty" as ghost stories from a time when such things would still "pass" as "literary fiction" rather than "genre fiction" - by which I think I basically mean Stephen King hasn't been born yet (not to necessarily knock King, and indeed I've just received three of his books in the mail this past weekend). "The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes" is, in my opinion, just way better than the previous two stories, and I might go further to say I actually like it better than "The Man Who Would Be King." Perhaps I'm thinking in four dimensions, as a good bit of why I like that story so much is because it reminds me of Kobo Abe's Woman in the Dunes, written decades later, and which I now suppose is maybe less-good than I initially thought, as that novel bears somewhat extensive resemblance to Kipling's tale. Anyway, "Man Who Would Be King" is about as good as I wanted it to be, including using the same "this is a story that happened a while ago and I'm writing it to you in the present" set-up as aforementioned King Solomon's Mines or also Doyle's Lost World. I was a bit "shocked" at how brutal this story ends up being, in contrast to similar tales of white dudes trying to conquer mysterious foreign lands, as it doesn't not end very well for the two adventurers, both "losing their heads" in different meanings of the phrase....

I guess Kipling is quite good in what I've read so far. Uh, that is, his short fiction here, less so aforementioned poem. I certainly have an interest in reading more of his work, between short stories, novels, and other of his poetry (I have my eye on that collection curated by T. S. Eliot...). I think perhaps I've made a slight mess in "starting" with Kipling through ghost stories rather than something more "serious," but... I don't think the boundary between "genre" and "literary" fictions matters too much to me these days....

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four of the five stories by Kipling that manipulate the supernatural in at least some fashion or another find themselves often forgotten alongside the fifth, "The Man Who Would Be King," as it has endured as one of Kipling's most important experiments in narrative. It's not that the others are mediocre; they're quite good. Each of them. Especially discomforting to the reader's imagination is "The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes." It's more of a pure adventure story than a tales of ghosts, but its focused story on a man in a pit of horrors is one of Kipling's most memorable efforts.

It is "The Man Who Would Be King," however, that is most remembered. Deservedly so. With its shifting perspective in narration, from the present to multiple pasts from the same character, Peachey, it's almost modernist in its effect. We, Kipling's readers, are put straight in amidst Peachey's tortured mind, his memories of catastrophe. And all he has to lead him back "home" is the ghostly presence of Daniel Dravot's severed head with the gold crown still in place. An adventure it was. And no matter the horror, there is still the appeal to take up the trail where Peachey and Dan left off.

[Rod Innis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes an author can have great books and others books that are not so great. One of my all-time favorite books is "The Jungle Book" by this same author. This book however is not really that great.
It contains 4 stories and none of them are very good.

[Fabo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Avevo ottimi ricordi di Kipling ma questa raccolta di racconti è una sorpresa al negativo...
Le idee di partenza sono intriganti ma lo svolgimento della narrazione è lentissimo e disperde tutto il fascino iniziale.

Soporifero

[Dylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like Kipling's writing. He is a great storyteller.

[Antifan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il racconto "l'uomo che volle essere re" è una delle storie più memorabili che abbia mai letto, in generale, seppur non lo trovi perfetto. Gli altri racconti sono anche essi "belli", caratterizzati da uno stile semplice, conciso e questo può trarre in inganno di una lettura leggera. Azzeccata la scelta di questi racconti, per questo grande narratore, in questa breve edizione.

[Marica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non amo particolarmente il genere letterario del racconto, ma ammetto di aver letto con piacere questo piccolo volumetto. Più del contenuto, ad avermi colpita favorevolmente è la prosa dell'autore, pulita ma non banale.

[Giacomo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Morrowbie Jukes e non dico altro.