Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “The Man Who Would Be King” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Read Book

The Man Who Would Be King

Rudyard Kipling

3.72 · Rating details · 11,978 ratings · 641 reviews

Get A Copy

Paperback, 96 pages

Published April 1st 2005 by Melville House (first published 1888)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about The Man Who Would Be King, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling

The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire

241 books — 234 voters

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

Best Books Of The Decade: 1880s

273 books — 360 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 3.72 ·

Rating details

· 11,978 ratings · 641 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of The Man Who Would Be King

Aug 21, 2007 J.G. Keely rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, uk-and-ireland, africa, fiction

I must admit I find the modern backlash against colonialism to be somewhat ridiculous; as if colonialism were something new, something purely European, something malicious and unnatural. What else has mankind done since it rose in Africa but displace its neighbors? What else does any animal do but seek to thrive where it can?

Any successful group soon becomes cramped as their population rises, and hence spreads out to new areas. In this way, each species has developed and then expanded to its ...more

flag 47 likes · Like · see review

May 01, 2018 Lyn rated it liked it

This is of course the short story from Rudyard Kipling that inspired the 1975 John Huston film starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine.

First published in 1888, and (as in the film) told from the perspective of Kipling as the story is related to him by Peachy, this is about two British adventurers who leave the empire, cross the border in Kafiristan (an actual region of present day Afghanistan) and set themselves up as kings.

There is some suggestion that the populace of that state is descended ...more

flag 26 likes · Like · see review

Feb 24, 2016 Steven Walle rated it liked it

I found this book quite boring and feel guilty for the feeling. I have loved most everything else I have read by this author. The charictors hold no appeal for me and the plot just kind of trugged a long.
Enjoy and Be Blessed.
Diamond

flag 20 likes · Like · see review

Sep 11, 2011 Shovelmonkey1 rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: old school adventure fans

Recommended to Shovelmonkey1 by: a final go at loving kipling which paid off

Shelves: bookcrossing-books, read-in-2010, india

I have a weird relationship with Rudyard Kipling (and not in any kind of creepy, bothering-the-dead kind of way thank you). He wrote extensively on subjects, times and places which I find fascinating. It therefore stands to reason that I should love and be totally absorbed by his prolific literary output in all its formats. Frankly, I'm not. Kim? Zzzzz, that one nearly put me to sleep standing. The Jungle Book? Strike me down for saying this but I'm giving a thumbs up to the Disney version. I I have a weird relationship with Rudyard Kipling (and not in any kind of creepy, bothering-the-dead kind of way thank you). He wrote extensively on subjects, times and places which I find fascinating. It therefore stands to reason that I should love and be totally absorbed by his prolific literary output in all its formats. Frankly, I'm not. Kim? Zzzzz, that one nearly put me to sleep standing. The Jungle Book? Strike me down for saying this but I'm giving a thumbs up to the Disney version. I want to love them but they just fail to excite.

On the other hand, there is The Man Who Would be King which appeals wholeheartedly to all my senses of ridiculous 19th century adventuring, treasure seeking and generally being all foreign and exotic and far flung in a land far, far away.

Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnehan - two men who decide the the British Empire simply is not big enough for them after having performed the amazing feat of pissing off pretty much everyone in British India, and so off they go, looking for some land (specifically an actual whole country) which they can call their own. Essentially these two conmen at large have more front the entire Himalayas and manage to sufficiently charm/con/bamboozle local populations into believing their own particularly British brand of bullshit. Utilising their gift of the gab and the ability to monopolise any random situation and turn it to their advantage they do actually succeed in setting themselves up as kings. Their success is glamorous and gold laden but obviously short-lived. Slowly their schemes and dreams unravel leaving Mr Dravot's life hanging literally in the balance, while Peachy gets nailed and not in a good way.

The whole tale is narrated by Kipling himself which gives it a charmingly realistic edge, especially when he relates how the concluding part of the tale finds it's way back to civilisation. I am a sucker for this kind of story and it is the only Kipling that I actually enjoyed without a yawn. That and I secretly heart the slightly bad film which was made in 1970s. It is synonymous with rubbish Christmas viewing as kid in the 1980s and for that I will always hold it dear. ...more

flag 17 likes · Like · see review

Mar 08, 2017 Sara rated it really liked it

Brilliantly told. The ending gives me shivers. Wild and unsettling.

flag 13 likes · Like · see review

Sep 03, 2013 Wastrel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: short_stories, z-2014, mundane-fiction

A peculiarly mixed collection of stories (it's a collection of three smaller collections, each originally with a general theme of its own). This represents almost the beginning of Kipling's career - having returned to his homeland in India at the age of 16 after an abusive childhood, he became a newspaperman, and eventually started writing short stories for his papers, before publishing them in collections.

In 1888, Kipling published eighty short stories in book form, of which a few dozen had A peculiarly mixed collection of stories (it's a collection of three smaller collections, each originally with a general theme of its own). This represents almost the beginning of Kipling's career - having returned to his homeland in India at the age of 16 after an abusive childhood, he became a newspaperman, and eventually started writing short stories for his papers, before publishing them in collections.

In 1888, Kipling published eighty short stories in book form, of which a few dozen had previously been published in newspapers in the previous year and a half or so. This collection brings together 14 of those stories. These include the classic colonialism story, "The Man Who would be King", as well as probably the most important story for understanding the author, "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep", a fictionalisation of his own childhood.

These stories would have been written when Kipling was 22 or 23.

Both the content and the quality of these stories is variable, as might be expected of such a young and inexperienced author, but there are clear signs here of the genius that would be seen in his later, more famous works, and some of these stories are, or should be, classics.

More generally, they are a fascinating insight into Kipling's world - the world of British India in the later decades of the 19th century, roaming from the Afghan wars to the indolent hill station resorts to the domestic homes and nurseries of Mumbai, taking in a couple of ghost stories along the way. Throughout, Kipling employs a sharp, sometimes even brutal, ironic tone to deconstruct the failures and insanities of the society around him, from the level of government policy down to the relationships between lovers, or between parents and children - Wilde and Saki spring to mind as comparisons, although to be honest Kipling works best in these stories when he leaves the satire to the background and gives himself a proper plot to focus on.

Anyone interested in Britain or India in the 1880's (or thereabouts) should probably read these stories.

However, I can't give it full marks. Some stories are not as good as others; particularly in the early stories he can be too blunt and obvious (Wilde and Saki are both better at the satire side); and even when the stories are good, they are generally cool and distant, more to be admired than to be invested in (though there are exceptions).

In short, there's enough evidence in this collection that I'm sure you could compile a Kipling short story collection that was truly excellent, even if you confined yourself to those eighty stories from 1888; this isn't that collection, I'm afraid, but it's still well worth the £2 cost and 200 pages of reading, for its value both as a literary product and as a historical artifact.

Above all, I think I've come out of this with a much more well-rounded and interesting view of Kipling - many of these stories are nothing like his more famous works.

Anyway, my titanically (I'm not joking) lengthy full review (in five parts!) is over here on my blog if anyone can possibly sit through it all. ...more

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

Apr 13, 2011 Richard rated it liked it

Shelves: 2011

Oh my fickle heart. Oh my shifting allegiances.

I find a curious principle at work in my reading. And that priciple is that I will often change my mind... with a fervor. To wit: I will love love love an author and then years later I will find myself passionately renouncing their writing for absolutely no good reason. I used to love C.S. Lewis and Jack Kerouac. But now Lewis' charming Britishness grates on my reading ear and Kerouac's free-spirited writing just sounds like what it is: the work of Oh my fickle heart. Oh my shifting allegiances.

I find a curious principle at work in my reading. And that priciple is that I will often change my mind... with a fervor. To wit: I will love love love an author and then years later I will find myself passionately renouncing their writing for absolutely no good reason. I used to love C.S. Lewis and Jack Kerouac. But now Lewis' charming Britishness grates on my reading ear and Kerouac's free-spirited writing just sounds like what it is: the work of a crazed alcoholic hopped up on Benzedrine.

I don't know why this is. I don't know why I will suddenly turn on something I once loved so dearly and attack it. But spurned authors are like spurned lovers. You wish they would drop off the face of the earth. They remind you of a past you want to forget.

Rudyard Kipling is one of my old flames. About five years ago I really got into The Jungle Books and The Phantom Rickshaw and even read a biography of him. For a few months I lived in and breathed the air of his dark India. But then we drifted apart. I moved on to other authors, other places. After reading heated criticism of Kipling's work in G. K. Chesterton's Heretics, I wrote off old Rudyard's work forever.

... or did I?

I picked up this novella this week because I love everything put out by Melville House Publishing. And I read it. And I must admit it was a bittersweet experience, like seeing the face of an old lover on the street. Oh, Kipling! How I remember your sense of adventure. How I remember the sensory details of your exotic locales and now, yes, I remember your strange humor and the dark magic that you saw that drove men to murder.

So, what's wrong with me? Why can I not just wholly embrace this man's writing?

I want to love Kipling, but for some reason I cannot fully commit to him. I think the problem is that I don't understand his Imperialist mindset. That's to say, I don't disagree with it. But I plain don't understand it. I know I'm not supposed to admit that. I know I'm supposed to be Super Reader Who Understands All. But Kipling's books are a hundred years old and a continent removed from mine. So much of his work references this crazy part of England's history when white guys in pith helmets went around shooting tigers. And I can never tell if Kipling is satirizing this era or if he is tacitly backing this jingoistic, racist imperialism. Try as I might I cannot understand exactly what Kipling is getting at in his books. So while I love his adventure (in The Man Who Would Be King a guy gets crucified and there's a severed head involved, too) I cannot ever make sense of the point he's trying to get across. A little research on my part would, I feel, remedy this situation. But I want Kipling to communicate his message to me in his work.

Like any relationship, communication is the key, Mr. Kipling. Based on the romance and adventure of this novella I am extending you another chance. I’m going to revisit your work. Talk to me. Make me understand your worldview; perchance to convince me of its validity. Maybe there’s something there, still, between us.

Maybe.
...more

flag 11 likes · Like · see review

Feb 21, 2014 Isabel rated it really liked it

"Neither God nor Devil, but a man!"

The first time I explore Kipling's work beyond his poetry. I was very surprised by this one.
Although the great interest by the fact that the story is based in real facts, what leave me very pleased was the satirical tone of Kliping, especially in what it refers to the british presence on India.

Too bad my portuguese translation (by Vega) isn't very good, what difficults the understanding of some parts of the plot.

flag 11 likes · Like · see review

Aug 09, 2013 Maryam rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics

the first book of Kipling I got to read after Mowgli (The jungle book). very interesting and breathtaking story. always loved Kipling, he basically made me dream of India, hope one day I will get to visit it. Just as usual the atmosphere is very realistic, the story is simply crazy, but good crazy, if you know what I mean. I think it is a must read.

flag 11 likes · Like · see review

Jun 18, 2013 Jason Koivu rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Fantastical stories and powerful imagery. Sure, technological advances have numbed us to the violence of war, but Kipling's writing loses little of its punch due to the passing time. The adventurous spirit imbued in his work still thrills the soul with its wanderlust, even its foolhardy daring. The images of death and dying, so sudden and stark, are horrific even today. One can only imagine the impact they made on the populous back home in an age when photographs were in their infancy.

flag 10 likes · Like · see review

Sep 06, 2018 Yigal Zur rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

the best ever short story. the great master

flag 10 likes · Like · see review

Jun 13, 2015 Travelin rated it really liked it

Perhaps this was shocking or surprising to empire builders in Kipling's era, but to this modern reader, the troubles of two idiot chancers/minor empire builders in Afghanistan seem slightly obvious. I remember it worked exceptionally well, visually, as a movie with Michael Caine.

Nor do I see much transparent chauvinism. On the contrary, it appears to be a warning to self-centred empire builders. Also, the tribe who caused them the most trouble were "British" and already knew the ridiculous ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Oct 08, 2014 Richard rated it it was amazing

Kipling's poetry was extravagantly admired during his life time and even for a while after his death. This was certainly because he wrote quite vigorously and was regarded as a great advocate of the great British Empire upon whom the sun never set. While some of his poetry is still appreciated, it hasn't aged well and one can only read about "The White man's burden" with embarrassment and give him a pardon for being a child of his times.

But the same cannot be said about his prose--the short ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Sep 27, 2017 Alex Bledsoe rated it liked it

Kipling has become problematic due to his retrograde ideas about race, and his depiction of societies other than English. Both of those issues are present here as well, but more prominent, at least for me, was the fairly explicit critique of the colonialism that created the British Empire. Here two rascals set out for a distant land with the explicit aim of becoming kings thanks to their advanced weaponry and innate "superiority." At first they succeed, but eventually their reach exceeds their ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Oct 05, 2018 Sotiris Makrygiannis rated it liked it

Shelves: internet, audio-book, librivox

Short story for Saturday coffee. 2 guys want to build a kingdom in Aphganistan, fine. Has bit of humour but I founded it a bit dry, maybe back then was exotic and adventurous.

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Mar 14, 2012 Dfordoom rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Rudyard Kipling might be deeply unfashionable these days but I have a weakness for unfashionable writers. He was something that is almost unimaginable these days - an enormously popular writer who also won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He’s also the sort of writer the PC Thought Police would like to stop us from reading.

Kipling was one of the grand masters of the art of the short story and The Man Who Would Be King and other stories gives us five splendid examples.

I’ve been meaning to get Rudyard Kipling might be deeply unfashionable these days but I have a weakness for unfashionable writers. He was something that is almost unimaginable these days - an enormously popular writer who also won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He’s also the sort of writer the PC Thought Police would like to stop us from reading.

Kipling was one of the grand masters of the art of the short story and The Man Who Would Be King and other stories gives us five splendid examples.

I’ve been meaning to get round to reading the title story for years, ever since the first time I saw John Huston’s magnificent 1975 film adaptation. It was a remarkably faithful adaptation, but then it’s such a great story and so perfectly suited to cinematic adaptation that there was really no reason to change anything.

A newspaperman in British India in the late 19th century encounters two somewhat disreputable British adventurers. They tell him their plan, which is a simple one. They intend to journey to a remote valley on the borders of Afghanistan and set themselves up as kings. They have pooled their financial resources in order to buy twenty Martini rifles. With their own military backgrounds (they might be rogues but they’re trained soldiers with an appreciation for the virtues of military discipline) and these guns they will teach the inhabitants of the valley the art of modern warfare, whereupon they will undoubtedly be acclaimed as kings.

The journalist takes a certain liking to these two adventurers but there’s not the slightest doubt in his mind they he will never see them alive again.

A couple of years later a broken wreck of a man shambles into his newspaper office and he learns the strange fates of Peachy Carnehan and Daniel Dravot.

Of the other stories in the collection The Phantom Rickshaw is an effective ghost story whilst The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes is a bizarre but excellent piece of weird fiction concerning the place where the dead who aren’t really dead end up.

Without Benefit of Clergy is a tale of a relationship between a British colonial official and an Indian Muslim woman that demonstrates Kipling’s complex and subtle understanding of the problems of colonialism for both sides.

Kipling was an intelligent, humane and perceptive writer who deserves to be more widely read. The Man Who Would Be King and other stories is a pretty good place to start. ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Mar 30, 2011 Roni rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-edition

Errrr.....An imperialistic view on an insanely unconvincing event. The writer, Rudyard Kipling, employs heavy usage of 19th Century jargons and idioms unique to England and India which makes the reading a bit challenging and difficult for 20th Century Americans. I am fan of history however, fictionalized history about a soldiering society is foreign to me which I was not prepared to invest in. I noticed there were few typos and misspellings. Not too bad for free book.

There is a movie named, ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Jul 02, 2013 Therese rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, fiction, free-books, adventure, 2013-reads, classics

The reviews on this book very greatly although seemingly more people got something out of it than I did. It is antiquated and without reading other things, I don't know where it is, and it takes a while to figure out the narrator and just what is going on. You don't have that long to set the stage in such a short book.

Peachy Carnehan and Dan Dravot, con artists, decide they want to be king and take off from India for some remote place in what is now North West Afghanistan. Two years later we are ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Jun 16, 2016 Hristina rated it liked it

Shelves: the-classics, short-stories, audio-books

I have been getting into audiobooks a lot recently, and I tend to enjoy them a lot, but somehow, I got a bit lost with this one. It didn't grasp my attention enough. I struggle when reading classics, because I cannot get into some of them the way I should, I lose focus quickly, which is what happened with this book. Maybe I listened to it at the wrong time. Maybe I'll try again someday, when I've had more than four hours of sleep. Until then, I'm leaving this here as it is.

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

May 31, 2019 Fran rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019-classics, classics, short-stack, introspective

I read this as a parable (of a sort), warning the reader against getting too big for his britches.

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Dec 29, 2014 Jibran rated it really liked it

Shelves: nobel, fiction, empire, hindustan

Two Englishmen in India, charlatans, fraudsters, impersonators, swindlers, cheats, who wander about the length of breadth of the country tricking and deceiving people to earn their dough, decide one day that they will journey up the northern mountains to become joint kings of Kafiristan, a mountainous region then outside the borders of British India but which now falls in present-day Pakistan and where old pagan tribes still exist.

Once in Kafiristan they make a show of force with their guns ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Feb 09, 2018 J. Alfred rated it liked it · review of another edition

The Anglo-Indian Kipling reminds me of what I've eaten of Indian food: you might not like it, but there's lots to choose from and, whatever you decide on, it'll be highly flavored.
These short stories were written when he was around 23, says the introduction. They're cynical and violent and unpleasantly hero-worshipping, but they're also inventive and will give you a broader perception of Empire.
All that said, "Baa Baa Black Sheep," probably the quietest story in here, is the one that I think ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 29, 2016 Cherie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: read-audio

The best thing I can say is that I finished. I listened to the audio book several times and I read almost all of them over and I still couldn't tell anyone what some of them were about. A few were simply unfathomable to me. Several were very exciting, but strange. My goal was to get through the title story to see the movie. I didn't want the movie to tell me what Kipling wrote. How pathetic was that? I read every word and all the mumbo-jumbo too. Moving on...

I hope Kim is better. I really want ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Feb 24, 2016 Vicki rated it liked it

Shelves: audio-books, classics

It is sad that I could not make myself love this. I know it is a classic and really who am I to judge a classic. I just did not enjoy it. I found Peachy Carnehan humorous in starts and stops. But I had no love for his companion Daniel Dravo. I did feel compassion towards the end though.

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 20, 2016 Seher Alvi rated it liked it

I found The movie better than novella because it is quite boring.

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Sep 16, 2017 Zella Kate rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, 19th-century-british-history, british-history, 19th-century-british-literature

In the 1880s in British India, former British army sergeants Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnahan are convinced that the Empire does not properly appreciate their talents, which range from soldiering to smuggling to blackmailing. The two embark on a journey to remote, unexplored Kafiristan, in modern-day Afghanistan/Pakistan. Their retirement plan? Use their skills to convince the locals to hire them as mercenaries, then stage a coup to install themselves as kings so that they can rob the In the 1880s in British India, former British army sergeants Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnahan are convinced that the Empire does not properly appreciate their talents, which range from soldiering to smuggling to blackmailing. The two embark on a journey to remote, unexplored Kafiristan, in modern-day Afghanistan/Pakistan. Their retirement plan? Use their skills to convince the locals to hire them as mercenaries, then stage a coup to install themselves as kings so that they can rob the countryside blind. What could possibly go wrong?

For years, my father tried to convince me to watch the 1975 movie The Man Who Would Be King. I didn't get around to it until recently, which now makes me angry at myself because it was a fantastic movie.

Since it is based on a Rudyard Kipling story, I decided to read the original text. It's written in a quaint 19th century style, which I enjoy when I am in the right mood, and for the most part the story is the same as in the movie.

The biggest strength is probably the characters. Danny and Peachy are terrible (but entertaining) people. Kipling's attitude toward colonialism in the story are murky, but it's pretty clear he doesn't condone what they're doing. (Though that's probably more to do with how they're going about it than anything else.)

Nonetheless, the tone isn't preachy, so the story ends up serving as a greater cautionary tale than if Kipling had turned it into a sermon. (Personally, I suspect the message has less to do with colonialism than Freemasonry, but I can't find anyone else talking about that.)

In any event, the story builds to a memorable, haunting ending.

I liked the book, but I honestly think the movie is better. If you haven't seen the movie, you should watch it, even if you don't read the bok. It alters a few things, but the changes work really well. It probably features the best performances of Michael Caine and Sean Connery's careers and manages to be a lot darker, funnier, and more thought-provoking than your standard buddy adventure story. It also has one of the most intense final 15 minutes of any film I've watched. Oh and there are impeccable pith helmets throughout! What more could you want?

...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 08, 2019 Sharon Barrow Wilfong rated it it was amazing

Brilliantly written and horrifying as we listen to the narration of a half-dead, mostly crazed man tell his unbelievable tale of his venture with a friend into a pagan northern African country and the dastardly results when one of them believe he is able to rule a savage race of people.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

May 18, 2019 Darren rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: war-western-adventure, author-more, film, favorites

Storytelling of the highest order - immediately compelling, unputdownable, vivid background/characters, turning on timeless/universal aspects of human nature - nuff said.

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jun 12, 2019 AndrewP rated it really liked it

Shelves: audio-books, historical, read-in-2019

If you have seen the movie staring Sean Connery and Michael Cain then you will know the story. Two Englishmen go to a remote corner of Afghanistan and convince the natives that they are gods.

A short of about 60 pages so light reading. It's in the public domain so is available as a free download from many places. There is even a decent free audio version on LibriVox.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Dec 20, 2010 Chloe rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: modern

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Rudyard Kipling –do we love him for his well-formulated stories of colonial India or despise him for his imperialist attitude and his nigh-willful delusions concerning the treatment of the native peoples and the “white man’s burden”? Either way, Kipling’s works provide us with a window into the world of British imperialism from the point of view of the conquerors. The ideologies that justified the expansionist beliefs can often be determined more clearly in the forms of stories than tracts, and Rudyard Kipling –do we love him for his well-formulated stories of colonial India or despise him for his imperialist attitude and his nigh-willful delusions concerning the treatment of the native peoples and the “white man’s burden”? Either way, Kipling’s works provide us with a window into the world of British imperialism from the point of view of the conquerors. The ideologies that justified the expansionist beliefs can often be determined more clearly in the forms of stories than tracts, and the short story is rather the modern parable when it comes to political and social hobbyhorses.
The Man Who Would Be King is certainly fascinating as an observational study when it comes to the racial and class relations of the place and time. On the one hand, it is certainly not in agreement with the two would-be monarchs. Their quest is quixotic, as the semi-autobiographical narrator certainly believes: irresponsible, dangerous, vainglorious. Yet, all criticism comes from worries that the white men may put themselves in harm’s way. There are places two Westerners just should not go, not because they simply aren’t wanted and it isn’t their land to begin with, but because the region itself, place and people, is unfriendly to the West. It is as though failed expansion is not so much a poor idea, but that there are places that reject the planting of a Western seed, like an inhospitable soil to a specific plant. This, of course, is true. The heroes (antiheroes?) certainly don’t understand the culture of the native people, and so comes their eventual downfall. Yet, this reveals a certain level of ambiguity. Ought the foreigners to try to learn more of the countries they inhabit? Or, is Kipling pointing out the futility of trying to assimilate with the culture, pressing a white-dominated ideology?
I believe, in the context of Kipling’s other work, most especially The Jungle Book and his poem “The White Man’s Burden”, there is little evidence to suggest that the author wanted to encourage the foreign occupiers to be more understanding of the native cultures. After all, in this story they turn on their leaders and kill (or attempt to kill) them and their followers in brutal ways. The only “civilized” members of the country are the ones who attempt to act, well, British. This isn’t to say that the heroes are entirely civilized themselves, but their eventual downfall is actually catalyzed by trying to be too native and even, (doom, sorrow and forlorn), trying to marry into the native people. (Women are such a corrupting luxury… )
This idea has always fascinated me. One would think that being in a new country, with new people and an unfamiliar culture would lead thinking people to want to learn more about their area and the people therein. However, de sjil seemed to be to make everything as British and ethnocentric as possible and to complain wildly of the area and the people. Why? It’s a very obvious question; the British didn’t have to be there. I’m hardly one to condemn England when America has no fewer flaws. But, really, India and the Middle East would never be England, and the fact that they, and every imperialist anywhere ever, couldn’t figure this out or were so unwilling to believe it is retrospectively astounding. Just my little thought about history.
This is not to say that the book is without literary merit. On the contrary! As a vantage point to see into this place and time, and understand the mindset of the imperialists, it is extremely valuable. The prose itself, while wordier than later modern works, especially post-Hemingway prose, but still bears the plain style and lack of floridity that is so common to the era. The use of brutality and violence as a story telling means is certainly affective if somewhat heavy-handed, as opposed to the use of the grotesque in, say, Flannery O’Connor. But, it certainly does its job. Sometimes I felt the stiff, British-gentleman persona to be off-putting; this isn’t a novella you get emotionally involved in. However, it is not a poor piece of modern English literature. It is, though, hampered by its political sensibilities and parabolic nature. It’s like an artifact: not without merit, but with merit of a specific, historical kind.
...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Literature & Fict...: My Favourite Book	4	11	Oct 13, 2019 07:41PM
Around the Year i...: The Man Who Would Be King, by Rudyard Kipling	1	9	Sep 10, 2017 12:46PM
Is the version of The Man Who Would be King in this book abridged?	1	6	Feb 19, 2013 12:56PM
Books2Movies Club: The Man Who Would Be King	5	37	Oct 03, 2012 03:24AM

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Classics

436 users

Fiction

354 users

Short Stories

147 users

Adventure

106 users

Historical > Historical Fiction

98 users

Literature

63 users

See top shelves…

About Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling

2,218 followers

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 ...more