Many Inventions

by Rudyard Kipling

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Genres: Fiction, Literature, Poetry, 19th Century, Classics, Short Stories

382 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1899

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

[Carol Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for three stories:

HIS PRIVATE HONOR, one of the best Soldiers Three stories. Private Ortheris has a situation with an officer and they settle it "man to man."

MY LORD THE ELEPHANT another great Soldiers Three story. Mulvaney tames a runaway elephant. This is a good story because the nameless narrator (Kipling) has a bigger part and shows off his knowledge of Hindustani to the Soldiers Three.

THE RECORD OF BADALIA HERODSFOOT. The other two I've been reading and rereading for forty years, since I was thirteen. This one I only discovered a few years ago. It's about the London poor, obsessive love, and murder. Kipling by the age of twenty five had forgotten more about men and women than most modern authors will ever know. There's an obvious debt to Othello, but still this story is stunningly real and raw.

[Mattia · Rating 1 out of 5]

There was one story in here - The Record of Badalia Herodsfoot - that deserved three or four stars; it was a sympathetic (towards women) look at violence against women. But most of the remainder of the book was so overwhelmingly racist that I started just skimming it.

The first story in the book would have been an entertaining madness-at-sea tale, except for a character I was never sure whether he was intended to be a man or an orangutan. Ugh. There was also a story about a man who remembered his past lives as a Greek galley slave and Viking that was pretty good, except for a 'love of women ruins writers!' theme and some dubious use of Hindu philosophy.

Kipling was an engaging and lively writer when he would just stick to writing white English characters (not that I want anyone to do that), but mostly he didn't and he just would not rein in his racism. Not for me.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1893, Many Inventions is a collection of 14 short stories and 2 poems, previously published in magazines in the preceding few years. The book is not one of the most often reprinted, and yet most of the stories have been reprinted in other collections quite often since. The stories themselves are a bit of a scattergun selection, and include some of the soldiers series as well as one featuring Mowgli. Very enjoyable.

[Juan Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few stories are beautifully written. When the author uses phonetic spelling to write accented language it is like walking on swamp.