Short Stories: volume 2: Friendly Brook and Other Stories

by Rudyard Kipling, Andrew Rutherford (Editor)

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

254 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

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

[Jayal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though one or two stories fall short of the mark in this collection, that's solely due to the ridiculously high standard Kipling has created for himself.
They really chose their Nobel laureates well those days 😌

[Raj · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an odd collection of Kipling's stories. There wasn't much of the Empire-drum-banging that is so often associated with Kipling; most of these stories were written after his return to England and disillusionment with the country, particularly after the Great War. The War runs through a lot of these stories, a vein of terrible sadness, Kipling's son having died in it.

With a lot of the stories I felt that I didn't get some of the context that surrounded them. They were written about a hundred years ago and a lot of what Kipling took for granted just isn't around any more. Also, I don't think that I got an awful lot out of them, since I was reading them as I would a modern story while I feel that they probably needed to be read more like literature - preferably in a group where it can be discussed and analysed, and I'm not sure I want to put that much effort into them.

[Martin Rundkvist · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories range widely from one setting to another, each with its own unexplained allusions and terminology. Yet I found most of them quite fascinating. The Kipling Society's web site offers the detailed explanatory notes that the book lacks.

One recurring theme I saw in several stories to my surprise was that Kipling has great sympathy for women who love men and bear children out of wedlock.

[Yusra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have enjoyed it more with a commentary.