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Debits And Credits
Published in 1926 Debits and Credits, a book of short stories that expands some of the material collected in writing The Irish Guards in The Great War, as well as resuming some topics of earlier Kipling stories; fables, animals, English history, and Stalky & Co's views on education. The final story, "The Gardener", has been classed with "Mary Postgate" as of particular interest to feminists and to students of English society during World War I, while its ambiguous narrative also makes it interesting to students of modernism.
314 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1926
About the author
Rudyard Kipling
7,309 books3,753 followersJoseph 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."
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."
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 27, 2012
This book is shocking. Its publication was a major error on the part of Kipling's publisher at the time, who must, for one reason or another, have felt unable to tell Kipling the truth about the book. The stories in this book are not only below the level the writer had established for himself before WWI but very, very much below that level. To the point of being embarassing. What a conflict for the publisher. This is garbage. Real garbage. The word "garbage" here is not hyperbole. Read the stories. They're available for free from Gutenberg Australia and nowhere else because of Australia's pleasantly strange copyright law that sets the cut-off date not at 1923 (as in the U.S.), but sometime later.
Of course, we know that Kipling was truly blown away by the death of his son during the war. I hadn't suspected, though, that his misery and mental disability lasted at least until 1926, which is the year in which this volume was published, though I assume that the stories were written over the prior several years. But it appears to have been so. To experience the (temporary) eclipse of a highly professional writer (that much has to be granted by anyone), this book is almost the only exemplar, the only way. I would imagine that if any other writer's product had deteriorated this much their publisher would have told them straight out that the work would not see print. Perhaps in the early twenties Kipling occupied such an exalted place in Britain that it was felt he could not be refused. So publication of this book not only illustrates a horrendous decline in capacity but also an inability on his part to notice that incapacity. It's also possible that his publishers just felt sorry for him.
He seemed to have recovered a few years later, however, when he published his next story collection, "Limits and Renewals," also available for free from Gutenberg Australia. It's not up to the standard of his classics, but it's a real step up from "Debits and Credits." There's something particularly sad about the decline of a figure like Kipling, who was a master craftsman if nothing else. I can't offhand recall other writers of his stature who lost it in this way. Or, at least, their publishers refused to publish their true trash. Thinking, thinking. Well, there's later Sinclair Lewis. Wells didn't decline, he wasn't there in the first place. Bennett, Hardy? No, not really. Can't think of any more.
Poor Kipling. An imperialist jerk, to be sure. A writer whose biggest gimmick (and sales promotion) was a degree of social and cultural superiority no one today would put up with for five minutes. Though it's of course interesting to be able to use the reading of Kipling to call up images of what would sell to the really (mentally) crass element of the British population to whom he pandered and who created and sustained his success. But it's almost impossible to actually read through all the words of "Credits and Debits." It's that bad.
Of course, we know that Kipling was truly blown away by the death of his son during the war. I hadn't suspected, though, that his misery and mental disability lasted at least until 1926, which is the year in which this volume was published, though I assume that the stories were written over the prior several years. But it appears to have been so. To experience the (temporary) eclipse of a highly professional writer (that much has to be granted by anyone), this book is almost the only exemplar, the only way. I would imagine that if any other writer's product had deteriorated this much their publisher would have told them straight out that the work would not see print. Perhaps in the early twenties Kipling occupied such an exalted place in Britain that it was felt he could not be refused. So publication of this book not only illustrates a horrendous decline in capacity but also an inability on his part to notice that incapacity. It's also possible that his publishers just felt sorry for him.
He seemed to have recovered a few years later, however, when he published his next story collection, "Limits and Renewals," also available for free from Gutenberg Australia. It's not up to the standard of his classics, but it's a real step up from "Debits and Credits." There's something particularly sad about the decline of a figure like Kipling, who was a master craftsman if nothing else. I can't offhand recall other writers of his stature who lost it in this way. Or, at least, their publishers refused to publish their true trash. Thinking, thinking. Well, there's later Sinclair Lewis. Wells didn't decline, he wasn't there in the first place. Bennett, Hardy? No, not really. Can't think of any more.
Poor Kipling. An imperialist jerk, to be sure. A writer whose biggest gimmick (and sales promotion) was a degree of social and cultural superiority no one today would put up with for five minutes. Though it's of course interesting to be able to use the reading of Kipling to call up images of what would sell to the really (mentally) crass element of the British population to whom he pandered and who created and sustained his success. But it's almost impossible to actually read through all the words of "Credits and Debits." It's that bad.
February 3, 2023
read for class—
specifically, the poem we and they. reading it after the sneetches is very interesting because they are both about the same concept, but told in very different ways.
specifically, the poem we and they. reading it after the sneetches is very interesting because they are both about the same concept, but told in very different ways.
March 4, 2025
A mixed bag. Kipling is of course a consummate storyteller, but here he sometimes gets too self-indulgent. "On the Gate" would have been an enjoyable fantasy at half the length, but it looks as though he had too many vignettes he wanted to put in and couldn't decide which to cut. His insistence on phonetic rendition of speech can get pretty wearing too. And some of the technical jargon and topical references/slang, which the journalist in Kipling loves to learn and show off and which do add believability to a story but can make it a dense read.
I'd seen the Stalky stories already. The "Faith & Works" series are fun, especially the one in which the Freemasons are nonplussed to encounter an even more recondite fraternity, the Janeites. Those stories are refreshingly free of sentimentality, which infects "The Gardner" -- but needn't have done, if he'd only left out the reference to John 20:15.
I got my copy from Project Gutenberg.
I'd seen the Stalky stories already. The "Faith & Works" series are fun, especially the one in which the Freemasons are nonplussed to encounter an even more recondite fraternity, the Janeites. Those stories are refreshingly free of sentimentality, which infects "The Gardner" -- but needn't have done, if he'd only left out the reference to John 20:15.
I got my copy from Project Gutenberg.
January 26, 2018
Really enjoyed this book Kipling has written a very good collection of short stories.
March 22, 2021
Prophetic.
September 14, 2013
uneven; some stories were memorably well-crafted and enjoyable, and some totally barking. Though admittedly well-crafted too. Not my abso fave Kipling, but still nice to read something of his I hadn't read before.
March 28, 2017
Pessimistic...except the first one.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews