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Kipling's Kingdom: Twenty-Five of Rudyard Kipling's Best Indian Stories-Known and Unknown
Book by Kipling, Rudyard, Allen, Charles
- GenresFiction
288 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1987
About the author
Rudyard Kipling
7,500 books3,811 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 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 15, 2012
A beautiful hardback book, covering a wide selection of Kipling's stories dealing with all aspects of Indian life. Gorgeous period art, which is also all noted at the back with title, Artist and source of the art. If you ever come across this volume, definitely grab it.
September 20, 2020
A collection of Kipling's Indian stories that give the reader an idea of what life was like during the British Raj. I enjoyed the animal stories the most.
May 19, 2019
11/26. In the epilogue, Kipling asks: ”Could a Swede from the Baltic write of Algiers?” Can an Englishman write about India? Well, of course, from his own point of view. But it’s always the outsider looking in, not always understanding what he’s seeing.
There’s a lot to be said about Orientalism and ”the other”. But I suppose Said’s already said it all.
The Indians are ”like children” (uncivilized, superstitious, violent) while the English are ”paternal” (rational, dignified) in Kipling’s stories.
”It takes a great deal of Christianity to wipe out uncivilised Eastern instincts, such as falling in love at first sight.”
”Being a savage by birth, she took no trouble to hide her feelings, and the Englishman was amused.”
”She is but a child, you know, and, I fear, at heart a heathen.”
”Lispeth was always at heart an infidel.”
”A man should, whatever happens, keep to his own caste, race, and breed. Let the White go to the White and the Black to the Black.”
”Much of what is written about Oriental passion and impulsiveness is exaggerated and compiled at second-hand, but a little of it is true: and when an Englishman finds that little, it is quite as startling as any passion in his own proper life.”
No one opposing prostitution ”is a distinct proof of the inability of the East to manage its own affairs.”
”He was a young Muhammadan who was suffering acutely from education of the English variety and knew it.”
India ”will never stand alone, but the idea is a pretty one ... If an advance be made all credit is given to the native ... If a failure occurs the Englishmen step forward to take the blame. Overmuch tenderness of this kind has bred a strong belief among many natives that the native is capable administering the country, and many devout Englishmen believe this also.”
”The Captain was not a nice man. He called all natives ’niggers,’ which, besides being extreme bad form, shows gross ignorance.”
As a child, I enjoyed The Jungle Book, but I don’t have any warmer feelings towards these stories.
There’s a lot to be said about Orientalism and ”the other”. But I suppose Said’s already said it all.
The Indians are ”like children” (uncivilized, superstitious, violent) while the English are ”paternal” (rational, dignified) in Kipling’s stories.
”It takes a great deal of Christianity to wipe out uncivilised Eastern instincts, such as falling in love at first sight.”
”Being a savage by birth, she took no trouble to hide her feelings, and the Englishman was amused.”
”She is but a child, you know, and, I fear, at heart a heathen.”
”Lispeth was always at heart an infidel.”
”A man should, whatever happens, keep to his own caste, race, and breed. Let the White go to the White and the Black to the Black.”
”Much of what is written about Oriental passion and impulsiveness is exaggerated and compiled at second-hand, but a little of it is true: and when an Englishman finds that little, it is quite as startling as any passion in his own proper life.”
No one opposing prostitution ”is a distinct proof of the inability of the East to manage its own affairs.”
”He was a young Muhammadan who was suffering acutely from education of the English variety and knew it.”
India ”will never stand alone, but the idea is a pretty one ... If an advance be made all credit is given to the native ... If a failure occurs the Englishmen step forward to take the blame. Overmuch tenderness of this kind has bred a strong belief among many natives that the native is capable administering the country, and many devout Englishmen believe this also.”
”The Captain was not a nice man. He called all natives ’niggers,’ which, besides being extreme bad form, shows gross ignorance.”
As a child, I enjoyed The Jungle Book, but I don’t have any warmer feelings towards these stories.
April 19, 2015
Kipling's Kingdom draws on the best of Rudyard Kipling's many Indian stories, published and unpublished, to present a portrait of the British Raj in its imperial heyday. Here is the British experience in India shown in all its diversity; in settings as varied as the plains jungles and the romantic Simla hills; in situations as grimly comical as that of A Wayside Comedy or as starkly tragic as that of Thrown away.
Editor Charles Allen, whose great grandfather brought the 16-year-old Kipling out to Lahore to work on The Civil and Military Gazette - and himself born in India - introduces the selection with an account of Kipling's life and his extraordinary writing career. He groups the stories in eight sections, each related to a different aspect of Anglo-Indian life, mirroring the young Kipling's own development and tracing this growing involvement with India.
Beginning with the childhood paradise recalled in The Potted Princess, and ending with the nightmare vision of death in The City of Dreadful Night, the stories show how far this young man of genius - often condemned as a racist and imperialist - was prepared to go in breading the taboos of race, sex and class.
Beautifully illustrated with contemporary paintings, engravings and drawings, the collection conveys the extraordinary range of Kipling's imagination and the diversity and richness of his kingdom -- from front flap of the book.
Editor Charles Allen, whose great grandfather brought the 16-year-old Kipling out to Lahore to work on The Civil and Military Gazette - and himself born in India - introduces the selection with an account of Kipling's life and his extraordinary writing career. He groups the stories in eight sections, each related to a different aspect of Anglo-Indian life, mirroring the young Kipling's own development and tracing this growing involvement with India.
Beginning with the childhood paradise recalled in The Potted Princess, and ending with the nightmare vision of death in The City of Dreadful Night, the stories show how far this young man of genius - often condemned as a racist and imperialist - was prepared to go in breading the taboos of race, sex and class.
Beautifully illustrated with contemporary paintings, engravings and drawings, the collection conveys the extraordinary range of Kipling's imagination and the diversity and richness of his kingdom -- from front flap of the book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews