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How the First Letter Was Written

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When a cave man's spear breaks while fishing, his daughter composes the world's first letter and sends it home to her mother requesting the delivery of a new spear

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

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About the author

Rudyard Kipling

7,207 books3,729 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 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 - 2 of 2 reviews
Profile Image for James.
1,823 reviews19 followers
April 5, 2018
Within itself a very funny and good read, however, what let it down was comments like “in the future the alphabet will have 26 letters” if the people in the story knew that, why not create it instead of saying what will happen?
Profile Image for Marta Skoober.
188 reviews19 followers
November 23, 2021
Que me lembre minha única experiência com os escritos Rudyard Kipling foi a com a história de Mogli, adaptada pela Disney, mas são memórias da infância, se li algo mais do autor não me recordo agora.

Essa foi uma leitura rápida e prazerosa, gostei bastante da narrativa e achei a história bem engenhosa, apesar de partir de a premissa bastante simples e corriqueira.
O conto de Kipling em uma palavra: ENTENDIMENTO.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews

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