Kim (Penguin Classics)
3 journalers for this copy...
Description: Reared in the teeming streets of India at the turn of the century, the orphan Kim is the 'Friend of all the world', an imp with an endless interest in the extraordinary characters he meets daily. One of them, an old Tibetan lama, sets him on the path that will lead him to travel the Great Trunk Road, and become a spy for the British.
It took me a little bit to get into this book. I did enjoy parts of it but just when I started to really get into it, it got slow again.
Another 1001 book off the list!
Another 1001 book off the list!
Off to ChiBoiler...
Journal Entry 5 by ChiBoiler at Potbelly's Sandwich Works - Davis St in Evanston, Illinois USA on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Released 12 yrs ago (9/28/2011 UTC) at Potbelly's Sandwich Works - Davis St in Evanston, Illinois USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Releasing at the Evanston Bookcrossing meetup
Went to Potbelly's for lunch the other day and grabbed this off the shelf. Thanks, ChiBoiler!
What a strange book--part boy's adventure, part spiritual quest, part travelogue, part sociological study, told through a colonial author's prejudiced viewpoint, but with an appreciation for the land and culture.
This is Kipling's turn-of-the century British-colonial India, about 50 years prior to being split into Pakistan and India. I was pleasantly surprised how he had characters from a myriad of different castes, religions, and ethnic groups, giving a more distinguished depiction of the cultures than I'd expected. The character of Kim himself struggles with his ethnic/cultural/self identity, having been born of an Irish soldier and a white maid who both died, leaving him to grow up an orphan on the streets of Lahore and absorbing the culture to the extent that everyone thinks the charismatic little urchin is a Hindu native. His heritage is discovered by his father's old regiment, who impel him to be educated among the "sahibs," yet he is not truly one of them either.
But as enlightened as Kipling was, his colonialist attitudes frequent the narrative, too. One of the understood premises of the book is that "British rule is good," which makes a modern reader cringe. If you can work around this--and get acclimated to the narrative style--I'd say "Kim" is worth a read.
This is Kipling's turn-of-the century British-colonial India, about 50 years prior to being split into Pakistan and India. I was pleasantly surprised how he had characters from a myriad of different castes, religions, and ethnic groups, giving a more distinguished depiction of the cultures than I'd expected. The character of Kim himself struggles with his ethnic/cultural/self identity, having been born of an Irish soldier and a white maid who both died, leaving him to grow up an orphan on the streets of Lahore and absorbing the culture to the extent that everyone thinks the charismatic little urchin is a Hindu native. His heritage is discovered by his father's old regiment, who impel him to be educated among the "sahibs," yet he is not truly one of them either.
But as enlightened as Kipling was, his colonialist attitudes frequent the narrative, too. One of the understood premises of the book is that "British rule is good," which makes a modern reader cringe. If you can work around this--and get acclimated to the narrative style--I'd say "Kim" is worth a read.
Journal Entry 8 by gingergrant at Potbelly's Sandwich Works - Davis St in Evanston, Illinois USA on Monday, June 4, 2012
Released 11 yrs ago (6/4/2012 UTC) at Potbelly's Sandwich Works - Davis St in Evanston, Illinois USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Putting it on the bookshelf with the other BC books there.