Rudyard Kipling

Aclassiccollection of fantastic tales from the author of The Jungle Books, in honor ofhis 150th birthday. Cats and kangaroos, crabs and camels, whales and jaguars, hedgehogs and leopards, magicians and little children, and many other beings are brought to life in an exotic Eastern landscape during the High and Far-Off Times. Drawn from the wondrous tales told to Kipling as a child by his Indian nurses, Just So Stories creates the magical enchantment of the dawn of the world, when animals could talk and think like people. The laziness of the Camel, the curiosity of the Elephant s Child, the cleverness of the Hedgehog, the confusion of the Painted Jaguar, and all the rest of Kipling s delightful menagerie make Just So Stories unforgettable reading for generations to come. With Illustrations by the Author With an Introduction by Avi and an Afterword by Shashi Deshpande"

The story is set against the backdrop of The Great Game, the political conflict between Russia and Britain in Central Asia. It is set after the Second Afghan War which ended in 1881, but before the Third, perhaps in the 1890s. The novel is notable for its detailed portrait of Indian people, culture, and its varied religions. It is generally considered by critics to be Kipling's best serious long novel. Kim (Kimball O'Hara) is the orphaned son of an Irish soldier. He earns his living by begging and running small errands on the streets of Lahore. He occasionally works for his friend, Mahbub Ali, a horse trader who is one of the native operatives of the British secret service. One day, he befriends an aged Tibetan Lama who is on a quest to free himself from the Wheel of Things by finding the legendary 'River of the Arrow'. Kim becomes his chela, or disciple, and accompanies him on his journey. On the way, Kim incidentally learns about parts of the Great Game and is recruited by the British to carry a message to the British commander in Umballa. Kim's trip with the Lama along the Grand Trunk Road is the first great adventure in the novel.

Boken är en äventyrs- och coming-of-age-roman. Den berättar historien om Harvey Cheyne, en välbärgad och bortskämd amerikansk tonåring som, efter att ha fallit från en lyxig oceanångare, plockas upp av en fiskebåt. I över tre månader måste han lyda och arbeta tillsammans med erfarna sjömän och en pojke i hans ålder. Denna upplevelse kommer att förvandla honom helt. Fantastiska händelser, otaliga faror, personliga utmaningar och en livslång vänskap väntar honom till havs.

Unlike his contemporaries Virginia Woolf and Henry James, Kipling always denied he was a critic. But his letters, speeches, and stories are full of comments on writing and writers. This collection, including many formerly unpublished private letters and papers, details Kipling's response to the commercialisation of literature and the emerging role of the writer as celebrity in the turbulent literary world of the 1890s and beyond. They reveal a mind intensely concerned with questions of literary value, with language and imagination, with truth, realism, and romanticism. Kipling's fame made him a significant spokesperson for important segments of the reading public - the soldiers, engineers, and functionaries central to Britain's imperial expansion. He profoundly influenced English literary language and our perception of English national character. This book offers access to the private and public history of a writer whose continuing influence is still a matter of fierce controversy.