Kim - Softcover

Kipling, Rudyard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1548105309 ISBN 13: 9781548105303

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017

Synopsis

Rudyard Kipling’s classic tale of an orphaned boy, a lama on a powerful quest, and two imperialist nations butting heads over one magical country Set in the former Lahore, India, against the backdrop of an imperialist war between Russia and Great Britain, Kim is the coming-of-age story of Kimball O’Hara, a low-caste orphan boy roaming the streets with a “magic” talisman around his neck. The pendant contains three magic parchments sewn into a leather amulet case—papers that could whisk him away from the world he knows and trusts. One afternoon, Kim takes pity on an elderly lama who declares he is searching for wisdom and enlightenment at the River of the Arrow, and becomes the old man’s guide, savior, and friend. Together, the odd pair travels the Grand Trunk Road, dodging cutpurses and road agents until the “Little Friend of all the World” becomes a little disciple to the wise old lama. But when Kim’s father’s old regimental chaplain runs into the lama and his young chela on their travels, a big change threatens to disrupt the friends’ plans to find enlightenment and happiness on their shared quest. Widely considered to be Rudyard Kipling’s masterpiece, Kim combines sweeping adventure with a brilliant coming-of-age story. Part children’s tale, part spy thriller, part examination of the twilight of the Victorian empire, Kim is a classic page-turner.

About this title

About the Author

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English 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."

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1548105309
• ISBN 13: 9781548105303
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 180