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One of the particular pleasures of readingKimis the full range of emotion, knowledge, and experience that Rudyard Kipling gives his complex hero. Kim O'Hara, the orphaned son of an Irish soldier stationed in India, is neither innocent nor victimized. Raised by an opium-addicted half-caste woman since his equally dissolute father's death, the boy has grown up in the streets of Lahore:
Though he was burned black as any native; though he spoke the vernacular by preference, and his mother-tongue in a clipped uncertain sing-song; though he consorted on terms of perfect equality with the small boys of the bazar; Kim was white--a poor white of the very poorest.
From his father and the woman who raised him, Kim has come to believe that a great destiny awaits him. The details, however, are a bit fuzzy, consisting as they do of the woman's addled prophecies of "'a great Red Bull on a green field, and the Colonel riding on his tall horse, yes, and'--dropping into English--'nine hundred devils.'"
In the meantime, Kim amuses himself with intrigues, executing "commissions by night on the crowded housetops for sleek and shiny young men of fashion." His peculiar heritage as a white child gone native, combined with his "love of the game for its own sake," makes him uniquely suited for a bigger game. And when, at last, the long-awaited colonel comes along, Kim is recruited as a spy in Britain's struggle to maintain its colonial grip on India. Kipling was, first and foremost, a man of his time; born and raised in India in the 19th century, he was a fervid supporter of the Raj. Nevertheless, his portrait of India and its people is remarkably sympathetic. Yes, there is the stereotypical Westernized Indian Babu Huree Chander with his atrocious English, but there is also Kim's friend and mentor, the Afghani horse trader Mahub Ali, and the gentle Tibetan lama with whom Kim travels along the Grand Trunk Road. The humanity of his characters consistently belies Kipling's private prejudices, and raisesKimabove the mere ripping good yarn to the level of a timeless classic.--Alix Wilber
It's too hard Unless you enjoy working hard at reading novels, I don't recommend this book. Before you start take a look at the 411 notes in the back that you will have to study (unless you know already know) to get something out of this work.
Kim A difficult book for me to read but worth the effort. At times very complicated and difficult to follow but beautifully written. Great insight into the culture and beautiful landscapes of India.The Great Game's Donnie Brasco The United States needs a modern-day Kimball O'Hara or two if it is ever to be successful in thwarting future large-scale terror attacks. The likelihood of that happening is few-and-far-between.
This Rudyard Kipling classic has recently found its way on to US military officer reading lists, and this review will approach the novel from that perspective. As cultural understanding and sensitivity crawls its way up the priority list for military personnel serving abroad, there are few better or more enjoyable ways to appreciate the issue than reading "Kim."
The main character is a British orphan about thirteen years of age when the story begins who has been raised on the streets of Lahore in present-day Pakistan. He speaks fluent Hindi, understands various dialects and, perhaps most important of all, intimately understands the kaleidoscopic whirl of religions and cultures that travel and trade along the northwest border of British India. He takes to the road as a disciple or "chela" of a wandering Tibetan priest in search of a mythical holy river with healing powers. Along the way, he has a chance encounter with his deceased father's old army regiment and his identity is revealed. The army sends him to a prestigious English language Catholic school in the south, but his potential value is quickly gleaned by a member of the British secret service, which is engaged in a cloak-and-dagger contest with the Russians as their two spreading empires converged along the Hindu Kush in the last decades of the 19th century.
There are a number of ways to analyze or appreciate Kipling's writing and the complex narrative he creates. One is historical. The author grew up in India and sets the story on a timeline that would have exactly equated with his own youth in the British colony. The sights, sounds, phrases, references, and personalities in "Kim" are entirely authentic. The volume I read included footnotes that explained the arcane expressions and places. Without this helpful aid much of the story would have been lost (to me at least), so it is worth checking to see if the volume you are buying has notes or a glossary.
Another angle on the story is what is says about modern human intelligence operations. The leading British intelligent agent in the novel, Colonel Creighton, recognizes that Kim has language, culture skills, and local street smarts that simply cannot be taught in any academy. He is lucky that Kim begrudgingly accepts his "obligation" as a Sahib (white man) and agrees to help Britain in its game of wits with the Russians - and it happens to offer him the freedom and adventure he desperately craves.
So, whether one is interested in 19th century India and Pakistan or simply enjoys a good spy novel, "Kim" is as fine a book as can be recommended.
