Although somewhat drowned in Orientalist ideals and British colonialism, Kim is an exciting tale of espionage and adventure for kids of all ages 9 to 99. It is an exciting read. I just with that Kipling had been a little less bigoted towards the Empire. Nonetheless, probably the peak of his writing for children at least in terms of character and plot development and complexity.

You know those books that you know from the very first page, you’re going to love it… this wasn’t that. You know those other books that start out slow and it takes you awhile, but soon you find yourself hooked? Nope, this was not one of those either. In fact, I made it through the entire book without every really feeling invested in any way, shape or form. I persevered only because I started it a few months ago and gave it up, then restarted it, convinced I’d get through it. It’s one of Kipling’...

One of the best books I've ever read, and one that I'm sure will stick with me for a long, long time. Not to say it's always an easy book. For one, it's pretty colonial-feeling, what with its fondness for dropping the n-word on anyone browner than an Englishman, its blithe references to sneaky, inconstant "orientals," and so forth - so much so that it's distracting and jarring in a few places. As a 21st century reader, it took me some mental effort to get past that casual matter-of-fact racist l...

Even though I share the name of the hero of this novel, I've chosen not to read it until now. There's more than one reason for this. The main reason is that I'm not naturally drawn to picaresque novels or to espionage novels, even though I've read my fair share of books from both genres. I've also had an instinctively negative reaction to Kipling because of my not terribly well-informed view of him as an apologist for British imperialism. However, in the last few days I've started reading the se...

This coming of age tale had a lot of charm in many spots, but too often was a bit slow for my tastes. Kim O’Hara is a 12-year old orphan in Lahore in the 1850’s, child of an Irish soldier and Indian mother. Despite the loss of both parents he thrives well as a street urchin, always finding a way to make himself useful to community members or to engage sympathy from strangers and thus able to earn or beg his daily keep. His life opens up when he assists a Tibetan lama on a pilgrimage and joins hi...

Kim , 13, a lonely, British orphan boy, born in India, his widowed father, was in Queen Victoria's army, but he died, a hopeless, pathetic, drunk. Kim's full name is Kimball O'Hara, the poorest of the poor, who lives mostly, in the slum streets of Lahore, the Punjab (now part of Pakistan). Sometimes the child, stays with an old Indian woman, addicted to opium, naturally, he prefers the outside, begging for money, trying to stay alive and surviving, day to day... Later meeting a strange Lama, fro...

The best work of Rudyard Kipling. In it, he explored many of his childhood memories of India, and it is generally considered to be his most successful full-length novel.

“We'd go down to the river And into the river we'd dive Oh down to the river we'd ride”That’s Bruce Springsteen, not Rudyard Kipling. All the mentions of The River just reminds me of this song.So Kim is all about the adventures of a young Irish boy, Kimball O'Hara, in British colonial India. Kim starts off as a Tom Sawyer-ish, or Bart Simpson-esq, little scamp. One day he encounters an elderly Tibetan Lama and volunteers to become his disciple in order to go adventuring on the monk’s pilgrimage

ETA: Ooops, I misspelled lama, using instead the spelling for the fuzzy animal sort, which IS spelled llama! ;0) Thanks Kim for telling me!You CAN listen to a Librivox audiobook in the car. I have now discovered that you should click on the download buttons found next to each chapter visible in the Librivox app. You must click on all of them. If you don't click on each chapter's download button, you need wifi to listen when using the app. In the car you also must use an AUX jack. Leslie and Greg...

“There is no sin so great as ignorance. Remember this.” ― Rudyard Kipling, Kim This is one of those novels that I read and instantly regreted not reading earlier when I was a boy. I was able, however, to experience reading this with my two kids (one boy 12; one girl 11). It was perfect. I wandered into it expecting a well-written, more-or-less Empire-centric, Colonial novel. It was way more than that. I get the whole Postcolonial Lit thing, but I'm not ready to abandon Kim to this debate or even...

While it is one of the most beautiful tales of friendship I have ever read, Kim is much more. Rudyard Kipling created in Kim a novel in the mold of the classic heroic journey that has a pedigree reaching back to Gilgamesh and the Odyssey. With Kim, a young white boy, sahib, at it's center and his friend and mentor the Lama, we see the world of India in the nineteenth century as it is ruled by Great Britain. The story unfolds against the backdrop of The Great Game, the political conflict between

Kipling knows a lot about India - but all that knowledge seems to be surface level only. The lama in the book for example shows outward ways of a lama but never any substantial knowledge of his own religion.Kim's character is probably very powerful statement against racism. The very fist sentence of the book showing him to be speaking Indian language, having skin shade of Indians and even religious faith of Indians; and yet claiming he is a white Irish points out absurdity of his race. You might...

Kim is my first adult reading of a Rudyard Kipling book. And I don't know how exactly I feel about this book; I feel a little muddled. I don't attempt to write an analytical review here, for I quite don't know what the story is all about. I'm sure there was a story, but whatever it was, it didn't grab my attention. But somehow I kept going and that is what is incredible. The book is a mixed bag. In a short space the book talks of the diverse cultures, religions, politics, social attitudes unde

Single Quote Review: It was all there in Kipling, barring the epilogue of the Indian inheritance. A journey to India was not really necessary. No writer was more honest or accurate; no writer was more revealing of himself and his society. He has left us Anglo-India; to people these relics of the Raj we have only to read him. We find a people conscious of their roles, conscious of their power and separateness, yet at the same time fearful of expressing their delight at their situation: they are...

Rudyard Kipling's Kim can be said to offer a great variety of interpretations to many different readers. I view Kim as picaresque, somewhat reminiscent of Huckleberry Finn, a novel about a quest, a journey and above all, a search for identity on the part of young Kimball O'Hara, a waif & son of an absent, alcoholic Anglo-Irish Color Guard father & a mother who has died. He becomes a kind of chameleon, with almost everyone he encounters desiring something different from the boy & attempting to us...

As I said of another classic adventure story of The Great Game, the East is a fantasy. This is not only true for writers like Mundy, who experienced it as an outsider, or Howard, who experienced it only through books--it's also true for those who, like Kipling, were born and raised there.Indeed, many of our most cherished fantasies tend to relate to the place we were born--when we find ourselves defending it, or singing its praises. It's not that the details we give aren't true, it's that we hav...

I read this book in memory of my Dad and my Grandad who loved Rudyard Kipling's way with words. I chose this edition narrated by Sam Dastor as I love the way he uses his voice to bring the story to life. There was much to love from the exploration of the culture of India, the characters, particularly the free spirited Kim and his deep and abiding friendship with the Lama.

Kim served as inspiration for my novel "The Game", the seventh entry in the Mary Russell series. Feel free to come and join in the discussion, even if you come across this after December has passed--the discussion will remain open indefinitely for new thoughts and comments. Click for more information about the Virtual Book ClubOh, this is such a wonderful book. Coming-of-age tale and historical treatise; spy thriller and travel narrative; rousing adventure coupled with a sleek and subtle tal...

It’s been a long time since I’ve graduated law school, a longer time for college, and a million years (give or take a year) since high school. That means it’s been a long time since I’ve been forced to read a particular book. I’ve always loved to read. And I’ve always hated assigned reading. I’ve despised books I’d otherwise enjoy simply because I’m told to read it on a deadline and feel a particular intellectual response. So, ever since my last diploma, I’ve been reading whatever I want. If you...

Kim is Kipling's love letter to India. Written just as he was leaving, Kim unveils all the wonders of the Subcontinent: the colours, the smells, the people, the languages, the different religions. A more colourful Babylon. It's not entirely kosher, of course. Much has been written on Kipling's racism, and no doubt there are racist elements in this book. In many ways, this colourful, beautiful India likely only exists as a white man's fantasy. The images are tinged by Kipling's own imagination. T...