The Kipling Reader: Selections from the Books of Rudyard Kipling

by Rudyard Kipling

Then Rikki-tikki went out into the garden to see what was to be seen. It was a large garden- only half cultivated- with bushes as big as summer-houses of Marshal Niel roses; lime and orange trees…' (Excerpt from text)

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Short Stories

204 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1929

About the author

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was a 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."

Reviews

[Dorothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always loved reading "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" and thought I might like some of his other stories. However most of them were not to my liking. The book also had some of his poems and they were fairly interesting.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to this collection of short stories and poems on morning walks. With the exception of "Elijah," a child who contributes a bunch of poems at the end, the readers are all professional, expressive and easy to hear. The renditions of "Rikki Tikki Tavi" and the stories from the Jungle Book are particularly fine. I do wish that some of Kipling's more famous ballads had been included, but otherwise I'm very pleased by this.