Lispeth

by Rudyard Kipling

Joseph Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936 was an English short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He wrote tales and poems of British soldiers in India and stories for children. He was born in Bombay, in the Bombay Presidency of British India, and was taken by his family to England when he was five years old. Kipling's works of fiction include The Jungle Book (a collection of stories which includes "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi"), the Just So Stories (1902), 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 enduring 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 England, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Henry James "Kipling strikes me personally as the most complete man of genius (as distinct from fine intelligence) that I have ever known." In 1907, 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. Among other honours, he was sounded out for the British Poet Laureateship and on several occasions for a knighthood, all of which he declined. Kipling's subsequent reputation has changed according to the political and social climate of the age and the resulting contrasting views about him continued for much of the 20th century. George Orwell called him a "prophet of British imperialism". Literary critic Douglas Kerr "He [Kipling] is still an author who can inspire passionate disagreement and his place in literary and cultural history is far from settled. But as the age of the European empires recedes, he is recognised as an incomparable, if controversial, interpreter of how empire was experienced. That, and an increasing recognition of his extraordinary narrative gifts, make him a force to be reckoned with.

Genres: Short Stories

24 pages, Paperback

First published November 29, 1888

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

[John Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve tended to steer clear of Kipling but read this short story on kindle recently. It was ok but I didn’t feel overly inspired to review it. However, the story has stuck with me and the message I tookfrom it has grown. I glanced at some of the Reviews on here and found myself markedly out of step with the bulk of them. They tended to bang on about Kipling the ‘colonialist’ writer looking down upon the natives, eg Lispeth, regarding her as little more than an aesthetically pleasing savage. I saw Kipling in a different light – his ability to look through both sets of eyes - English and Indian – and conclude that the cultures were sufficiently different that only hurt and harm could come from pretending otherwise.

Lispeth is orphaned and brought up in the household of an Anglican chaplain and his wife. She develops into a stunningly beautiful and intelligent adolescent. She determines to marry a particular young English man after she has nursed him back to health. Perhaps you can guess the rest…

[Trounin · Rating 3 out of 5]

В начале творческого пути Киплинг придавал огромное значение рассказам, тем ограничивая полёт фантазии, предпочитая рассказывать о событиях, более-менее происходившим в действительности. Редьярд глубоко погружался в атмосферу Индии, предлагая читателю заглянуть столь же далеко. В 1888 году был опубликован сборник рассказов «Незамысловатые сказания с холмов», где в качестве первого повествования представал сюжет про девушку Лиспет, воспитанную согласно христианской морали, но сохранившую склонность к нравам, присущим её племени. Впервые публикация рассказа состоялась двумя годами ранее в пенджабской «Гражданской и военной газете».

(c) Trounin

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

How lies can destroy your world.

[Paul Bradley]

I'm with Harold Bloom on this one, it's clearly dripping in sarcasm aimed at the missionaries and colonials, with the purity and honesty of the so-called 'savage' girl who learns the hard way to reject them forthright. It's a satire on what is considered 'civilised', and not pro-colonial in the slightest.

"while the denser of [Kipling's] contemporary English readers might have overlooked the irony and simply interpreted [Lispeth] as either an affirmation of their beliefs on miscegenation and the "White Man's Burden" or a quaint tragedy about true love lost, perceptive readers were forced to ask themselves just what good the missionaries brought to this girl's life and whether the same holds true for the imperialist enterprise as a whole."

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite a shockingly poor book. What stands out about this book is how bad a view Kipling has of and depicts the Indians aka ‘The Savages’ and how horribly bad the Christian Couple and British Man in this story. ‘If’ this was Kiplings aim, then, bravo. However, having read other Kipling works, it isn’t.

[Glenn Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rudyard Kipling shows his colonial attitudes in this story, as he describes a defiant "savage", and how she was deceived. The chaplains wife came across as being insincere. Perhaps that wasn't a rare thing at the time in colonial India.

[Leyre Sanmartín · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lispeth solo quería un hombre a quien amar y se encontro a un inglés cani.

[Martyna Y · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It meant nothing at all to him, and everything in the world to Lispeth.”

[Oana Mihoc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just a simple short story about faith and love. Christianity is not always the solution for everyone, as Kipling hints. Still, I've read better stories related to the theme of colonization and Christianity.

[Libra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pocahontas vibes but bleak and heartbreaking.