What do you think?
Rate this book
Selected Works Of Rudyard Kipling: Mine Own People
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
- GenresShort Stories
514 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1915
2 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
Rudyard Kipling
6,988 books3,628 followersJoseph 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."
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."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 21, 2017
Kipling at his absolute best.
This collection is also worthy for a lengthy introduction from Henry James, full of his usual mixture of insight and wishy-washyness. Amongst the flannel he helpfully splits Kipling's Indian stories into three types, a grouping I will follow.
1. Tales of native life:
'Namgay Doola' sees Kipling, renowned for patronising the native Indians in many of his stories set in the Jewel of the Empire, manage to also patronise the Irish nation in the figure of the eponymous mixed race, red-headed Himalayan village maverick. Very funny it is too.
'The Recrudescence of Imray' is a grim little tale of native superstition, disappearance, murder and suicide told with a chilling lightness of touch.
'Moti Guj - Mutineer' tells of what happens when an elephant's master leaves him alone on a plantation for a time.
2. Tales of administrative and military types:
'Bimi' is a German naturalist's tale of a pet orangutan with 'too much Ego in his Cosmos.' If that doesn't sound intriguing, what does?
'At the End of the Passage' is what happens when the colonial toiler gets 'a touch of the sun' with the lonliness and the strain. This is one of those early Kipling stories which leave you wondering how someone so young could have written something so wise and jaded.
'A Conference of the Powers' a literary author hears a story from a young soldier who admired his famous novel. There's a curious mixture of respect and contempt for author from Kipling the narrator. I'm presuming there was a real-life model.
3. Tales of the common soldier:
'The Incarnation of Krishna Mulvaney' is an unholy (literally!) shaggy dog story involving - guess what? - an Irish soldier in his 'dhrink'. Also prevalent is an ornate Hindu palanquin. This is the first of three stories featuring Mulvaney and his two cronies, Leoroyd and Ortheris.
'The Courting of Dinah Shadd' is another story from the colourful life of Mulvaney, this time about how he got married and received 'the Black Curse of Shielygh upon him' at the same time.
'On Greenhow Hill' is Learoyd's story of why he joined the army. I actually preferred it to the first story about these three, which was James's favourite.
'The Mutiny of the Mavericks' again suggests that the Irish love above all else a little 'dhrink' as a well-funded conspirator discovered when he tried to stir them into rebellion against the Empire in Afghanistan.
'The Man Who Was' tells of a roving Russian, a lost sheep of the White Hussars, and their legendary brandy, the memory of which 'would cause men to weep as they lay dying in the teak forests of upper Burma or the slime of the Irrawaddy.' If based on a true story it deserves to be made into a movie.
I hadn't really appreciated just how good Kipling was until I came across this collection.
This collection is also worthy for a lengthy introduction from Henry James, full of his usual mixture of insight and wishy-washyness. Amongst the flannel he helpfully splits Kipling's Indian stories into three types, a grouping I will follow.
1. Tales of native life:
'Namgay Doola' sees Kipling, renowned for patronising the native Indians in many of his stories set in the Jewel of the Empire, manage to also patronise the Irish nation in the figure of the eponymous mixed race, red-headed Himalayan village maverick. Very funny it is too.
'The Recrudescence of Imray' is a grim little tale of native superstition, disappearance, murder and suicide told with a chilling lightness of touch.
'Moti Guj - Mutineer' tells of what happens when an elephant's master leaves him alone on a plantation for a time.
2. Tales of administrative and military types:
'Bimi' is a German naturalist's tale of a pet orangutan with 'too much Ego in his Cosmos.' If that doesn't sound intriguing, what does?
'At the End of the Passage' is what happens when the colonial toiler gets 'a touch of the sun' with the lonliness and the strain. This is one of those early Kipling stories which leave you wondering how someone so young could have written something so wise and jaded.
'A Conference of the Powers' a literary author hears a story from a young soldier who admired his famous novel. There's a curious mixture of respect and contempt for author from Kipling the narrator. I'm presuming there was a real-life model.
3. Tales of the common soldier:
'The Incarnation of Krishna Mulvaney' is an unholy (literally!) shaggy dog story involving - guess what? - an Irish soldier in his 'dhrink'. Also prevalent is an ornate Hindu palanquin. This is the first of three stories featuring Mulvaney and his two cronies, Leoroyd and Ortheris.
'The Courting of Dinah Shadd' is another story from the colourful life of Mulvaney, this time about how he got married and received 'the Black Curse of Shielygh upon him' at the same time.
'On Greenhow Hill' is Learoyd's story of why he joined the army. I actually preferred it to the first story about these three, which was James's favourite.
'The Mutiny of the Mavericks' again suggests that the Irish love above all else a little 'dhrink' as a well-funded conspirator discovered when he tried to stir them into rebellion against the Empire in Afghanistan.
'The Man Who Was' tells of a roving Russian, a lost sheep of the White Hussars, and their legendary brandy, the memory of which 'would cause men to weep as they lay dying in the teak forests of upper Burma or the slime of the Irrawaddy.' If based on a true story it deserves to be made into a movie.
I hadn't really appreciated just how good Kipling was until I came across this collection.
August 25, 2018
Kipling is of his time, this must not be forgotten, it's unfortunate that I feel I must say this as the current climate for such classics is tenuous. Each tale has its special cadence that is from a time and place that is exotic in one sense, but yet, not, people are people, no matter where they are, it's the human condition, inter-racial love, soldier's on the verge of mutiny, kings, laborers, life and death. I have loved Kiplings work since I was a little girl when we read "Rikki-Tikki Tavi" and "The Elephant's Child" and of course, "The Jungle Book" (I grew up with the Disney film, but read the book later, and loved it more.) My copy is an old one, a beautiful white and blue cloth cover with stamped gold leaf filigree and letters, it's quite beautiful as an object, in pristine condition for its age, inscribed in faded black ink on the inside with a previous owners name and dated 1901. It caught my eye at my favorite antique shop, the Antique Pavilion in Bouckeville, NY, and I am happy add it to my collection of vintage books.
January 23, 2011
I've concluded I really don't like Kipling very much. He's definitely a product of his time and place -- a British man with all the worst prejudices of upper-class British of that time against the Indians of the continent they conquered, as well as against Russians and even against the members of the lower class of their own society. Those prejudices are such a part of these stories that they almost obscure Kipling's gift for storytelling and his sometimes subtle sense of humor.
The only reason I can see to read these particular stories is for the picture they paint of Colonial India at the time they describe. That includes the self-indulgence of the British officers, the near-slave-like treatment of the Indians who served them or worked with them, and, once in a rare while, the beauty of the countryside. When Kipling uses native Indians in the stories, it's impossible to tell whether they've been painted accurately or as exaggerated stereotypes. And, while there were a few stories that were genuinely amusing (e.g., about Moti Guj, an elephant who refused to work when his mahout was away), there were others in which I simply didn't understand the point at all.
The only other works of Kipling's I'll even consider reading might be the rest of his children's stories. If he'd stuck to writing about animals rather than about people, I might have respected him more as a writer.
The only reason I can see to read these particular stories is for the picture they paint of Colonial India at the time they describe. That includes the self-indulgence of the British officers, the near-slave-like treatment of the Indians who served them or worked with them, and, once in a rare while, the beauty of the countryside. When Kipling uses native Indians in the stories, it's impossible to tell whether they've been painted accurately or as exaggerated stereotypes. And, while there were a few stories that were genuinely amusing (e.g., about Moti Guj, an elephant who refused to work when his mahout was away), there were others in which I simply didn't understand the point at all.
The only other works of Kipling's I'll even consider reading might be the rest of his children's stories. If he'd stuck to writing about animals rather than about people, I might have respected him more as a writer.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews