Kim

Kipling, Rudyard, 1865-1936Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.6

Word count: 582K words
Chapters: 59

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Kim by Rudyard KiplingAuthor: Kipling, Rudyard, 1865-1936,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Mar 11, 2011

Editor's review

Kim is Kipling's representative novel, set in India, telling the dual journey of the orphan Kim and a Tibetan lama traveling together while becoming entangled in British-Indian intelligence activities. The novel interweaves a coming-of-age narrative, a religious quest, and the political undercurrents of the late imperial era; its scenery is vividly drawn and its dialogue rich in local color, allowing readers to see both how a boy gropes for identity in a multicultural environment and the author's complex observations of colonial Indian society. The book contains many dialects and historical allusions, which may make it feel heavy at first, but precisely for this reason it rewards slow reading and note-taking, ideally alongside maps and background materials. The public-domain e-book makes it easy to search names and places, and is well suited to literature courses and book-club selections.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers who enjoy coming-of-age novels and exotic travel narratives
Students and scholars of English literature and colonial-era Indian writing
Patient readers who can accept extensive dialect and historical background
Organizers of book clubs seeking classic long novels to read

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast-paced plots and dislike handling extensive background description
Those who are resistant to colonial-era contexts and dialectal expression
Young readers hoping for a simple, light adventure story

Reading tips

Read one chapter first as a trial; if the dialect proves difficult, continue with an annotated edition or introductory guide.
Prepare a map of India and mark locations along Kim's route to help understand the spatial shifts.
Pay attention to the alternating development of the lama and Kim threads, and revisit key chapters after finishing.
Book clubs can discuss three themes: growth, faith, and imperial politics.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for middle school students?

It can serve as extended reading, but the book contains much dialect, historical allusion, and colonial context, so independent reading may be difficult for middle schoolers. It is advisable to read selected portions under a teacher's or parent's guidance with background explanation, or to start with a simplified retelling before approaching the original.

Do I need to know Indian history before reading?

Systematic study is not necessary, but understanding the basic structure of British India and its ethnic and religious diversity will significantly reduce obstacles. You might first read a concise historical overview, or use the translation's notes to learn about names, places, and institutional background.

Why does the dialogue in the book read awkwardly?

The novel deliberately preserves characters' accents, dialects, and mixed-language expressions to present a multicultural environment. This technique enhances local color but also increases reading difficulty. It is best to slow down and grasp the general meaning of dialogue rather than scrutinizing every word.

Comments

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About the author

Kipling, Rudyard, 1865-1936 Author

Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) was a British writer, and this library holds sixty-five of his works. Publicly available material on his life is limited, so the following introduction focuses on his writings. He is known chiefly for fiction and fairy tales, often dealing with animals, the jungle, exotic adventure and youthful growth. His language is vivid, his narrative pace brisk, and his stories combine imagination with moral meaning. The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book, set in the Indian jungle, tell of the boy Mowgli among the animals and have been widely read; Just So Stories explains in a light manner how animals came by their features; Kim portrays growth and the search for identity in an Indian setting; Puck of Pook's Hill draws on history and legend to tell of England's past; and The Man Who Would Be King displays adventure and ambition. His works are often classed as inspirational coming-of-age reading and have had a lasting influence on children's literature and English-language readers.