Soldier Stories

Kipling, Rudyard, 1865-1936Project Gutenberg · United StatesMar 2023

4.0

Word count: 264K words
Chapters: 27

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.Soldier Stories by Rudyard KiplingAuthor: Kipling, Rudyard, 1865-1936,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Apr 8, 2009

Editor's review

Soldier Stories is a collection of short stories by Kipling on the subject of soldiers' lives, a free public-domain ebook from Project Gutenberg. Kipling long concerned himself with the daily lives, speech, and fortunes of ordinary soldiers; such stories often present the humor, absurdity, and cruelty of barracks life through concise, forceful narration, and are of reference value for understanding late-nineteenth-century British military fiction. This is the original English edition, its language bearing period features and soldiers' colloquial speech, which poses some challenge for non-native readers but also preserves a distinctive narrative flavor. As a public-domain ebook, it lacks modern editorial annotations, so readers must grasp the historical background themselves. It is suitable as selective short-story reading, one or two pieces at a time, to savor the narrative rhythm and characters' voices rather than pursuing continuous reading of a complete plot. Readers already interested in Kipling can use it to broaden their knowledge of his short fiction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English-language readers interested in Kipling's short stories
Enthusiasts and researchers of British military-themed literature
Intermediate and advanced learners who want to practice English reading through short stories
Readers who enjoy late-nineteenth- to early-twentieth-century English narrative

Not a good fit for

Beginners with weak English who need Chinese assistance
Readers who prefer the structure of a complete novel
Readers who need modern annotations explaining historical background

Reading tips

Read piece by piece, pausing after each to review the characters' voices and narrative perspective.
When encountering soldiers' slang and period expressions, first guess from context, then look them up together.
Read alongside background material on British colonial-era military history to understand the stories' context.
Compare with Kipling's other short-story collections to observe changes in his handling of soldiers' themes.

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 there a Chinese translation of this book?

According to the information, the language of this book is English; it is an English public-domain ebook released by Project Gutenberg, not a bilingual or Chinese translation. Chinese readers will need English reading ability or must find a reference translation themselves.

Is there a continuous plot linking the stories?

The information does not state any connection between the pieces; typically such collections of soldiers' stories consist of independent stories. It is best to treat it as a short-story collection to read selectively, without expecting a main plot running through the whole book.

What background is needed for reading?

Kipling's stories often involve late-nineteenth-century British army life and colonial contexts; readers may first learn about the military system and soldiers' social circumstances of the time, which helps in understanding the colloquial speech, rank relations, and irony in the stories.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

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.