lizpatanders

Kim is the story of an Irish boy growing up in India in the late nineteenth century and the first novel by Rudyard Kipling I have read. I actually read it for a post-colonial lit class which I am taking. (As a brief side-bar, I think when I really want to procrastinate, I may make shelves for all of the English classes I've taken at school). On the whole, I have to say that I really enjoyed the characterization and writing in Kim. I definitely think it's worth a read. However, for whatever reason, I struggled with analyzing this book. I could definitely tell that there were parts where Kipling seemed to be critiquing Westerners' view of imperialism. After writing a paper about this book, I feel that my understanding of it has increased somewhat.Kim travels about with a lama and becomes his chela (student/disciple). It's also the story of Britain's attempts to recruit Kim to become part of The Great Game, which is the struggle between Britain and Russia for control of India. For me, this is a story of two characters searching for their identities in the midst of imperial British ideologies and more spiritual ideologies. It's a story of what India means to them and what they perceive their role to be in it. Kipling's characertization is excellent. I felt like I knew his characters well by the end of the novel. They were complex and relatable. As for the writing, I enjoyed it. I think sometimes when the lama speaks it gets confusing. I would further explain this statement but I think that if you read the book you will understand what it means.I think the plot and the writing are the more challenging aspects of this book. It's very episodic, so I had to sit down and read a summary on wikipedia and go talk to my professor before I was entirely clear on what was happening. Overall, I definitely enjoyed Kipling's writing, although by the end of the novel I felt that he was portraying a very particular image of India. After further reflecting on it, this is a novel I enjoyed reading and hope to revisit. Kipling gives readers a lot to think about, and I look forward to further considering the ideas which he has presented to me.