Kim

Rudyard Kipling, 1901 Date Read: 12/11/22

I had actually been putting off reading this novel because Kipling is racist as hell (122 years later) and I don't like it. However, in my in-between reading, I read a history of the Freemasons (The Craft by John Dickie - fascinating, btw) and there was an entire chapter on Kipling and his life. Apparently, he was a Mason. Masonry is mentioned in Kim, as well.

Anyway, that put it into my head and I decided to just get it over with. I'm so glad I did! Despite having some period appropriate racism, and yeah, it sucks to read, overall this is a loving portrait of British-India written by an Anglo-Indian who loved his home country.

Kipling was not only born in India, but Hindi was his first language. Kim was written in Vermont, of all places, where he lived after marriage, and I feel like his longing for his home really comes through in this novel (especially when Kim is complaining about cold and snow!)

The story is fantastic and he really shows the mish-mash of religions and customs that described normal life at this time in this place. It is really cool to see how an Irish boy, raised in India with basically no beliefs, can espouse everything from Tibetan Buddhism to Islam to Hindu to "I just want to get out of here so I'll say whatever you want" Christian.

The worst of the racism is white against native Indian, as one could expect, and shows that Kipling was not only well aware of how badly many British treated Indians, but did not approve of nor endorse it. The N-word is used a few times (and I only learnt recently that it had been used against subcontinental Indians in addition to Africans and basically everyone else. I guess bigotry doesn't need to follow logic?) There is religious intolerance on all sides as one can only expect.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel a lot more than I thought I would and I wish it was longer. My enjoyment was enhanced by the main focus being on a Tibetan Buddhist monk. I have practiced Buddhism in the past and have been recently delving back into the philosophies of the Buddha, so I actually understood a lot of what the lama said! (I didn't understand anything about Hindu and I doubt that surprises anyone. I know very little about very many things!)

Length: read it on Google

Rereadability: definitely

Classic: ABSOLUTELY