I can't decide how I feel about him.
Some of his stuff is fantastic like The Man who would be king and the strange ride of morrowbie jukes
Meanwhile stuff like at the pits mouth and way side comedy is just meh.
What say you? What stories of his does IQfy recommend to read
Plain Tales From the Hill. Only true patricians understand.
Tell me more about it
His prose is excellent, sometimes bordering on perfect, though I have a hard time with dialect, but his poetry is mostly average.
It always reads like he is marshalling words around. He never feels free
Take it back. He is one of my favorite poets. Name three better poets NOW
Shakespeare
Milton
Wordsworth
Pretty good when that’s what you’re being compared to, literally the all time greats
The Conundrum of the Workshops
When the flush of a newborn sun fell first on Eden's green and gold,
Our father Adam sat under the Tree and scratched with a stick in the mold;
And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart,
Till the Devil whispered behind the leaves: "It's pretty, but is it Art?"
Wherefore he called to his wife and fled to fashion his work anew—
The first of his race who cared a fig for the first, most dread review;
And he left his lore to the use of his sons—and that was a glorious gain
When the Devil chuckled: "Is it Art?" in the ear of the branded Cain.
They builded a tower to shiver the sky and wrench the stars apart,
Till the Devil grunted behind the bricks: "It's striking, but is it Art?"
The stone was dropped by the quarry-side, and the idle derrick swung,
While each man talked of the aims of art, and each in an alien tongue.
They fought and they talked in the north and the south, they talked and they fought in the west,
Till the waters rose on the jabbering land, and the poor Red Clay had rest—
Had rest till the dank blank-canvas dawn when the dove was preened to start,
And the Devil bubbled below the keel: "It's human, but is it Art?"
The tale is old as the Eden Tree—as new as the new-cut tooth—
For each man knows ere his lip-thatch grows he is master of Art and Truth;
And each man hears as the twilight nears, to the beat of his dying heart,
The Devil drum on the darkened pane: "You did it, but was it Art?"
We have learned to whittle the Eden Tree to the shape of a surplice-peg,
We have learned to bottle our parents twain in the yolk of an addled egg,
We know that the tail must wag the dog, as the horse is drawn by the cart;
But the Devil whoops, as he whooped of old: "It's clever, but is it Art?"
When the flicker of London's sun falls faint on the club-room's green and gold,
The sons of Adam sit them down and scratch with their pens in the mold—
They scratch with their pens in the mold of their graves, and the ink and the anguish start
When the Devil mutters behind the leaves: "It's pretty, but is it art?"
Now, if we could win to the Eden Tree where the four great rivers flow,
And the wreath of Eve is red on the turf as she left it long ago,
And if we could come when the sentry slept, and softly scurry through,
By the favor of God we might know as much—as our father Adam knew.
If you didn't read Puck's and Rewards as a child, anon, then do so now. Kim is among the best 'real-life' adventure novels of all time. I guess this makes me pro-
In undergrad studies I had an American undergrad openly gay prof who was really pumped up about being part a Proust reading circle in grad school. They've read Proust in translation. They've kept the their flame alive reading Proust, they could do it, he was really proud of it, as if he was part of something great.
Well, Kipling deserves a whole lot more. Just saying.
Sorry for the bad spelling, I'm a bit tipsy right now, it's Sunday afternoon here.
Hm. Perhaps I should clarify. I really enjoyed reading Puck of Pooks Hill and Rewards and Fairies (kek: 'fairies'..) when a child. Reread them solus a few yrs back and found that they 'held up,' still really enjoyed them, etc. I was merely suggesting that OP read them, if he hadn't-- that's it. What you appropriated from what was essentially a 'rec' I won't pretend to know, although
t. *have* read RoTP x 2, albeit *solus* as well..
I totally agree with what you've said in your previous post, my tipsy-garbled rant was meant to emphasize what you were saying, because I've never read Kipling all through undergrad and graduate school, he's blacklisted now. What we have instead is Proust in translation -- they've read Proust aloud in that reading circle, didn't make it clear in my previous post.
A year ago I've read Kim for the first time from cover to cover and since then it's one of my favorite novels. There is so much love for India and for the fellow human being in this book that I pity those who feel the need to fight it.
"Only a Subaltern," "In the Matter of a Private" and "At the Pit's Mouth" from "Under the Deodars" are my other Kipling favorites. Rereading them from time to time is part of what keeps me going.
I just love Kipling, I'm pro, too.
Give me a rundown on him. What are some good starting works? Whats his beliefs?
>le broken english
>le gunga din
I hate this bastard so much
that’s a homosexual opinion
nietzsche was right about poetry
cringe homosexualry
I love his prose and poetry. I love his five collections of Indian stories, which are for the railway library, forgot the title.
The poetry is mostly dreadful, short stories often good - w'unless ee's wittum in 'is 'owwivle phoney demo'ic what eh!
Reckon he's a bigger influence on Hemingway than you think
he was a prolific writer, there is bound to be some stuff of his you like and don't like
when i was a kid i loved the jungle book, just so stories, all that stuff
personally i like his travel writings