Kim
No, not Kim du Toit, or Kim Crawford, but Kim, by Rudyard Kipling. I picked up a clean early edition in it’s original slipcase. Unread. Printed when I was a tiny baby, and still in excellent condition with it’s original illustrations.
It took me a very long time to read, because I only read two pages at a time. See, when I have read every word he has written, I will be done- there will not be any more.
I can’t afford to reread too much stuff, my reading list is huge. So when I touch each author I touch him briefly and for the last time, most likely. So I will savor the good stuff, and fight my way through the bad, and tell anyone who feels otherwise to piss up a rope.
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Nice score. I collect Kipling in firsts whenever possible. Have about six IIRC plus several other early editions. If only school kids were still being introduced to Kipling… Finding one with a slipcover is unusual.
Everyone has his reading method. I repeatedly reread things I enjoyed because I’m a bit dense (Half Norwegian, don’t you know.) and miss things the first five or six times through. If it’s been more than a few years, most of it will be new and fresh and exciting. Again.
Gerry N.
I recently read Kim aloud to my Loving Spousal Unit (LSU). Must have done it correctly, she was amazed at the depth of the story and the characters.
Kipling gets better every time you read him. That sure surprises a lot of folks.
“If you can keep your head about you when all others are losing theres…..
Good stuff.
Just got a copy of Barrack and Barroom Ditties, I believe it is called. Interesting meter he uses.
First read Kim when I was 11 or so, introduced my daughter to the Just So stories when she was 7. Kipling has been a favorite for many years.
Very cool indeed. I’ll be putting another one on your reading list shortly.
I love the whole Great Game aspect of the story, and growing-up over there relished how it could happen, the past is very immediate and accessible in a way totally unlike here, partly because of the un-changing nature of the culture and location, the heat and the monsoon…
I’ve got that edition, I think: in the big cardboard slipcase? Read it when I was like, eight. Don’t remember a lot. But I was named after Kim Philby, triple agent, who was nicknamed that after the Kipling character. So, a connexion.
Gutenberg.org has most of his stuff for free if you want to read and not collect the book
Came over with the Tamalanche, stayed to browse some—-and found Kim!
Kim trivia:
Kim Philby wasn’t really named Kim, but Harold. Kim was just a nickname, from Kipling.
The Dulles who was head of the CIA (Allan?) died with a copy of Kim on his bedside table.
Sometimes I miss a year, but I try to reread it every year. For me, rereading a favorite book is like re-kissing my favorite girl. Even when it’s something you’ve done before, it’s worth doing again.