My favorite part of this book were the unique characters. Kim’s inquisitive & impetuous nature paired well with the sage lama.

I found the plot slow and at times dull. As a historic view of colonized India it may have been more interesting if I knew more about the setting. This was described as a “spy” novel but doesn’t compare to more modern books of that genre.

2021 reading goal: book published in 1901

It took me a while to realize that Kipling was using an Olde Englishe structure to represent conversations in other languages. Once I caught on, and once the story got going, I found the whole book really fun. Though there were a number of times where I lost the thread of what was happening, I just passed over it, deciding that it was a 'period/culture' thing that I wasn't going to get, at least, not without researching it.

I loved how he represented all the different cultures, and appreciated the way he interwove the Great Game with the lama's spiritual quest. Almost as if the two were a purposeful contrast. It's amazing to think of how many of the ideas that he presented were new and strange to his readers, and we now (though the words are a little different) can find them around us in any community in the US.

I really appreciated that, in the end, it was a little story of regular people. Nothing epic. I went into the book knowing nothing about it, other than memories of reading "Riki Tiki Tavey" as a kid, and seeing "The Jungle Book" (the original animated movie). So I had some concerns when the Great Game wove its way into the story, that it would take a turn away from the lama into wars. I was glad it didn't. It actually left me feeling like I had meditated.

I kept finding myself 'watching' the book, now and then imagining it as a movie, with the characters speaking Urdu with subtitles. It's a movie that I'd love to see. But there's probably not enough action for Hollywood to do it without mucking with it.

One thing that I do wonder. The particular edition that I got had a forward by some scholar. Which had spoilers. So I stopped reading it, read the book, then went back and read the forward. Seems to me that, with classic books, it's much more helpful to put a forward at the back. I guess the publishers assume that these books are being reread, rather than read for the first time.

Written over 120 years ago- in beautiful language - a pure joy to read - stunning visual descriptions of beautiful country - excellent use of both English and Hindi - I didn't want it to end

Kipling's novel, Kim, is the literary equivalent to stepping off of a plane in a foreign country where you have never been before; the language, smells, sights, and customs are simultaneously disorienting and captivating because they are new and unknown. Kipling takes no time to introduce or prepare his reader to understand Indian society which, as I learned while reading this book, is incredibly complicated and stratified in all sorts of ways (caste, religion, ethnicity, politically, etc.). Instead, Kipling plunges the reader head first into Indian culture and society with this coming of age story about an impish, street-savvy orphan who gets wrapped up in spying for the British secret service in India.

Everyone in the story (or almost everyone) falls in love with this orphan, and so will you. Running through the book is a beautiful story of friendship between the orphan and an older wandering man if religious importance. Though the story can be hard to understand at times for someone who is not equipped to interpret cryptic cultural references to the inner workings of Indian society, this story of friendship, and the adventures they have together are all most readers will need to carry them along in the book.

I give the book one star because I just could not finish it. I thought that I would be able to read it as a time capsule that reflected it time. But every time there was a passage like “Kim could lie like an oriental.” It made me cringe.

I give the book one star because I just could not finish it. I thought that I would be able to read it as a time capsule that reflected it time. But every time there was a passage like “Kim could lie like an oriental.” It made me cringe.

Since I'm currently living in India, I seem to be reading a lot of books that take place here. This one really grabbed me - the characters were well developed and you really cared about what happened to Kim and the other characters.