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.