What a difficult book to slog through. It had its moments, and I enjoyed a lot of the description and feel of India (the reader was excellent at doing the voices, and really brought out the characters), but it just felt...pointless. I was frustrated by a bunch of story lines that just seemed never to find resolution because the book came to a very abrupt end (it seemed to me). I understood the message at the end, but I was curious to see what happened to Kim, and will never find out. He was such a great character with so much potential - an Irish boy who had essentially "gone native" in India, and therefore was able to straddle so much of the divided Imperial British society. His ability to do so made for some great sub-stories. I loved his character, but I am hard-pressed to give the overall book more than 2 stars, unfortunately. I will have to read The Jungle Book to see how it compares for adventure and story; I know that one is a true favorite of Kipling's.