Kim is classified sometimes as a child's adventure novel. I'm not sure any modern child could get through this thing. It is long and dense, plagued by the same problem a lot of early 20th century novels have with overwriting, and full of descriptions of Indian religions and Indian culture and Indian titles for royalty.

The book is funny in a mischievous kind of way in the first half, but loses the playfulness of Kim in the second half as he takes on a more serious "adventure." I think the book suffers a bit in this way because we lose the cunning and cleverness of the main character the author has built up to that point and we never really see it return.

I think the most prominent theme I picked up from this book is the idea of race and empathy. Kipling describes the race of every single character you meet throughout the entire novel. Every one. Kim himself is described as Irish but passing for Indian most of the time. Maybe Kipling was making a statement here that race is important enough to be called out upon initial meeting because it is something that would be noticed (especially in British India) but all that really matters is the compassion we show for each other.

Multiple times throughout the novel, characters are shunned for doing wicked things to each other (beating, stealing, name calling) and other characters praised for the compassion they show regardless of race or religion. Race and religion are initial identifiers, but the way people are treated in Kim is ultimately determined by the behavior they exhibit unto others.

Kim is only an alright novel to me. Sometimes it can be a slough to get through, which should never be the case for an "adventure" novel. King Solomon's Mines was written around this same time and I never felt the dragging pace in that novel the way I do here. It gets 3 stars from for its initial humor and the intricate exploration of themes still relevant today.