what have you read by Kipling?

Namely, Rudyard Kipling, best known for the "Jungle Book" but also quite a bit else.

I never read "Jungle Book", but of course I saw the Disney animation (almost entirely unfaithful, btw). I did however get introducted to the "Just-So Stories" as a kid. And they left a lasting impression.

Well, I learned a few years ago of his novel "Kim" and I got it from the library. I had been seaching for the origins of the "spy thriller" genre out of curiosity, and Wikipedia told me to look it up. Reading "Kim", it was my first Kipling in almost two decades, and I was thrilled.

Before I go on, please allow me to address (justified) criticism of Kipling's views as a rascist and fascist and all-around distasteful character. He was I think but he doesn't deserve the bad wrap he receives. In large part, he was a product of his times. Even more, everyone is (or should be) allowed faults and his are painfully just out in the open.

Okay, my point is, in reading the introduction to "Kim" I came across a comment about Kipling's one attempt at science fiction. That caught my attention tremendously. I now had a mission, a quest, although I expected many delays, and indeed found them.

I have read it, now. "With the Night Mail: A Story of 2000 A.D." There aren't too many sci-fi stories I've read written in the 1890s.

This blog is getting a big long, so I will talk about it (and other supernatural fantasy stories, like the Phantom 'Rickshaw) later.