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quook's review against another edition
4.0
I found the imperialist and womanizing tone to be off-putting but I overcame that to appreciate this compilation of short stories for what it is: An insight into the mind of a Victorian writer.
I found it fascinating that a person can be both derogatory and yet respectful of the people he is writing about. For example, my favorite story was In Flood Time because of the tone the author used and how convincing the narrator, a native Indian, was.
On the other hand, I thought A Way Side Comedy and At the Pit's Mouth were both ironic and humorous.
By far, however, the best story is The Man Who Would be King, a parable and warning to all Empires about the temptations and evils of power.
I found it fascinating that a person can be both derogatory and yet respectful of the people he is writing about. For example, my favorite story was In Flood Time because of the tone the author used and how convincing the narrator, a native Indian, was.
On the other hand, I thought A Way Side Comedy and At the Pit's Mouth were both ironic and humorous.
By far, however, the best story is The Man Who Would be King, a parable and warning to all Empires about the temptations and evils of power.
mi44d's review against another edition
5.0
a romantic adventurous yet sad story happened in the time when people can still go somewhere with no government. one man's dream to be king is someone else's dream to be free.
megankass's review against another edition
3.0
An old story these days, told a million different ways in the Walking Dead, but once upon a time it was new. The narrator was unnecessary; it would have been more dramatic from either Peachy or Dravot's perspectives.
graciegrace1178's review against another edition
4.0
4.23 stars. Well! That was a tad graphic! Excuse me while I go sit in silence for a bit and try to. Process.
PT: classics, RATW: Afghanistan, short books, books read in a day
Could’ve sworn this was also on the Rory Gilmore and/or Amazon lists, but apparently it’s on neither? Still a good book tho!
PT: classics, RATW: Afghanistan, short books, books read in a day
Could’ve sworn this was also on the Rory Gilmore and/or Amazon lists, but apparently it’s on neither? Still a good book tho!
catattack55's review against another edition
3.0
A wildly imperialistic colonial British book from top to bottom. I give it 3 instead of 2 because the British colonizers got their just desserts though I’m sure the lesson was supposed to be something like non British people are barbarians and we need to tame them comes off the opposite!
mylovelyforest's review against another edition
3.0
Based on true-life events, Kipling uncovers the dynamics between members of the Freemasonry as well as the colonisers themselves (The English Freemansons) with the colonised (the native Indians, who are explicitly and recurrently belittled).
By intertwining some brief atmospheric imagery with semantics related to heat–fire–red, the first-person narrator reports – like a good journalist– the stream of trial-and-error codes and consequences of one's acts as dutiful Englishmen of action in this (short) story that shares surprising similarities with: From Up on Poppy Hill, The Importance of Being Earnest and Animal Crossing.
Combining different verb tenses and language registers, it is a story set in a From-Up-On-Poppy-Hill newspaper-club style, where two characters from The Importance of Being Earnest are in conversation with some villagers in Animal Crossing (portrayed by one single character) asking for some advice on an ambitious adventure that may or may not go wrong.
By intertwining some brief atmospheric imagery with semantics related to heat–fire–red, the first-person narrator reports – like a good journalist– the stream of trial-and-error codes and consequences of one's acts as dutiful Englishmen of action in this (short) story that shares surprising similarities with: From Up on Poppy Hill, The Importance of Being Earnest and Animal Crossing.
Combining different verb tenses and language registers, it is a story set in a From-Up-On-Poppy-Hill newspaper-club style, where two characters from The Importance of Being Earnest are in conversation with some villagers in Animal Crossing (portrayed by one single character) asking for some advice on an ambitious adventure that may or may not go wrong.
jameskennedy's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
An interesting concept, if it had a bit more nuance and were a little bit longer I reckon this would be much better.
hanzy's review against another edition
1.0
I'm usually not a harsh critique but I just couldn't get this particular book. It was lacking in some ways and I had to skim through a few pages to just get to the end and finish it off. Maybe it's cuz my mind was preoccupied or maybe it wasn't the right time to start a book like this one. So yes, though a short story, I found it extremely boring.
hanzy's review against another edition
1.0
I'm usually not a harsh critique but I just couldn't get this particular book. It was lacking in some ways and I had to skim through a few pages to just get to the end and finish it off. Maybe it's cuz my mind was preoccupied or maybe it wasn't the right time to start a book like this one. So yes, though a short story, I found it extremely boring.