Reviews

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, Fiction, Classics by Rudyard Kipling

lelanowhin's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No

emskie_22's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

yotamwineer95's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

richarmp's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

lovisareads's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

2.75

andiepanda09's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

krisin95's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

thewallflower00's review against another edition

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2.0

Public domain book. It's been a long time since I saw the movie, and I've never read the novel. There's not actually a lot of "The Jungle Book" in this. Two, maybe three stories. And Shere Kahn is killed in the beginning. The rest are some stories about elephants and seals that involve a lot of "not things happening".

It's not dissimilar from "Just So Stories". The stories just don't hold up well. They were meant for another time. Except "Rikki Tiki Tavi", which could take place in space with aliens if you switched some characters and settings around. I started skipping towards the end, because I just didn't feel like the stories mattered. If you want a Jungle Book fix, see the movie.

andyshute's review against another edition

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3.0

I've never actually read this before so was surprised to find it's a collection of short stories, even more so that only a few are actually about Mowgli. Those were my favourites and I particularly enjoyed the story with Kaa and the Bandar-log. Kaa is a complex and dark character, clearly dangerous yet someone to have on your side. The language, mythology and story telling were fantastic, very enjoyable and understandably it's a classic. More Mowgli would have been nice though. I really should have waited to read this in India rather than China.

Additional (20/08/12): Seeing as I read the kindle versions of both Jungle Books I subsequently bought the small hardcover listed above with a foreword by Neil Gaiman (which is brief and seems aimed at a young audience). I liked the Mowgli stories and this compiles them all in the same volume (along with Rikki-Tikki-Tavi); I thought it was important to have it physically on my shelves. It's a small size hardcover, study and should last though the cover feels too plasticy for my liking.