Page 153 - DENG203_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_IV

Elective English—IV

Notes In 2003, actor Ralph Fiennes read excerpts from Kipling’s works from the study in Bateman’s,
including, The Jungle Book, Something Of Myself, Kim, and The Just So Stories, and poems,
including “If... “ and “My Boy Jack”, for a CD published by the National Trust.

8.1.11 Reputation in India

In modern-day India, whence he drew much of his material, Kipling’s reputation remains
controversial, especially amongst modern nationalists and some post-colonial critics. Other
contemporary Indian intellectuals such as Ashis Nandy have taken a more nuanced view of his
work. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India, always described Kipling’s
novel Kim as his favourite book.
G V Desani, a canonical Indian writer of fiction, had a condescending opinion of Kipling.
He alluded to Kipling in his novel, All About H. Hatterr (1948), thus:

I happen to pick up R. Kipling’s autobiographical “Kim”. Therein, this self-appointed whiteman’s
burden-bearing sherpa feller’s stated how, in the Orient, blokes hit the road and think nothing
of walking a thousand miles in search of something.
Well-known Indian historian and writer Khushwant Singh wrote in 2001 that he considers
Kipling’s “If—” “the essence of the message of The Gita in English”. The text Singh refers to is
the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient Indian scripture.
In November 2007 it was announced that Kipling’s birth home in the campus of the J J School of
Art in Mumbai would be turned into a museum celebrating the author and his works.

8.1.12 Bibliography

The Story of the Gadsbys (1888) (linked short stories)

Plain Tales from the Hills (1888) (short stories)
The Phantom Rickshaw and other Eerie Tales (1888) (short stories)
The Light that Failed (1890) (novel)
Many Inventions (1893) (short stories)
The Jungle Book (1894) (short stories)

The Second Jungle Book (1895) (short stories)
The Seven Seas (1896) (poems)
Captains Courageous (1897) (novel)

Recessional (1897) (poem)
The Day’s Work (1898) (short stories)
Stalky & Co. (1899) (linked short stories)
The White Man’s Burden (1899) (poem)
Kim (1901) (novel)

Just So Stories (1902) (short stories)
Puck of Pook’s Hill (1906) (historical fantasy short stories)
Rewards and Fairies (1910) (historical fantasy short stories)

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