Kim
Rudyard Kipling · 1865–1936 · England
Why it matters
An orphan boy of Lahore becomes both a lama's disciple and a pawn in the Great Game of imperial espionage. Kipling's masterpiece and the most loving portrait of India in colonial fiction, which is exactly the argument it has been having ever since.
At a glance
picaresquecolonial & postcolonial
Difficulty 5/10fast pace320 pagesAnglo-Indian idiom, period slang, and Great Game politics ask for occasional footnotes.
Deep dive
How a boy fluent in every register of Lahore's streets is trained to serve an empire that never quite trusts him to belong anywhere, and what his teacher's search for release has to do with the game Kim is actually playing.
Where to go next
Rudyard Kipling · 1888Plain Tales from the HillsLvl 5Fast paced
Rudyard Kipling · 1894The Jungle BookLvl 3Fast paced
Rudyard Kipling · 1897Captains CourageousLvl 4Fast paced
Rudyard Kipling · 1902Just So StoriesLvl 2Fast paced
Jack London · 1903The Call of the WildLvl 2Fast paced
Thomas Hardy · 1891Tess of the d'UrbervillesLvl 4Medium pace