cecivstheworld 's review for:

El libro de la selva by Rudyard Kipling

4.0

adventurous inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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this book was good! if I’m being fully honest, i bought this book because of the stunning and captivating cover in this edition. i mistakenly believed i was familiar with with book because i had, like many others, watched the famous disney adaptation of the jungle book as a kid. turns out this book is a collection of short stories and only the first four of them are centered around mowgli and all the other characters we see in the film. so this read wasn’t what i expected and it surprised me!

i liked all of the stories except the very last one, which i didn’t get the point of at all. it was just a bit confusing. my favourite ones were the ones featuring mowgli. the original story is way more complex and way more dark. another stories i loved were the white seal, which was about a young seal that travels thousands of miles to save his counterparts from being killed for their skin, and rikki-tiki-tavi, about a mongoose who rescues a family from cobras. 

all the characters are animals but mowgli, but they are just are interesting and have a lot of character. almost all of the tales take place in india and the author’s descriptions of the jungle are very detailed and carefully crafted. i also enjoyed the small poems at the beginning of the short stories.

rudyard Kipling’s style of writing is charming and the narrative is timeless. i believe these stories will be enjoyed by many others.