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susana82 's review for:
The Jungle Book (AmazonClassics Edition)
by Rudyard Kipling
adventurous
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I thought this would be about Mowgli, but it turns out a little more than half the book has stories with other characters.
Perhaps it was a bit easier to engage with the first 2 stories, since most of us are familiar with Mowgli and other characters from his universe. I had a hard time to enjoy the rest of the book, particularly the last 2 stories.
With that being said, I enjoyed the stories overall, even if this is not my particular "cup of tea".
The writing was good and elegant without flourishes, and it is obvious how India was a big part of the author's life, having been born there, and living there for so many years. Most of his fables are set in India and include local animals. The environment really feels like victorian Indian times.
On the other side, I couldn't enjoy the way how man is always seen as superior, especially the "great white man", while other animals are inferior. The way we treat animals shows perhaps that it is us the inferior, since we cannot even take care of nature properly. That was the way they thought at the time, but I don't see that we have evolved much since then. Elephants are not supposed to carry things or people, for instance, but they are still being use to this day for that purpose.
With all this, I can understand why these short stories may have been a hit with the youngsters at the time, and they are nice stories, after all.
Perhaps it was a bit easier to engage with the first 2 stories, since most of us are familiar with Mowgli and other characters from his universe. I had a hard time to enjoy the rest of the book, particularly the last 2 stories.
With that being said, I enjoyed the stories overall, even if this is not my particular "cup of tea".
The writing was good and elegant without flourishes, and it is obvious how India was a big part of the author's life, having been born there, and living there for so many years. Most of his fables are set in India and include local animals. The environment really feels like victorian Indian times.
On the other side, I couldn't enjoy the way how man is always seen as superior, especially the "great white man", while other animals are inferior. The way we treat animals shows perhaps that it is us the inferior, since we cannot even take care of nature properly. That was the way they thought at the time, but I don't see that we have evolved much since then. Elephants are not supposed to carry things or people, for instance, but they are still being use to this day for that purpose.
With all this, I can understand why these short stories may have been a hit with the youngsters at the time, and they are nice stories, after all.