Traffics and Discoveries [Paperback]

Rudyard Kipling (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 021740717X | ISBN-13: 978-0217407175 | Publication Date: January 29, 2010

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About the Author

Rudyard Joseph Kipling was born in the then named Bombay, India on 30th December 1865. Aged six, he was sent to England to be educated, firstly in Southsea, where he was cared for in a foster home, and later at Westward Ho, a United Services College in Devon. A life of misery at the former was described in his story 'Baa Baa Black Sheep', whilst Westward Ho was used as a basis for his questioning the public school ethic in 'Stalky and Co'. Kipling returned to India in 1882 to work as an assistant editor for the Civil and Military Gazette of Lahore. His reputation as a writer was established with stories of English life in India, published there in 1888/9. 'The Phantom Rickshaw', 'Soldiers Three' and 'Under the Deodars' are amongst these early works. Returning to England in 1889, Kipling settled in London and continued to earn a living as a writer. In 1892 he married Caroline Balestier, an American. They travelled extensively in the following four years, including a spell living in America, and it was in this time most of his enduring work was written, not least 'The Jungle Book' and 'The Second Jungle Book'. Kipling once again returned to England in 1896 and continued his writing career, although tragedy hit the family when his eldest daughter, Josephine, died in 1899. Nonetheless, in 1901 he completed 'Kim', often considered to be his best work. The following year, having settled in Sussex, he published 'Just So Stories', a book he had planned to write for Josephine. Having refused the position of Poet Laureate, which was offered in 1895, he did accept the Nobel Prize for Literature, becoming the first English author to be so honoured. By 1910, however, Kipling's appeal was waning. His poems and stories were based on values that were perceived as outdated. There was widespread reaction against Victorian imperialism, highlighted by the incompetent management of the Boer War. When World War I came, Kipling had difficulty in adapting to the mood of the public and after his only son, John, was reported missing in action believed killed in 1915, he became very active on the War Graves Commission. After the war he became an increasingly isolated figure, although some of his best writing was to come, with 'Debits and Credits' in 1926 and 'Limits and Renewals' in 1932. Kipling died in 1936 in London and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Today, however, he is once again avidly read not just for the quality of his writing and storytelling, but through a renewed inte --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: General Books LLC (January 29, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 021740717X
• ISBN-13: 978-0217407175
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,401,754 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Late Lackluster Kipling, May 26, 2010

By 

Patrick Odaniel (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Traffics and Discoveries (Paperback)

First, Kipling is a great writer, so almost anything he chooses to put his hand to will be worth perusing--once. His later short stories tend to be about "manly men" who speak in a telscoped professional short hand about "manly things." So, if you don't know much about firearms, ships, trains or cars circa 1900, some of the dialogue will seem a bit abstruse such as this bit from, "The Captive," the lead story in this collection: "I presume you never heard tell of the Laughton-Zigler automatic two-inch field-gun, with self-feeding hopper, single oil-cylinder recoil, and ball-bearing gear throughout? Or Laughtite, the new explosive? Absolutely uniform in effect, and one-ninth the bulk of any present effete charge--flake, cannonite, cordite, troisdorf, cellulose, cocoa, cord, or prism--I don't care what it is. Laughtite's immense, so's the Zigler automatic." Hmmm, maybe they are "immense," but Kipling is right to presume. Anyway, "The Captive" is yet another, in an unlimited series, of Kipling's jingoistic puff-pieces defending the British Empire and allaying anyone's concern that the British aren't just the nicest, most understanding, understated and smartest chaps about, but also the most able too--even in the face of Laughtite and Zigler. This story is of some interest in that it is defending Britain's aggression in South Africa at the turn of the twentieth century, otherwise known as the Boer War, which bequeathed to the world one of the most emblematic of twentieth-century inventions: the concentration camp (or at least the label).

The rest of the stories are a mixed lot of various cats and dogs. There's "The Bonds of Discipline," featuring one of Kipling's recurring characters, the irascible seaman, Emanuel Pyecroft. In a very different vein from "The Captive," this story demonstrates how the British are the nicest, most understanding, understated, smartest--oh, and ablest--chaps about in matching wits with the "Portugee," as opposed to the Dutch Boer. Then there's "A Sahib's War," also a very different story which concerns an Indian who travels with his British master to South Africa and there discovers that even Indians realize that the British are the nicest, most understanding, understated, smartest and ablest chaps about in matching wits with the Dutch Boer. Then, as a twist, there's another Pyecroft story, "Their Lawful Occasions," concerning how some British may not be the nicest, most understanding, understated, smartest and ablest chaps when they try to match wits with other British--namely one Pyecroft and companions--who, in turn, really are the nicest, most understanding, understated, smartest and ablest chaps. The rest of the short stories are even more divergent than these.

So, how does Kipling get three stars? Well, it's sort of like the question once posed to Andre Gide about who the greatest French poet was--the answer: "Victor Hugo, alas!" And who do you think is the greatest English short story writer? Sigh.