Kim

This month's book for my Literary Circle is Rudyard Kipling's Kim (#18).  It was recommended as one of the best buddy adventure stories ever written, although I'm not sure I'd agree with that description of this book.

Kim was originally published in 1901.  The plot is very loosely based on the workings of Britain's spy network in India - the Great Game, as it was called.  Kim, the title character, is an orphan street urchin living in Lahore with the papers that prove he is a sahib, a white man, in a bag around his neck.  He has managed to avoid being caught up in the sahib's world for all of his short life so far.  But one fateful day he does befriend a Tibetan lama on a quest, and becomes his disciple for a lark and a chance to see the world.  As they set out on their journey, Kim encounters another old friend, Mahbub, a wily Afghan horse trader who turns out to be a British spy.  Kim performs a service for him, and so is dragged into the white man's cloak and dagger games.  Creighton, the British spy master, sees Kim's potential, and insists he obtain an education that will allow him to move freely in India to gather intelligence. 

What makes this book so interesting, though, are the descriptions of the people and places of what was then British India.  Much of the action takes place in the northwestern territories, which is today's Pakistan. The incredible diversity in the landscape alone is amazing, as are the many different types, sects, and castes of people, none of whom seem to have much in common with their neighbors.  Kim fits right in, having spent his entire young life observing the calvacade of humanity in the Lahore market place.  He is at home with the wide variety of beliefs and customs and can easily adapt to fit in with whomever he is with.

It struck me while reading this book that in many ways, it is more accesible to us today than it must have been when it was originally published.  Many of the exotic words used have passed into our own everyday language - madrassas and curries are familiar to us.  The ongoing conflict in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan with Western involvment really hasn't changed, only we can see pictures of it on our TV, so even the landscape is recognizable.  Those of us who have read Greg Mortensen's book Three Cups of Tea, or read Doug Stanton's tale of American GIs in Afghanistan right after 9/11 Horse Soldiers, have even more background in the politics and perils of the area.

John Cobb in the Afterword of the version of the book I read makes the point that only two British authors ever wrote novels about the British colonies at the height of the Victorian Empire: Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling in Kim.  No matter how carefully a book is researched, you can't beat an eyewitness account told by someone with a great deal of respect for his subject.  No wonder Kim is a classic.  Hope you find the time to read it, too.