The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

The Jungle Book (Jungle Book, #1)

by Rudyard Kipling

The Jungle Books can be regarded as classic stories told by an adult to children. But they also constitute a complex literary work of art in which the whole of Kipling's philosophy of life is expressed in miniature. They are best known for the 'Mowgli' stories; the tale of a baby abandoned and brought up by wolves, educated in the ways and secrets of the jungle by Kaa the python, Baloo the bear, and Bagheera the black panther. The stories, a mixture of fantasy, myth, and magic, are underpinned by Kipling's abiding preoccupation with the theme of self-discovery, and the nature of the 'Law'.

Reviewed by inlibrisveritas on

2 of 5 stars

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I can't say I really enjoyed my read of The Jungle Book and I think that's mainly due to the style of writing. It's descriptive and detailed but still seems to manage to gloss over everything important. I was under the impression that a good chunk of this would deal with Mowgli, so I was surprised to see that only three of the stories focused on him.

I think the one story I liked without reservation was Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.

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  • Started reading
  • 26 March, 2017: Finished reading
  • 26 March, 2017: Reviewed