ClassicThe Man Who Would Be King
Rudyard Kipling
88 pages
First, I read this book more because it was a free download on my Kindle app. I read in one of the reviews that it was short, but didn't realize until I checked the page count on Amazon, that it was only 88 pages. And that brings us to second...I almost feel like that's not long enough to count as a full book. But hey I finished it, so I'm going to darn well count it.
The only other Rudyard Kipling book I have ever read was The Jungle Book (though which I have to admit here for full disclosure that I didn't know was written by him until about 30 minutes ago).
The story is modeled after some of the time that Kipling himself spent in India and is a literary version of two men he actually met who were bound and determined to build their own Afghan empire. I read in a couple of different reviews that pointed out that a "practical understanding of British imperialist history" would be particularly helpful. Though I really enjoy history, apparently I skipped British imperialism from an impact on overall history during my journeys back in time.
So while I hate to admit it, it took every ounce of my concentration to try and follow the storyline. I think that I failed miserably. Let's just say that I'm thankful that this was a short book. Maybe I was just having an off reading day.
No comments:
Post a Comment