"The Best Kipling There Is"
"...the mere act of writing was, and always has been, a physical pleasure to me."
~ Rudyard Kipling in Something of Myself
The renowned British poet, novelist, and short
story writer Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) discovered when he was seven that
reading was a delight. While attending the United Services College of Westward
Ho! in Devonshire, he also discovered the pleasure of writing. His talents were
soon recognized by the school's headmaster, who gave the boy access to his
extensive personal library. Rudyard was appointed editor of the school paper and
soon became the acknowledged school bard.
At the age of sixteen, Kipling rejoined his family in India, where he
obtained the position of assistant editor of the Civil and Military Gazette in
Lahore. There Rudyard threw himself into the exacting grind of daily newspaper
writing. Encouraged
by the editors to contribute his own impressions of Anglo-Indian society,
Rudyard produced some witty and vivid pieces. Readers responded with enthusiasm.
The poems and sketches were re-issued in the form of cheap paperbacks suitable
for reading on the train. Kipling's Railway Library series carried the name of
Rudyard Kipling across the breadth of India. At the early age of twenty-four,
Kipling was widely acclaimed the best English writer in the colony.
Kipling decided it was time to go to London and challenge the British
literary circles. Within two months of his arrival, Kipling had his first poem
published in Macmillan's Magazine and his ability was quickly noticed. William
Henley, the influential editor of the Scot's Observer, did everything he could
to promote this exciting new voice from the colony. Kipling's reputation grew.
After two productive years in London, Kipling moved to Vermont with his American
bride. There he wrote his popular Jungle Books(1894-1895) and the
Newfoundland-based novel,
Captains Courageous(1897).
From 1897 until his death, Kipling made England his base, although he
continued to travel extensively. In particular, he spent his winters until 1909
in South Africa, toured Egypt, made trips to Europe before and after the Great
War, and visited Canada twice. Whether on an ocean liner to Cape Town or in his
study at Bateman's, his home in Sussex, Kipling was always writing. He often
made notes and sketches while travelling, reworking and fine-tuning them later.
With characteristic speed, Kipling produced the novel Kim in 1901; a book of
children's stories, The Just So Stories in 1902; a book of poetry,The Five
Nations, in 1903; and Puck of Pook's Hill in 1906. In recognition of his
achievements, Kipling was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907.
Kipling watched with alarm the rise of militarism in Europe. Unable to
enlist himself, Kipling arranged for his son to join the Irish Guards. Kipling
threw himself into a series of recruiting speeches, patriotic appeals, and fund
raising events. However, his son's death in the Battle of Loos brought an end to
Kipling's imaginative use of the war in his writing. Instead, he turned to
writing the official history of the Irish Guards and to serving on the
Commission of War Graves.
During the twenties and up to his death in 1936, Kipling continued to write
new pieces, edit for re-issue some of his early poetry, and write his
autobiography. While his later work, which deals primarily with shattered dreams
and tragedy, did not
gain the popularity of his earlier work, Kipling retained the love and
respect of the general public. One hundred years after the first publication of
The Jungle Book, films based on this novel have introduced Kipling's imaginative
world to another generation.
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