Kim by Rudyard Kipling (July 31-August 10, 2005)
Kim is the story of Kimball O'Hara, an orphaned son of an Irish soldier
stationed in India. He was raised on the streets of Lahore, India and is
an intelligent, charming, beguiling, and tricky young boy. Kim then meets
a Tibetan Lama, and goes on a quest with him to find a holy river. Kim
has his own quest, to learn the land, his heritage, and his place in the
world. As they travel and meet his diverse countrymen, taking note of everything
he sees and hears. He meets his father’s old regiment and later goes
to school and becomes a part of the Great Game, working for the British
as they spy on the Russians. Meanwhile, he is separated from his Lama,
and they reunite in one of the most touching scenes of friendship in literature.
Rudyard Kipling gives his complex hero a full range of emotion, knowledge,
and experience as he grows up from a young, mischievous boy to a steady
and true man. His description of India is beautiful, lively, and exciting.
