Being Kipling exposes Rudyard Kipling s identity as he himself perceived it through the lens of a collection of works composed over a period of years and brought together in the volume Land and Sea Tales for Scouts and Guides. Dillingham uses this extraordinary collection, ostensibly put together for the inspiration of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides and frequently ignored by critics and biographers, to offer rare insight into formative events from Kipling s youth that shaped his personality and made him the man and writer that he became. The eight stories, eight poems, and three essays of Land and Sea Tales for Scouts and Guides are all examined closely both for what they reveal about Kipling s life and worldview and for their rarely perceived, but considerable literary merit.

Being Kipling

Dillingham, W.

Biographies & Memoirs

PALGRAVE~MACMILLAN

VictorianStudies on theWebCritics Choice!Rudyard Kipling: Hell and Heroism is an exploration of two fundamental yet greatly neglected aspects of the author's life and writings: his deep-seated pessimism and his complex creed of heroism. The method of the book is both biographical and critical. Biographically, it traces the roots of Kipling's dark worldview and his search for something to believe in, a way of thinking and acting in defiance of life's hellishness. There matters were more basic to him than any of his social or political opinions, but this the first full-length study devoted to them. Critically, the book takes a fresh and close look at some of Kipling's most important works. The result challenges long established assumptions and amounts to a major reconsideration of novels like Kim and stories like "Mary Postgate" and "The Gardener." Central in these discussions of individual writings is Kipling's concern with the heroic life, but of equal importance is the analysis and evaluation of them as works of art. Avoiding the tangled and special language of some recent literary theory, this will appeal to a wide audience of those interested in Kipling's mind and art.

Rudyard Kipling: Hell and Heroism

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

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Books by Dillingham, W.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Dillingham, W.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Being Kipling

Rudyard Kipling: Hell and Heroism