基本信息·出版社：Wordsworth Editions Ltd ·页码：256 页 ·出版日期：1994年04月 ·ISBN：1853260991 ·条形码：9781853260995 ·版本：第1版 ·装帧 ...
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基本信息·出版社：Wordsworth Editions Ltd
·页码：256 页
·出版日期：1994年04月
·ISBN：1853260991
·条形码：9781853260995
·版本：第1版
·装帧：平装
·开本：32开 Pages Per Sheet
·丛书名：Wordsworth Classics
·外文书名：吉姆
内容简介 Publisher Comments:
Wordsworth Classics covers a huge list of beloved works of literature in English and translations. This growing series is rigorously updated, with scholarly introductions and notes added to new titles.
Synopsis:
This novel tells the story of Kimball O'Hara (Kim), who is the orphaned son of a soldier in the Irish regiment stationed in India during the British Raj. It describes Kim's life and adventures from street vagabond, to his adoption by his father's regiment and recruitment into espionage.
Kim is a spy and picaresque novel, written by Rudyard Kipling. It was first published serially in McClures's Magazine from December 1900 to October 1901 as well as in Cassell's Magazine from January to November 1901, and first published in book form by MacMillan & Co. Ltd in October 1901. The story is set against the backdrop of The Great Game, the political conflict between Russia and Britain in Central Asia.
Amazon.com
One of the particular pleasures of reading Kim is the full range of emotion, knowledge, and experience that Rudyard Kipling gives his complex hero. Kim O'Hara, the orphaned son of an Irish soldier stationed in India, is neither innocent nor victimized. Raised by an opium-addicted half-caste woman since his equally dissolute father's death, the boy has grown up in the streets of Lahore:
Though he was burned black as any native; though he spoke the vernacular by preference, and his mother-tongue in a clipped uncertain sing-song; though he consorted on terms of perfect equality with the small boys of the bazar; Kim was white--a poor white of the very poorest.
From his father and the woman who raised him, Kim has come to believe that a great destiny awaits him. The details, however, are a bit fuzzy, consisting as they do of the woman's addled prophecies of "'a great Red Bull on a green field, and the Colonel riding on his tall horse, yes, and'--dropping into English--'nine hundred devils.'"
In the meantime, Kim amuses himself with intrigues, executing "commissions by night on the crowded housetops for sleek and shiny young men of fashion." His peculiar heritage as a white child gone native, combined with his "love of the game for its own sake," makes him uniquely suited for a bigger game. And when, at last, the long-awaited colonel comes along, Kim is recruited as a spy in Britain's struggle to maintain its colonial grip on India. Kipling was, first and foremost, a man of his time; born and raised in India in the 19th century, he was a fervid supporter of the Raj. Nevertheless, his portrait of India and its people is remarkably sympathetic. Yes, there is the stereotypical Westernized Indian Babu Huree Chander with his atrocious English, but there is also Kim's friend and mentor, the Afghani horse trader Mahub Ali, and the gentle Tibetan lama with whom Kim travels along the Grand Trunk Road. The humanity of his characters consistently belies Kipling's private prejudices, and raises Kim above the mere ripping good yarn to the level of a timeless classic.
--Alix Wilber
From AudioFile
You know a novel is succeeding when you begin to hear and think in the voices of the characters--and that's doubly true of a good audiobook. Kipling's masterpiece about an orphaned British beggar boy who knows the streets and marketplaces of India better than any native would be a pleasure read plainly. But Dastor's masterful performance, which individualizes dozens of Indian and British voices, is unparalleled in artistry, wit and precision. Despite his reputation as a trumpeter of imperialism, Kipling is himself full of wit, irony and rich imagination in this tale of Kim and the Tibetan holy man, who journey "the broad, smiling river of life" that is India's great highway. Together they encounter a series of adventures as colorful and memorable as those of Huck Finn traveling down the Mississippi. But more than an action story, here is a story told in dialogue, one whose key events are exchanges of wit, whose rendering of the vernacular of British India is the thread and essence of its tale. Clearly, this is a novel that, better than almost any, lends itself to audio performance. This Cover to Cover Classic is a standout, and one of this reviewer's all-time favorite audio experiences. D.A.W. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award.
Book Dimension
Height (mm) 198 Width (mm) 126
作者简介 Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling (born Dec. 30, 1865, Bombay, India-died Jan. 18, 1936, London, Eng.) Indian-born British novelist, short-story writer, and poet. The son of a museum curator, he was reared in England but returned to India as a journalist. He soon became famous for volumes of stories, beginning with Plain Tales from the Hills (1888; including “The Man Who Would Be King”), and later for the poetry collection Barrack-Room Ballads (1892; including “Gunga Din” and “Mandalay”). His poems, often strongly rhythmic, are frequently narrative ballads. During a residence in the U.S., he published a novel, The Light That Failed (1890); the two Jungle Books (1894, 1895), stories of the wild boy Mowgli in the Indian jungle that have become children's classics; the adventure story Captains Courageous (1897); and Kim (1901), one of the great novels of India. He wrote six other volumes of short stories and several other verse collections. His children's books include the famous Just So Stories (1902) and the fairy-tale collection Puck of Pook's Hill (1906). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. His extraordinary popularity in his own time declined as his reputation suffered after World War I because of his widespread image as a jingoistic imperialist.
媒体推荐 Spotlight Reviews
1.Vast in its simplicity, February 8, 2002
Reviewer: William Krischke (Portland, or United States)
In all its complexity, this really is a simple book: it is simply an exuberant vision of India.
I wanted a book that would give me an English Colonialist view of India. It is a rather hard thing to find: few English Victorian writers of any consequence wrote about India. It wasn't until later, ie, Orwell and Forster, that it became a popular topic, and they wrote with a vastly different attitude. I just wanted to know what an Englishman thought of the "jewel in the English colonial crown".
What I found is exactly what I wanted: so exactly that it caught me off guard. Kipling offers no politics, neither "problems of England in India" or "The White Man's Burden". Kim is, quite simply, a vision of India. Exuberant, complex, vibrant, full of energy and life and change. This is Kipling's India. It is a beautiful, mysterious, dangerous, amazing place.
There is a hint of mass market fiction here -- the basic structure being a young boy, a prodigy, uniquely equipped to help the adults in important "adult" matters -- reminds me of Ender's Game or Dune (both books I loved, but not exactly "literature". But perhaps this isn't either. Such was the claim of critic after critic. But anyway.) Yet in reality it is only a device -- an excuse for Kipling to take his boy on adventures and to immerse us more fully in the pugnant waters of Indian culture -- or cultures.
As far as the English/Colonialism question goes, perhaps the real reason Kipling drew so much flak is because he deals his English critics the most cruel insult -- worse than calling them evil, or stupid, or wrong, he implies that they just don't matter that much. Kipling's India is a diverse place, with a plethora of people groups in it, divided by caste, religion, ethnicity, whatever. And the English, the "Sahibs"? Another people group. That's all. They don't dominate or corrupt or really change anything in any profound way; they just sort of become part of the broiling swirl of cultures and peoples that is India.
2.A 'Best Kept Secret' of literature, May 26, 2006
Reviewer: E. M. Van Court "Van,
" (Montgomery AL, USA (temporarily))
'Kim' is a work that could receive very different reviews depending on the biases of the reviewer.
Any professor from the English department of my alma mater (Rutgers) would insist that 'Kim' should never under any circumstances receive any praise as it is racist, glorifies imperialism, was writen by a dead white male, and lacks a political philosophy acceptable to a modern progressive liberal. Well, I suppose that it lacks any real political philosophy (except some very general complimentary comments about democracy) and Rudyard Kipling is dead, white and male, but the first two comments are completely wrong and and this sort of review is the voice of ignorance.
A staunch traditionalist, conservative would insist that it is a canonical work that should be read by every school child as a superior example of English literature and the epitomy of the written Enlish language. This is equally ill-informed and ill-considered.
'Kim' is a wonderful story of an orphan in India (the part that is now Pakistan; Abid-please consider it a gesture of respect that I mention the change in geography) in the late 1800s. Kim is the son of an Irish soldier raised by locals, familiar with the customs and languages of the Hindus and Muslims of the area who gets recruited by the British to spy for them. Kim acts as a guide for a Tibetan Buddhist priest who is on a quest in India, broadening his knowledge of the cultures of his world and giving him an excuse to travel even further. He comes upon his father's regiment, and the officers of the regiment arrange for Kim to attend a 'proper' British school. Throughout the story, a British spymaster is helping Kim receive an education (both formal and in the skills needed to serve the British rule in India) and arranging for Kim to carry messages and run small but important tasks for him.
Throughout the book, the only Indian group that is treated with disrespect is Hindus who have sacrificed their own culture's customs in order to get ahead in the British goverment. Frequently, the low opinion of the British held by the Indians (Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist) is mentioned, and is usually pretty funny. The other European powers that are mention in the book are not treated with respect, but that is understandable (at least to me in context; other readers will have to make up their own minds).
Kipling's passion for the land he was raised in and his love for the peoples he was raised with is unmistakable, as is his love/hate relationship with the British government (N.B. he was not knighted in a time when most prominent authors were; he was entirely too candid about the British rule in India and the Crown's treatment of her soldiers). The language of the book is a little hard to follow, between regional loan words and the English of the time, but a patient and persistant reader will find the effort rewarded.
A great spy novel, read it for yourself and don't trust the critics who speak based on assumptions rather than knowledge.
Customer Reviews
1.Sam Dastor's reading of "Kim", 9 Jan 2005
Reviewer: Mr A J Davies
I discovered Kim in my 30s and I'm glad I didn't read it as a child, like some sort of boys-own adventure, because it is so much more than that. I won't go into the story here. Too many reviewers have already contributed their dodgy interpretations and peculiar personal opinions. It happens to be my all-time favourite book and I read and re-read it regularly, but that's just me - I respect those who do not see in it what I see. Read it for yourself and make up your own mind.
What I'd like to say here is that Sam Dastor's reading (get it unabridged, on cassette or CD) is absolutely superb. Not only does he read with incredible skill, but it is clear that he knows, loves and understands the story profoundly. In his voice the narrative flows like a perfectly paced piece of music and each character is alive as a real individual, each accent and way of speaking as familiar to me now as those of my own friends and family...
I could go on, but by now you'll realise that I reckon Mr Dastor did the job well. Sam, where are you? I'd like to thank you - in fact, I'd like to kiss the ground on which you stand!
2.Sam Dastor's reading of "Kim", 9 Jan 2005
Reviewer: Mr A J Davies
I discovered Kim in my 30s and I'm glad I didn't read it as a child, like some sort of boys-own adventure, because it is so much more than that. I won't go into the story here. Too many reviewers have already contributed their dodgy interpretations and peculiar personal opinions. It happens to be my all-time favourite book and I read and re-read it regularly, but that's just me - I respect those who do not see in it what I see. Read it for yourself and make up your own mind.
What I'd like to say here is that Sam Dastor's reading (get it unabridged, on cassette or CD) is absolutely superb. Not only does he read with incredible skill, but it is clear that he knows, loves and understands the story profoundly. In his voice the narrative flows like a perfectly paced piece of music and each character is alive as a real individual, each accent and way of speaking as familiar to me now as those of my own friends and family...
I could go on, but by now you'll realise that I reckon Mr Dastor did the job well. Sam, where are you? I'd like to thank you - in fact, I'd like to kiss the ground on which you stand!
