The Jungle Book

Having grown up with the animation, and enjoying the recently released live-action film, I went into the book with my arms wide open. Sadly, I didn’t enjoy it as much as most others did.

The problem isn’t the book or the stories themselves. Kipling’s writing is solid—practical and concise. The stories are great metaphors for growing in life and can act as coming-of-age stories for younger readers. Characters were built well and developed throughout.

No, the problem lies in the exoticization and the ‘other’-ing of the natives, aka Indians, in the stories. Yes, these are colonial stories and it shows such attitudes through and through. We are shown as “exotic” people who are technologically and culturally challenged. The show more “white sahibs” are far more refined and framed as ‘good’ against their darker counterparts.

A lot has been said about colonialism and post-colonialism. While I enjoyed Mowgli’s stories in the jungle greatly—in fact, they were the best in the collection—the others I didn’t quite enjoy. show less

The first three stories here are more or less in our literary DNA at this point (I mean, really, who calls up more vivid associations for you, Noah, Achilles, and King Arthur, or Baloo, Bagheera, and Shere Khan?). Mowgli is the child raised by wolves, of course, but he's also the perfect man in a way, the transcendently alive (and lithe) hunter gatherer, domiciling amongst the beasts not because he's fallen off the map of human civilization but because we left him behind, adopted agriculture and superstition. He's not an animal and he's not a man, at least given what man has become--he's the treetopper and tool-user we might have been.

And then there is "The White Seal," Kotick the seal on his requisite quest through underwater show more amazement-scapes, and the seals have their own language based on Aleut, which is amazing, and it's just a really well-fleshed-out and enchanting world. Also Kipling manages to pull off a (gory) seal massacre in a way that's not too awful to teach small children some thoughtful lessons about mortality. The equal of Mowgli in every way.

And Rikki-Tikki-Tavi the mongoose, lesser, and Kipling dwells fetishistically on the "Big Englishman," but still a classic David/Goliath story.

And then "Toomai of the Elephants," which to me is just mahout fanfic, and then the one about the horse and the mule and the camel, which to me is befuddled and pointless as if Kipling got too much sun.

And the poems, which range from evocative in a"Jungle-Floor Ballads" kind of way to extraneous plot sommary of the stories to which they attach. This is a comprehensive rating, but Mowgli and Kotick are five-star bros for sure. show less

This holds up surprisingly well for something that could have been full of English racism back in the good old days of 1894. Indeed, some of the stories read very much like a modern YA book of parables with animals who seem much more human than the humans.

Big surprise, right? We humans are a monstrous lot.

That being said, this isn't just the source of Disney's Jungle Book, although a part of it is. It's also full of other great stories. Most memorable is Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, the mongoose who kills a cobra. But also horrifying is the tale of the sea cows, or rather, the White Seal. The tale of the elephant, Toomai, was delightful.

I should say it would be a great book for any child, but not many modern children know crap about India show more except, in my daughter's case, some snappy tunes and dance moves. The connect is kinda missing, you know? Like... Tarzan? Who the F*** is he?

Even so, as an ADULT, it's rather charming and delightful. :) show less

After running into Kipling in Mike Carey's The Unwritten, I was curious to read some of his works. His earlier, tub-thumping works seem to be less well regarded now (which is a relief, I sat through the movie adaptation of "Gunga Din" with Cary Grant when I was young and Cary Grant-infatuated, and then many years later almost died laughing when Peter Sellers sent it up in "The Party"; I will love Sellers forever for that one scene with the bugle alone). But everyone seems to still love his children's books, and with my kids currently watching a new animated series of The Jungle Book, this seemed like the place to start.

Funnily enough, most of The Jungle Book is not about Mowgli: and of the three stories with him in it, only two feature show more Shere Khan as well. (And one story is set with seals in the cold northern seas. And another in Afghanistan. Since when does either the northern seas or Afghanistan count as "jungle"? I think the title of the book is rather misleading!)

My favourite characters were Baloo & Bagheera, their interaction was just priceless, like a long married squabbling but (underneath it all) loving couple. Shere Khan wasn't as scary as I would have expected, even though he's a man-killer (due to a gammy leg), the way Mowgli despises him makes Shere Khan come across as a nasty schoolyard bully. The scary one was Bagheera, who is actually on Mowgli's side (which is a relief).

But still, good fun, in a very British colonial sort of way. I would have gobbled these up as a child!

And Rikki Tikki Tavi just plain rocks. show less

This classic story of a boy raised by a pack of wolves has lost none of its power over the years, but the Disney movie certainly doesn't do it justice. Mowgli's journey to manhood is so much more complicated than that depiction shows. He learns the jungle law from the vivid characters Baloo the bear and the panther Bagheera and he must fight the tiger Shere Khan, but the true story lies in his life as a misfit. Though he's raised in the jungle, most animals never accept him. Then when he returns to the human village he finds the same is true there. He has no real home and the pain of that breaks his heart.

I come back to this a lot, a favorite for the writing, and a reminder that imperialism and racism are sweet poison of the time - that it's easy to fall into the beautiful words, and ignore the utter callous horror of that neutral shunning voice. The claim that some people aren't people, that some are dirty, that some are better.

This is probably the best example - especially in The White Seal - of Kipling just being godsawful toxic while loving their subject matter and embracing their words.

I had absolutely no expectations for this book. I knew it was a classic, and I believe classics are worth reading. I also knew (and am well familiar with) the Disney movie adaptations of the book. Beyond that, I had no idea what I would find here.

And you know what? The Jungle Book is actually quite charming!

This book is a collection of short stories and poetry. Most of the stories revolve around the adventures of Mowgli, the “manling”, but not all of them. There’s a tale of a seal, and a couple about dogs, and even conversation between multiple caravan animals. For he most part, though? These stories feature Mowgli and one or more of his jungle friends. Each story is self-contained, but the book is better as a whole, in my show more opinion.

Even in short story format, you get to know the recurring characters well enough to be pleased when they pop up as a cameos in another story. Outside the Jungle stories, the characters are one-story-only. Which is fine – honestly? These other stories are not impressive or endearing. Baloo and Bagheera are favorites, as well as Kaa the Python (as may be surprising for those who grew up on the Disney version). Newcomer Akela is a good character as well.

The formatting of this book works well, using a poem to transition between stories. The way my edition is set up, the poem is related to the previous story. I’m not sure if it’s universal, but I like the way it worked in mine and I thought the transitions were very successful. I liked the poems well enough, and they didn’t intrude too much on the story.

If The Jungle Book was the type of book you’d written off as a children’s story, or as a dusty old classic, I would highly recommend giving this book a second chance. It’s charming and enjoyable, and unique in its own way. There are a few turns of phrases that are a little cringy, but because this book so heavily relies on the animals and Mowgli’s perspectives, the traces of racism are very minor, and only present in a couple stories. Honestly, even for an animal book (I know a lot of people have opinions about those – I don’t typically enjoy them myself) this is very good. show less