The Phantom Rickshaw

Four of the five stories by Kipling that manipulate the supernatural in at least some fashion or another find themselves often forgotten alongside the fifth, "The Man Who Would Be King," as it has endured as one of Kipling's most important experiments in narrative. It's not that the others are mediocre; they're quite good. Each of them. Especially discomforting to the reader's imagination is "The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes." It's more of a pure adventure story than a tales of ghosts, but its focused story on a man in a pit of horrors is one of Kipling's most memorable efforts.

It is "The Man Who Would Be King," however, that is most remembered. Deservedly so. With its shifting perspective in narration, from the present to multiple show more pasts from the same character, Peachey, it's almost modernist in its effect. We, Kipling's readers, are put straight in amidst Peachey's tortured mind, his memories of catastrophe. And all he has to lead him back "home" is the ghostly presence of Daniel Dravot's severed head with the gold crown still in place. An adventure it was. And no matter the horror, there is still the appeal to take up the trail where Peachey and Dan left off. show less

This is an odd one to review - simply because the Rudyard Kipling is a true English Gentleman when these stories were published - that is, the "White" people are civilized and good, and anyone not white is almost sub-human, with the darker the person the less human they are. This always brings up the question - should you judge a book by today's standards, or by the standards of the period the book was written in?

First, this is a book of short stories written by Kipling in the turn of the century. It has language that I wasn't familiar with, especially when it was pertaining to modes of transportation and the different classes of Indian People (I'm assuming most of these are now considered derogatory). I had to stop, figure out the show more context of the word within the story and than continue on.

The stories themselves are quite well written. The first one, the Phantom Rickshaw - was a true ghost story. The other three stories flirt with ghosts and death, but aren't really true ghost stories. "My True Ghost Story" was actually scary - and leaves a reader wondering about what actually happened at the end. "The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes was also scary, but for a different reason, although this one I think shows Kipling's view of Englishman initiative and superiority over the native population. The last story was the one I did not like very much. It was well written, but the main characters were boorish and annoying and the story only worked because of Free-Masonry.

So overall - well written stories, although they are totally written in a different time. show less

Times have changed and these tales aren't as firghtening as they once were. Instead they are a comforting place to return to, the days of our youth when a ghost story would keep us awake for hours.

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