The San Francisco call., 1901-10-27


~ suffering the tate and gcing the
IN way Ct all popular heroes and
idols. He is no longer the fad.
= n3s jority Ct critics have their official
aE cut for hiu-msinly because as good
critics they have kept their hands on the
l-d5lic's pulse and notice that 1t is ut a
low ebb as fa- as matters kipling are con-
O red
At one time everything was Kipling and
nothing but Ki9ling.
Now. If you ask any ore If he has read
kim T1ipling-s latest that has been
running serially in Mcclure S. the general
reply is. Yes. l commenced ii and read
two or three numbers. 1t was too dry,
I dropped it
And yet kim is TipIing. There is all
the old power all the keen discernment,
all the earmarks Of his best prose efforts
in this, his latest work.
on The cover Ct the new book the pub
iizhers. with true publishers care in such
matters. have caused to be inscribed:
%. If KiDling should die now his future
fame would rest upon the authorship OF
kim. Sidney Colyin."
All of which is very wisely said.
Some years so during the Tlipling boom
kim would have made the same pop
uiar hit as others of his books have done,
but now with the Kipling fad on the wane
il is doubtful whether the general reader
will ever get past those tHo or three in
stallments that appeared in McClure's.
Kfpling', hope for fame from kim
certainly rests in the future.
In way il is too bad. kim Is OF
worth. lust as much worth as any of Kip
ung's prose.
a serial appearance is enough to Kill
fhe best of stories. Only the tale of the
detective type with 'the hero poised in
rni,5air and the villain hacking at the rope
with broken file" will stand the wet
blanket CT Continued Next Month. SO
if really is too bad that kim did not
anpear in book form first-and then never
as q serial.
To the readers who fell in the serial dis
sster all that can be said is-give Kipling
another chance for auld lang syne and try
the book.
The same general criticism applies TO
kim" that seems to be merited by Kip
lins's work IN general. He is d destroyer
and not a creator. With the exception OF
possibly an Englishman or two who float
through in a hazy sort of way there Is
not q character that you would like TO
bring home for dinner or introduce TO
your nearest and dearest. Kim himself
is as interesting a gamin as you coulu
wish TO meet just because Mr. kiplins, by
his magnetic power, makes him seem that
way. But when you stop to analyze the
character you find that after all his lghts
are the lights of the Oriental and, worse
tban that the Oriental trained for the Sc
cret service CT India.
You draw the veil of Kipling glamour
aside and kim stands forth the son
Of a one-tirne color sergeant who died of
opiurn. You see kim" as he really is
2 sharp weasel of a street urchin, wise
in worldly ways. with the two redeeming
features of loyalty TO the old lama, who
is seeking the River of the Arrow, and
devotion to the hand that has paid him
. for services rendered. You see him devel-
op into young man who will prove a
ready and able tool for the secret serv-
ice: :. man wise i'm every trick of his trade
and absolutely unscrupulous of means SO
that the end Of serving the Great Game
may be accomplished. That is kim" as
he really is when you have finished the
book and think the whole matter out.
Still that is a criticism that applies in
a general way to nearly all of Kipling s
prose.
He is certainly a master hand at de-
picting as they really are drunken soldiers
and cunning Orientals. Kim is no ex-
ception. 1t is built Upon exactly the same
plan as those writings that made Kipline
an idol, so it should not be held up tc
break him
As wonderful and strong picture of
Indian life, people and departmental in.
trigues Kim" IS a masterpiece; as d
story that holds its readers by the power
Of its narrative it is failure
Kipling educates Kim to the point where
he may really do something of interest
something WORTH while. even If it is in thC
wrong direction, and then he abruptly
closes the tale.
It looks TO the casual observer as II
Kipling has purposely cut his story tha
he may at some later day give seque
to Kim All of which is very well fol
the next book but rather aggravating ii
the case of this one.
The present story of kim" run: