Evening star., 1943-02-21
Author Replies to Review
OF Book About KipIino
To the Editor OF The star.

To the Editor OF The star:
VIII you grant me space in your
Sunday book section to reply to the
review, in your issue of Sunday.
January IT, of my little book, "Rud-
yard Kipling: A Friendly profile"
If the reviewer, after actually
reading the book, had pronounced
it dull and stodgy, I might have
privately questioned her intelligence,
but I should have maintained a
fearful silence. But as she criticizes
me for not writing a different book
on a different subject, I must pro-
test. The introduction states ex-
plicitly that "its only purpose is to
show the generous, friendly, human
side of Kipling not gen.
orally known to the formal public. :"
In fact. from that angle, it may be a
first edition! 1t was not my purpose
to give a full portrait of this much
maligned man, nor do I think I
can fairly be charged with making
him out to be "a Cheryble (sic)
brother in his personal qualities. -
1 proved my right to the title by
excerpts from his letters and COM
ments from his intimate friends, and
did not base it on my personal esti-
mate. Kipling was man Of strong
affections and had many sorrows in
his life which affected him pro-
foundly. But his deeper self was
never on parade" He was keenly
sensitive to environment and was
free to choose one that suited him.
The author of an essay with the
amazing title, The Kipling That
Nobody Read" elaborates incidents
in Kipling's life that lend them
selves to his prejudices. But one has
only to read that hilarious story,
"Stalky & Co" (disregarding its
worth as literature). and the au-
thor's reference to it in his auto
biography, to question the essay
lists insistence that the important
thing is that he suffered" and that
1T is in the nature of an hysterical
outpouring of emotions kept over
from school days. But the essay
ist himself evaluates his critique
when he says, I'VE do not know
enough about his life" to be able to
assign to it various assumptions.
Of the irascible Kipling with the
vitriolic pen I am not unmindful:
Hunting for them. one may find in
Klpling's writings numerous denunc-
latlons of America and Americans.
in some instances rejecting only
temporary irritation. There are also
many expressions of admiration for
the country and its people" The
denunciatory side of Kipling is the
only one the general public knows,
and it has been worn threadbare by
caustic critics.
Until now, the only account /
have seen of the Vermont trouble is
sensational and ne-sided-factS are
so stated as to 'glorify the agrees
sor and belittle his victim" My &C
count, based OH the same facts. is, 1
think, the only one which shows
Kipling in sympathetic light, and
several letters have come to me ex-
pressing appreciation of this belated
justice. Whatever was his real feel
ing toward America after that cruci-
flying experience, Kipling never
could have lived in an atmosphere of
hostility and discord as would have
him at Naulakha after
Beatty's threat of lawsuit, whether
a bluff or genuine.
Finally. the criticism does not
seem to be of my book as it is, but
as it is not. However, the reviewer
and I could walk hand in hand in
our delight in Kipling as a story
teller.
LUCILLE RUSSELL CARPENTER.
Evanston, III