The Day's Work

by Rudyard Kipling

In The Day's Work, Kipling uses a series of short stories to examine labour and employment in a variety of different industries, be it shipping, transport or bridge building. The result is a masterly collection of writings dealing with such eternal themes as family dependency, obedience to command, and loyalty against all the odds.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Short Stories, Literature, Novels, 19th Century, Nobel Prize

431 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1898

About the author

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was a journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist.

Kipling's works of fiction include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901), and many short stories, including The Man Who Would Be King (1888). His poems include Mandalay (1890), Gunga Din (1890), The Gods of the Copybook Headings (1919), The White Man's Burden (1899), and If— (1910). He is regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story; his children's books are classics of children's literature; and one critic described his work as exhibiting "a versatile and luminous narrative gift".

Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the United Kingdom, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Henry James said: "Kipling strikes me personally as the most complete man of genius (as distinct from fine intelligence) that I have ever known." In 1907, at the age of 41, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first English-language writer to receive the prize, and its youngest recipient to date. He was also sounded out for the British Poet Laureateship and on several occasions for a knighthood, both of which he declined.

Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907 "in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous author."

Kipling kept writing until the early 1930s, but at a slower pace and with much less success than before. On the night of 12 January 1936, Kipling suffered a haemorrhage in his small intestine. He underwent surgery, but died less than a week later on 18 January 1936 at the age of 70 of a perforated duodenal ulcer. Kipling's death had in fact previously been incorrectly announced in a magazine, to which he wrote, "I've just read that I am dead. Don't forget to delete me from your list of subscribers."

Reviews

[Charles van Buren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe 4 stars?

Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: The Day's Work - Part 01 (Kindle Edition)

But it is Kipling. Even though I did not care for a couple of the stories, others were quite good. Some of them are often considered to be among his finest.

[Claire Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightful collection; I sincerely enjoyed my first taste of Kipling’s short stories, and hope to read more. My one complaint is that they often start quite slowly and confusingly—I found it common practice that I would need to push through the first few pages of many stories before I started making any sense of what was going on or gaining interest in it. After that, though, each one was an enthralling tale.

Among this collection, I’d have to list my personal favorites as “The Ship that Found Herself” for most thoughtful, “An Error in the Fourth Dimension” for most comical, and “The Brushwood Boy” of course for most beautiful. It was a lovely end to the collection—all three of the last stories were, truly—and I wish there had been even more.

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me just state first and foremost: I really dislike stories that involve personification of inanimate objects. This disdain comes primarily from reading trying to read Tom Robbins books where things like a dildo carries on a conversation with a sock or whatever. It doesn't amuse me that much.

I can appreciate personification of animals a little better, though this also bugs me. (Funny, really, considering my own dogs are like real people, and my boyfriend and I can carry on whole conversations as through from the point-of-view of the dogs.) Books told from the point-of-view of a dog - oy. Hasn't it been done before? A whole heck of a lot? What more is there to say about running in the rain? I haven't even read Watership Down yet; but this has more to do with the trauma that came of watching the animated movie at a young age than it does the fact that the story is told from the points-of-view of rabbits.

So I was hesitant to read this Kipling book of short stories. The description on the back:

Animals, machines, nature and its relation to human nature - 'the sound of bare feet running upon soft earth' - are the central themes of this, one of Kipling's best collections of stories.

Animals? Machines? This may not be that good.

But really, the stories were better than I expected. His characters have real adventures, something that is lacking in most modern literature, and if some of the adventures occur in the life of a train, so be it. What can't be overlooked is Kipling's skill as a writer. I noticed it a little bit in The Jungle Books and Kim, but feel it comes across even more here in The Day's Work - likely because they're short stories and so Kipling would need to pack a heavier punch in order to tell his story in fewer pages.

So far probably my favorite Kipling and strangely the one I was least familiar with prior to reading Kipling. You don't really hear people talking about this one for some reason; or if they do I'm hanging out with the wrong people. Everyone talks about The Jungle Book and Kim and discuss the adventures in those stories, but I think I'm burnt out on hearing about those at this point. Disney did its own thing with The Jungle Book and Kim is supposed to be one of the best adventure stories ever, etc. etc. I often prefer the books that aren't as common or as popular. I feel one gets to know a writer better by reading their lesser-known titles, as is the case with this particular Kipling.

The Brushwood Boy is possibly one of the best short stories I've read.

[Charles van Buren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe 4 stars?

Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: The Day's Work - Part 01 (Kindle Edition)

But it is Kipling. Even though I did not care for a couple of the stories, others were quite good. Some of them are often considered to be among his finest.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having made Kipling my speciality author of the year, over all, predominantly not what I expected. The majority of his works are mediocre, sub par, others are politically sensitive. Then, you get works like ‘The Man who would be king’, ‘Kim’, and to a certain extent ‘The Jungle Book’. Once in a blue moon, you find a set of works like this. It covers all aspects of a wonderful author, beautifully written, vividly descriptive and wonderful plots, some flights of fancy, but above all really enjoyable.

Compared to many of his stories set in or around India, here, the majority were not, ships sailing to the US, horses, young children growing up to manhood. A true plethora of wonderfully unique stories. Perhaps, part of the appeal of these stories is that Kipling has moved away from his usual forum for stories and is a sensational taste for the reading tastebuds.

I did not give this book full marks as some of the Northern English slang was hard to read, it felt like he has never been to Northern England, and was making a lot of it up.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with some of the other reviews. I find myself reading the first few pages of each story to work out what was going on and then starting again. Once I picked up the thread I then really enjoyed them. Some were easier to read than others so for example those where animals and inanimate objects are given voices were particularly hard to pick up but other stories I loved, in particular An error in the Fourth Dimension and the Brushwood Boy. So in the end I have enjoyed reading Kipling even though spread out over a year and interspersed with other books.

[Gary Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful collection of short stories showing Kipling at his imaginative best! His ability to write through the eyes of animals and machinery is amazing. Each story keeps you captivated from start to finish! I feel so fortunate to have found this treasure in a second hand book store in Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds England!

[Eduard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stories: The Bridge-Builders, The Ship That Found Herself, The Tomb of His Ancestors (if you can ignore the white man superiority idea but the language and story is so good), The Devil and the Deep Sea.

[Gene Georgelis · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with many of Kipling's short storage it was hit or miss with me..

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

So so

[Anusha · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Simon Mcleish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog here in November 2000.

Short stories of variable quality make up The Day's Work; it contains some of Kipling's best writing alongside some of his worst. The stories have no feature common to them all; most are set away from India, most have non-human characters - animals or machines are anthropomorphised.

To take the poor stories first, .007 (about railway locomotives) and A Walking Delegate (about horses and Communism) seem twee; the two entitled William the Conqueror are dull and have a sentimentalised ending which makes it obvious that they were originally written for the Christmas market.

However, these failures are set against the first and last in the collection, The Bridge Builders and The Brushwood Boy. In the latter and in The Maltese Cat, the anthropomorphism succeeds as well as it does in the Jungle Book. (The former is one of Kipling's Indian stories.) The Maltese Cat is an enjoyable tale of a polo match from the point of view of the ponies; it is described on the jacket as the greatest of all polo stories, hardly a genre providing much competition, but it must rank as one of the best descriptions of team sports ever written. Another memorable story is The Ship That Found Herself, an imaginative tale of the maiden voyage of a ship as experienced by the various components which make it up.

The best stories make this a collection worth reading; it is a shame that the quality is so uneven.

[Peter Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kipling comes with a certain amount of challenging baggage, in particular the frequent appearance of the white man’s burden which is certainly inescapable as a theme in this collection (as is a tinge of anti-Semitism in two of the stories). As has been argued many times before this should be seen in the context of the time. It doesn’t diminish the damage those thought processes can lead to but nor should it diminish the greatness of the writing.

The overall theme is a sombre one of work and endeavour; be it bridge building, famine fighting, or ponies giving their all to win a polo match, but often the style of writing is more light if not downright impish. He delights in aping dialects or imagining how horses, ponies or even trains might talk and conspire. Two of these tails of toil are really love stories, and two of the stories at least wander into fantasy. Yes he is obsessed with the work ethic, and yes he has some difficult world views that can best be described as dated, but the man could, and can still, tell a story.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having made Kipling my speciality author of the year, over all, predominantly not what I expected. The majority of his works are mediocre, sub par, others are politically sensitive. Then, you get works like ‘The Man who would be king’, ‘Kim’, and to a certain extent ‘The Jungle Book’. Once in a blue moon, you find a set of works like this. It covers all aspects of a wonderful author, beautifully written, vividly descriptive and wonderful plots, some flights of fancy, but above all really enjoyable.

Compared to many of his stories set in or around India, here, the majority were not, ships sailing to the US, horses, young children growing up to manhood. A true plethora of wonderfully unique stories. Perhaps, part of the appeal of these stories is that Kipling has moved away from his usual forum for stories and is a sensational taste for the reading tastebuds.

I did not give this book full marks as some of the Northern English slang was hard to read, it felt like he has never been to Northern England, and was making a lot of it up.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of stories that spans the globe but which mainly take place in the India of the British Empire. These stories look at labour and efficiency. I love the tales of the old India and the confidence of the British Empire we know that this is out of date now but the manners and etiquette of the times are so much better than our present day.

[Eija · Rating 1 out of 5]

12 novellia, joissa aiheina eläimet, koneet ja laivat. Eläimet ja koneet osasivat monissa novelleissa puhua. Muutaman novellin jaksoin lukea - loput meni selatessa. Kertomukset poukkoilivat niin, että ei pysynyt oikein kärryillä. Ei minua varten.

[Cade · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first Kipling book. I really liked it. I like how he is able to put into print the various dialects. I also like how he personifies animals and inanimate objects. A very enjoyable read.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I could have even a 10th of these adventures. Who knew Kipling, author of the Jungle Book, actually had a put down a rogue elephant in that was terrorizing the town in real life.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite enjoyed reading these stories. Some were mainly talking, which is a little unusual. One was some horses talking in a field on their day off, one was parts of a ship talking about how they were struggling to manage, one was steam trains, American ones, talking about each other. The last mentioned is called .007, and, if I remember rightly, was the inspiration for James Bond to be called that!
If you like Kipling, then I think you would enjoy this little collection. Even if you're not a particular fan of his, you may find the style of some of the stories interesting, like the three I mentioned. Some of the information about life a hundred or so years ago is quite interesting, too.