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Puck #2
Rewards and Fairies
Rudyard Kipling (1865
245 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1910
59 people are currently reading
763 people want to read
About the author
Rudyard Kipling
7,201 books3,683 followersJoseph 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."
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."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
March 10, 2012
Maybe a 3.5. Excellent story telling; the poems left me cold, except the joy in finding an old favorite--"If you can keep your mind when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you"--as the opening line to "If".
Another good line "I reckon there's more things told than are true, And more things true than are told" from "The Ballard of Minepit Shaw."
The real fun is the interplay between a pair of "modern" children and the world of Fairy, which gives some background on how nineteenth century people viewed the world of the Night People.
A good read.
Another good line "I reckon there's more things told than are true, And more things true than are told" from "The Ballard of Minepit Shaw."
The real fun is the interplay between a pair of "modern" children and the world of Fairy, which gives some background on how nineteenth century people viewed the world of the Night People.
A good read.
May 25, 2020
Borrow trouble for yourself if that’s your nature, but don’t lend it to your neighbours.
This is another collection of stories about the children Una and Dan and their semi-adventures with Puck. Most of the stories involve Puck bringing some historical—or even prehistorical—figure to tell them about some adventure in their lives.
I don’t normally read ebooks at home—I have a large pile of books to read—so I only read ebooks when I’m out of the house. Since I haven’t been out of the house for a long time, there was a long break between “The Conversion of St. Wilfrid” and “A Doctor of Medicine”.
So it was a strange surprise to open the Books app on my iPad last Sunday and get a story about a plague in Sussex. The historical figure in this story is Nicholas Culpeper, and it’s a fascinating look at an astrologer (he calls himself a Physician-Astrologer) who, frustrated that his “science” is providing no help to the village, engages in proto-scientific inquiry to determine an effective means of combating the plague.
‘Good people’—the man shrugged his lean shoulders—‘the vulgar crowd love not truth unadorned. Wherefore we philosophers must needs dress her to catch their eye or—ahem!—their ear.’
Many of the stories are about the long rise to civilization, whether it’s the aforementioned transition from astrology to science, or the primal struggle between man and nature.
It is not right that The Beast should master man.
Specifically, about England’s long rise to civilization; Kipling deliberately, like Tolkien after him, wrote to provide or expand on his fellow countrymen’s myths. I’m pretty sure only “Brother Square-Toes” even took place outside of England, mainly in Philadelphia and a little on the Channel in Boulogne.
The stories are true faerie stories in modern garb; Puck himself is, of course, a faerie, and the children travel between the real world and the faerie world without knowing it and without fully comprehending the difference.
The air trembled a little as though it could not make up its mind whether to slide into the Pit or move across the open. But it seemed easiest to go downhill, and the children felt one soft puff after another slip and sidle down the slope in fragrant breaths that baffed on their eyelids. The little whisper of the sea by the cliffs joined with the whisper of the wind over the grass, the hum of insects in the thyme, the ruffle and rustle of the flock below, and a thickish mutter deep in the very chalk beneath them.
January 31, 2015
When I started reading ‘Rewards and Fairies’, out of continuity for ‘Puck of Pook's Hill’, I was expecting another handful of adventure tales with knights, pirates and savages — very amusing but somewhat childish nonetheless. I was very much surprised, however, to find so mature and deep a book, making such efforts in subtly exposing the darkness of human nature. King turned beggar and god turned slave, men sent to death and innocent hanged out of revenge. The burden of being a living god or a woman ruler, and all its implications. All these tales are lightly told, but some of its meaning likely goes beyond the understanding of most children, making this book a gem for re-reading in mature years. In the words of the knight Sir Richard, “Live you long enough, maiden, and you shall know the meaning of many whys.” I found ‘Cold Iron’, ‘Gloriana’, ‘The Knife and the Naked Chalk’ and ‘The Tree of Justice’ to be exceptional in this matter, but all tales go deeper in some subtle meaning.
Now, this book is a sequel to ‘Puck of Pook's Hill’ but it can be read independently, since only a few tales use characters from the first book and when they do, all the references work only to situate those who read the first book and are not important for the understanding of the plot. Besides, the story’s frame presented in the first book is covered in this book’s introduction, thus closing all possible lose ends. This said, my only advice left is that, if you loved reading ‘The Jungle Book’s but haven’t read ‘Puck of Pook's Hill’ — or even if you have, but somehow missed this —, you should go straight to the wonders of this grave book.
Now, this book is a sequel to ‘Puck of Pook's Hill’ but it can be read independently, since only a few tales use characters from the first book and when they do, all the references work only to situate those who read the first book and are not important for the understanding of the plot. Besides, the story’s frame presented in the first book is covered in this book’s introduction, thus closing all possible lose ends. This said, my only advice left is that, if you loved reading ‘The Jungle Book’s but haven’t read ‘Puck of Pook's Hill’ — or even if you have, but somehow missed this —, you should go straight to the wonders of this grave book.
March 17, 2012
I’ve already written about how this book and Puck of Pook’s Hill are made; now I want to talk about how they are written.
The language is the greatest appeal of these two collections. It’s grand and archaic and fine - the language of knights and centurions and queens as well as gypsies and poachers and smugglers.
Teeth thutter, arrows thock, people are middlin’ well acquainted. One of my favourite passages is from ‘Simple Simon’, a story about a shipbuilder who as a young man sailed with Sir Francis Drake in the ‘fetching trade’:
My other favourite story as a kid was ‘Gloriana’ (influenced by my much-loved copy of Rosemary Sutcliff’s Queen Elizabeth Story). It is a story about the painful duties and responsibilities of a ruler; England’s colonies in America are being threatened by Philip of Spain, and Elizabeth must decide how to respond. Elizabeth acts out the episode for the children - a lovely play in itself on the pageantry and formality of the Elizabethan court:
The contrast between Gloriana and the postmistress is lovely - and I guess Kipling had no way of knowing that a child reading this in the 1980s would find the notion of telegrams just as foreign as that of Elizabethan politics.
The other aspect of the two books are the poems. These range from dull to iconic, and include the much-cited If, and the almost equally well-known Smuggler’s Song. ‘If’ never did it for me, but I love the ‘Smuggler’s Song’; ‘Cold Iron’ perhaps was my favourite of all:
Religion, magic, power, loyalty - Kipling’s England.
The language is the greatest appeal of these two collections. It’s grand and archaic and fine - the language of knights and centurions and queens as well as gypsies and poachers and smugglers.
Teeth thutter, arrows thock, people are middlin’ well acquainted. One of my favourite passages is from ‘Simple Simon’, a story about a shipbuilder who as a young man sailed with Sir Francis Drake in the ‘fetching trade’:
’I'd a foolishness in my head that ships could be builded out of iron. Yes - iron ships! I'd made me a liddle toy one of iron plates beat out thin - and she floated a wonder! But my Uncle, bein' a burgess of Rye, and a shipbuilder, he 'prenticed me to Frankie in the fetchin' trade, to cure this foolishness.'
'What was the fetchin' trade?' Dan interrupted.
'Fetchin' poor Flemishers and Dutchmen out o' the Low Countries into England. The King o' Spain, d'ye see, he was burnin' 'em in those parts, for to make 'em Papishers, so Frankie he fetched 'em away to our parts, and a risky trade it was. His master wouldn't never touch it while he lived, but he left his ship to Frankie when he died, and Frankie turned her into this fetchin' trade. Outrageous cruel hard work - on besom-black nights bulting back and forth off they Dutch roads with shoals on all sides, and having to hark out for the frish-frish-frish-like of a Spanish galliwopses' oars creepin' up on ye. Frankie 'ud have the tiller and Moon he'd peer forth at the bows, our lantern under his skirts, till the boat we was lookin' for 'ud blurt up out o' the dark, and we'd lay hold and haul aboard whoever 'twas - man, woman, or babe - an' round we'd go again, the wind bewling like a kite in our riggin's, and they'd drop into the hold and praise God for happy deliverance till they was all sick.
'I had nigh a year at it, an' we must have fetched off - oh, a hundred pore folk, I reckon. Outrageous bold, too, Frankie growed to be. Outrageous cunnin' he was. Once we was as near as nothin' nipped by a tall ship off Tergoes Sands in a snowstorm. She had the wind of us, and spooned straight before it, shootin' all bow guns. Frankie fled inshore smack for the beach, till he was atop of the first breakers. Then he hove his anchor out, which nigh tore our bows off, but it twitched us round end-for-end into the wind, d'ye see, an' we clawed off them sands like a drunk man rubbin' along a tavern bench. When we could see, the Spanisher was laid flat along in the breakers with the snows whitening on his wet belly. He thought he could go where Frankie went.'
My other favourite story as a kid was ‘Gloriana’ (influenced by my much-loved copy of Rosemary Sutcliff’s Queen Elizabeth Story). It is a story about the painful duties and responsibilities of a ruler; England’s colonies in America are being threatened by Philip of Spain, and Elizabeth must decide how to respond. Elizabeth acts out the episode for the children - a lovely play in itself on the pageantry and formality of the Elizabethan court:
'We've never been to a play,' said Una.
The lady looked at her and laughed. 'I'll make one for you. Watch! You are to imagine that she - Gloriana, Belphoebe, Elizabeth - has gone on a progress to Rye to comfort her sad heart (maids are often melancholic), and while she halts at Brickwall House, the village - what was its name?' She pushed Puck with her foot.
'Norgem,' he croaked, and squatted by the wigwam.
'Norgem village loyally entertains her with a masque or play, and a Latin oration spoken by the parson, for whose false quantities, if I'd made 'em in my girlhood, I should have been whipped.'
'You whipped?' said Dan.
'Soundly, sirrah, soundly! She stomachs the affront to her scholarship, makes her grateful, gracious thanks from the teeth outwards, thus'- (the lady yawned) -'Oh, a Queen may love her subjects in her heart, and yet be dog-wearied of 'em 'in body and mind - and so sits down'- her skirts foamed about her as she sat - 'to a banquet beneath Brickwall Oak. Here for her sins she is waited upon by - What were the young cockerels' names that served Gloriana at table?'
'Frewens, Courthopes, Fullers, Husseys,' Puck began.
She held up her long jewelled hand. 'Spare the rest! They were the best blood of Sussex, and by so much the more clumsy in handling the dishes and plates. Wherefore' - she looked funnily over her shoulder - 'you are to think of Gloriana in a green and gold-laced habit, dreadfully expecting that the jostling youths behind her would, of pure jealousy or devotion, spatter it with sauces and wines. The gown was Philip's gift, too! At this happy juncture a Queen's messenger, mounted and mired, spurs up the Rye road and delivers her a letter' - she giggled -'a letter from a good, simple, frantic Spanish gentleman called - Don Philip.'
'That wasn't Philip, King of Spain?' Dan asked.
'Truly, it was. 'Twixt you and me and the bedpost, young Burleigh, these kings and queens are very like men and women, and I've heard they write each other fond, foolish letters that none of their ministers should open.'
'Did her ministers ever open Queen Elizabeth's letters?' said Una.
'Faith, yes! But she'd have done as much for theirs, any day. You are to think of Gloriana, then (they say she had a pretty hand), excusing herself thus to the company - for the Queen's time is never her own - and, while the music strikes up, reading Philip's letter, as I do.' She drew a real letter from her pocket, and held it out almost at arm's length, like the old post-mistress in the village when she reads telegrams.
'Hm! Hm! Hm! Philip writes as ever most lovingly. He says his Gloriana is cold, for which reason he burns for her through a fair written page.' She turned it with a snap. 'What's here? Philip complains that certain of her gentlemen have fought against his generals in the Low Countries. He prays her to hang 'em when they re-enter her realms. (Hm, that's as may be.) Here's a list of burnt shipping slipped between two vows of burning adoration. Oh, poor Philip! His admirals at sea - no less than three of 'em - have been boarded, sacked, and scuttled on their lawful voyages by certain English mariners (gentlemen, he will not call them), who are now at large and working more piracies in his American ocean, which the Pope gave him. (He and the Pope should guard it, then!) Philip hears, but his devout ears will not credit it, that Gloriana in some fashion countenances these villains' misdeeds, shares in their booty, and - oh, shame! - has even lent them ships royal for their sinful thefts. Therefore he requires (which is a word Gloriana loves not), requires that she shall hang 'em when they return to England, and afterwards shall account to him for all the goods and gold they have plundered. A most loving request! If Gloriana will not be Philip's bride, she shall be his broker and his butcher! Should she still be stiff-necked, he writes - see where the pen digged the innocent paper! - that he hath both the means and the intention to be revenged on her. Aha! Now we come to the Spaniard in his shirt!' (She waved the letter merrily.) 'Listen here! Philip will prepare for Gloriana a destruction from the West - a destruction from the West - far exceeding that which Pedro de Avila wrought upon the Huguenots. And he rests and remains, kissing her feet and her hands, her slave, her enemy, or her conqueror, as he shall find that she uses him.'
The contrast between Gloriana and the postmistress is lovely - and I guess Kipling had no way of knowing that a child reading this in the 1980s would find the notion of telegrams just as foreign as that of Elizabethan politics.
The other aspect of the two books are the poems. These range from dull to iconic, and include the much-cited If, and the almost equally well-known Smuggler’s Song. ‘If’ never did it for me, but I love the ‘Smuggler’s Song’; ‘Cold Iron’ perhaps was my favourite of all:
Gold is for the mistress -- silver for the maid --
Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.
"Good!" said the Baron, sitting in his hall,
"But Iron -- Cold Iron -- is master of them all."
So he made rebellion 'gainst the King his liege,
Camped before his citadel and summoned it to siege.
"Nay!" said the cannoneer on the castle wall,
"But Iron -- Cold Iron -- shall be master of you all!"
Woe for the Baron and his knights so strong,
When the cruel cannon-balls laid 'em all along;
He was taken prisoner, he was cast in thrall,
And Iron -- Cold Iron -- was master of it all!
Yet his King spake kindly (ah, how kind a Lord!)
"What if I release thee now and give thee back thy sword?"
"Nay!" said the Baron, "mock not at my fall,
For Iron -- Cold Iron -- is master of men all."
Tears are for the craven, prayers are for the clown --
Halters for the silly neck that cannot keep a crown.
"As my loss is grievous, so my hope is small,
For Iron -- Cold Iron -- must be master of men all!"
Yet his King made answer (few such Kings there be!)
"Here is Bread and here is Wine -- sit and sup with me.
Eat and drink in Mary's Name, the whiles I do recall
How Iron -- Cold Iron -- can be master of men all!"
He took the Wine and blessed it. He blessed and brake the Bread,
With His own Hands He served Them, and presently He said:
"See! These Hands they pierced with nails, outside My city wall,
Show Iron -- Cold Iron -- to be master of men all."
"Wounds are for the desperate, blows are for the strong.
Balm and oil for weary hearts all cut and bruised with wrong.
I forgive thy treason -- I redeem thy fall --
For Iron -- Cold Iron -- must be master of men all!"
Crowns are for the valiant -- sceptres for the bold!
Thrones and powers for mighty men who dare to take and hold.
"Nay!" said the Baron, kneeling in his hall,
"But Iron -- Cold Iron -- is master of men all!
Iron out of Calvary is master of men all!
Religion, magic, power, loyalty - Kipling’s England.
December 11, 2012
Originally published on my blog here in August 2001.
While Rewards and Fairies is a sequel to Puck of Pook's Hill, it is probably much better known as the original home of Kipling's most famous poem, If -. Myself, I don't like the poem very much - it's too much the sort of "uplifting" thing children used to be forced to learn in school.
The format is identical to that of its predecessor, as Puck introduces the two children to a series of people - all male - who illustrate the history of Sussex, where Kipling himself lived in the latter part of his life. The tales this time, which range back right to the end of the Bronze Age, are not so interesting, and the collection as a whole has a perfunctory feel, as though Kipling doesn't care.
While Rewards and Fairies is a sequel to Puck of Pook's Hill, it is probably much better known as the original home of Kipling's most famous poem, If -. Myself, I don't like the poem very much - it's too much the sort of "uplifting" thing children used to be forced to learn in school.
The format is identical to that of its predecessor, as Puck introduces the two children to a series of people - all male - who illustrate the history of Sussex, where Kipling himself lived in the latter part of his life. The tales this time, which range back right to the end of the Bronze Age, are not so interesting, and the collection as a whole has a perfunctory feel, as though Kipling doesn't care.
August 20, 2024
Rewards and Fairies is a sequel to Puck of Pook's Hill, and takes place a year after the events of the first book.
It feels quite nostalgic, and I can't help but want the stories to continue on and on, so finishing the book is always bitter-sweet for me.
(Note: I read the Russian translation by Grigory Kruzhkov.)
It feels quite nostalgic, and I can't help but want the stories to continue on and on, so finishing the book is always bitter-sweet for me.
(Note: I read the Russian translation by Grigory Kruzhkov.)
October 29, 2018
For my full, non-spoiler review: https://christianlovingbooks.blogspot...
September 29, 2023
What I said about Puck of Pook's Hill basically also applies to this sequel, though it is (or seems) less deliberately-structured. Whereas the first book has Dan and Una's adventures proceed chronologically, as they meet, or "meet," various figures from the past as conjured up by a remarkably benign Puck, this one roves around in history (and in one case, prehistory), and even geography, as a couple of the narratives take us out of England to revolutionary America and Napoleon's France. Once again, Dan and Una can remember their experiences only during another one of them, when Puck has presumably temporarily removed the magical memory-block he has placed on them--and once again, I find myself wondering what the point is of giving these children such experiences and then making them forget about them. Most of the stories are to my taste of only moderate interest, though I do wonder at the fact that children could apparently read and understand them, when the book was first published. The one that did grab me a bit more than the others was about England during the Plague in the Middle Ages, and the "doctor" who believes in medicating via astrology and hits on the right solution for the wrong reason, leading to a poem that is remarkably flexible in what it suggests about how and where truth can be found. This book also includes one of Kipling's most famous poems, "If," which is memorable--most readers will almost certainly recognize the last line--even if one might quarrel with at least some of what it says about being a man. The final story, about a fool and his own fool, who turns out to be King Harald, who did not actually die at the Battle of Hastings but survived another forty years to die finally in the presence of Henry I. The story offers up interesting commentary on power and the colonial impulse. There's also a lot of Christian moralizing in the book, especially in the poems, which does not always seem to fit with the stories to which it is connected. Anyway, this is a pleasant enough read, but I don't see myself reading it again any time soon.
October 8, 2017
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
February 26, 2024
I’ve known Puck of Pook's Hill since childhood, but encountered this sequel much later. Both books use the same device: two children are introduced by Puck’s simple magic to a variety of people lifted out of many different periods of English history; and they tell their tales. It’s a way of bringing history to life, and it works especially well because of course Kipling had a good imagination and was a good story-teller.
Although the book as a whole seems like a children’s book, because of the two children to whom the tales are told, nevertheless they are adult tales of adult affairs, and a modern child might find them quite difficult reading—not least because they were first published in 1910, which is history to us now.
The stories in this book seem to me somewhat less memorable than those in Puck of Pook's Hill, but they are much the same kind of thing, so this one is worth reading if you already read and liked the first book. Here we have vivid, authentic-sounding first-person accounts of England around 2000 BC, 1100 AD, 1600 AD, 1800 AD, and other times that are less easy for me to identify; with robust characterization and a variety of emotions.
Although the book as a whole seems like a children’s book, because of the two children to whom the tales are told, nevertheless they are adult tales of adult affairs, and a modern child might find them quite difficult reading—not least because they were first published in 1910, which is history to us now.
The stories in this book seem to me somewhat less memorable than those in Puck of Pook's Hill, but they are much the same kind of thing, so this one is worth reading if you already read and liked the first book. Here we have vivid, authentic-sounding first-person accounts of England around 2000 BC, 1100 AD, 1600 AD, 1800 AD, and other times that are less easy for me to identify; with robust characterization and a variety of emotions.
July 17, 2021
I think I liked the first book better, but this one was still quite enjoyable.
Kipling is just very well-spoken, and an excellent storyteller. Every story, even if not a masterpiece, is eminently readable. I did quite like the callbacks to Hal o' the Draft and Sir Richard (and we got to see Hugh and De Aquila, some of my favorites!), and there were a few really good stories in there.
Compared to the first book, I think there were more loose short tales this time, instead of multiple chapters about the same characters. The only exception was Pharaoh, but I felt like that could have used a third story. I'm not sure if Kipling meant to write a third book but didn't? Either way, my main criticism on this book is that -- if we had spent more time developing certain characters like last time, it would have been easier to really get into them.
This time, I also did notice a few moments that weren't historically accurate (e.g. the prehistoric story with sheep, even though sheep didn't come to the British Isles until well after that), but honestly the book is presented as a historical fantasy, so this didn't actually bother me.
Overall, similar response to the first one, although if you only read one, read the first!
Kipling is just very well-spoken, and an excellent storyteller. Every story, even if not a masterpiece, is eminently readable. I did quite like the callbacks to Hal o' the Draft and Sir Richard (and we got to see Hugh and De Aquila, some of my favorites!), and there were a few really good stories in there.
Compared to the first book, I think there were more loose short tales this time, instead of multiple chapters about the same characters. The only exception was Pharaoh, but I felt like that could have used a third story. I'm not sure if Kipling meant to write a third book but didn't? Either way, my main criticism on this book is that -- if we had spent more time developing certain characters like last time, it would have been easier to really get into them.
This time, I also did notice a few moments that weren't historically accurate (e.g. the prehistoric story with sheep, even though sheep didn't come to the British Isles until well after that), but honestly the book is presented as a historical fantasy, so this didn't actually bother me.
Overall, similar response to the first one, although if you only read one, read the first!
March 19, 2024
A sequel to "Puck of Pook's Hill," with the fairy Puck bringing people from England's history to tell tales of the old days to the children Dan and Una. This time, several of the storytellers are historical figures (Queen Bess and 17th Century astrologer/physician Nicolas Culpepper.) Though I liked the stories in "Puck" better overall, there's still some great stuff here. My favorites include a neolithic hunter talking about acquiring iron weapons to fight off the wolves that threaten his people; Queen Bess' telling a tale that highlights the difficult moral decisions a leader must make; and a young Sussex smuggler who's travels take him to the young United States and to France, meeting George Washington and Napoleon along the way. The last story reveals that King Harold survived the battle of Hastings to survive as a blind begger. In each case, Kipling's skill as a storyteller brings the characters to vivid life.
December 31, 2024
The sequel to Puck of Pook’s Hill where the children Dan and Una once again meet the sprite Puck who introduced them to characters who relate incidents from their past in various periods of English history. I was under the impression I had read this years ago but I was quite surprised to discover I hadn’t. The stories range from the Stone Age to the 18th century and some are more successful than others. I liked Gloriana and The Knife and the Naked Chalk and Marlake Witches was heart-rending but some of the other stories wandered a little too much for me. I was amazed when I discovered that one of the poems that bookended the stories was If as I had no idea it came from here. Well worth reading for Kipling’s feeling for the history of England in general and Sussex in particular, but some of the words he used might not be to modern readers taste.
June 12, 2021
Philadelphie, É-U
« Dans le fond de leur coeur, tous les Indiens (i.e.: 1eres nations) considèrent le travail de la terre comme un métier de sqaw (i.e.: femme), (…). Nous louâmes un jeune négro pour faire le travail, un diable de paresseux qui grimaçait tout le temps. »
Bon, pas besoin de vous dire que l’oeuvre n’a pas seulement bien mal vieilli, sinon qu’elle ne passe plus du tout.
Ce bouquin qui a été édité en 1910, lorsque l’auteur avait 45 ans, l’a été a titre de livre jeunesse. En effet, j’imagine qu’à cette époque, tout récit ayant des farfadets comme protagoniste était perçu une lecture pour enfants et non pour les adultes. Détrompez-vous, ce livre m’a semblé indigeste pour les enfants. Il s’adresse à un public adulte. Je crains que ce ne soit pas le meilleur livre de Kipling.
« Dans le fond de leur coeur, tous les Indiens (i.e.: 1eres nations) considèrent le travail de la terre comme un métier de sqaw (i.e.: femme), (…). Nous louâmes un jeune négro pour faire le travail, un diable de paresseux qui grimaçait tout le temps. »
Bon, pas besoin de vous dire que l’oeuvre n’a pas seulement bien mal vieilli, sinon qu’elle ne passe plus du tout.
Ce bouquin qui a été édité en 1910, lorsque l’auteur avait 45 ans, l’a été a titre de livre jeunesse. En effet, j’imagine qu’à cette époque, tout récit ayant des farfadets comme protagoniste était perçu une lecture pour enfants et non pour les adultes. Détrompez-vous, ce livre m’a semblé indigeste pour les enfants. Il s’adresse à un public adulte. Je crains que ce ne soit pas le meilleur livre de Kipling.
November 22, 2024
A child’s book ostensibly but with tricky themes deeper below the surface. For example:
How do you feel adoption? When and what should you tell the child?
When you are terminally ill, should your doctor inform you?
If you are poor, does that excuse law-breaking? Is stealing ok or smuggling?
As a ruler, how can you set actions in motion while maintaining deniability?
The last of these brings to mind more recent warfare, like the Iraq War, based in part of fears of WMD. So a book to ponder over, and take time to think in between reading the stories.
Very patchy book, some real gems like the poems “If” and “The Way Through the Woods”. Memorable, far beyond the quality of much of his verse.
How do you feel adoption? When and what should you tell the child?
When you are terminally ill, should your doctor inform you?
If you are poor, does that excuse law-breaking? Is stealing ok or smuggling?
As a ruler, how can you set actions in motion while maintaining deniability?
The last of these brings to mind more recent warfare, like the Iraq War, based in part of fears of WMD. So a book to ponder over, and take time to think in between reading the stories.
Very patchy book, some real gems like the poems “If” and “The Way Through the Woods”. Memorable, far beyond the quality of much of his verse.
January 29, 2020
Este libro es una continuación de "Puck de la colina Pook" e incluye el famoso poema "If". Sigue el mismo estilo narrativo alrededor de dos niños de Sussex y del duende Puck, que hablan con personajes de épocas antiguas.
La fórmula sigue funcionando para contar ficción histórica, pero donde en "Puck" los personajes reales apenas aparecían más que como fondo (salvo el Emperador Máximo) ahora tira con fuerza de la Reina Isabel, Francis Drake, Talleyrand o Jorge Washington... que son demasiado relevantes y modernos para no generar desequilibrios.
Aún así, la fuerza de la narración de Kipling lo supera todo.
La fórmula sigue funcionando para contar ficción histórica, pero donde en "Puck" los personajes reales apenas aparecían más que como fondo (salvo el Emperador Máximo) ahora tira con fuerza de la Reina Isabel, Francis Drake, Talleyrand o Jorge Washington... que son demasiado relevantes y modernos para no generar desequilibrios.
Aún así, la fuerza de la narración de Kipling lo supera todo.
July 17, 2025
Sequel to Puck of Pook's Hill. While "Hill" had a unity that Puck spells out, this one is a more amorphous series of English historical fiction ideas Kipling wanted to put to writing.
His famous poem "If-" is from here.
I found "The Knife and the Naked Chalk" particularly memorable. I enjoy tracing the history of fiction about prehistory from the time of Lyell or Darwin to the present, noticing how scientific beliefs have changed and how that information gets changed by storytellers. Kipling seems to miss the entire Bronze Age in Britain, having Neolithic shepherds coexisting with a tribe that already knows the secret of blacksmithing.
His famous poem "If-" is from here.
I found "The Knife and the Naked Chalk" particularly memorable. I enjoy tracing the history of fiction about prehistory from the time of Lyell or Darwin to the present, noticing how scientific beliefs have changed and how that information gets changed by storytellers. Kipling seems to miss the entire Bronze Age in Britain, having Neolithic shepherds coexisting with a tribe that already knows the secret of blacksmithing.
December 10, 2020
I think this is a reread but I remembered the illustrations but not the text. Had also not realised that this was the book containing the first publication of “if” . The book continues to follow Una and Dan as Puck introduces them to various Sussex figures from history. Will go back and reread Puck of Pooks Hill to remind myself how these tales began
July 7, 2018
I wish all books about British history (or any country's history for that matter) were as fun to read as "Puck of Pook's Hill" and "Rewards and Fairies".
Gratefully, the oak, ash, and thorn that affected Dan's and Una's memory has not seemed to impair my memory of the stories.
Gratefully, the oak, ash, and thorn that affected Dan's and Una's memory has not seemed to impair my memory of the stories.
July 23, 2022
Not quite as good as Puck of Pook's Hill, but still enjoyable in the same vein. The poems are one of the best things about both books. Interestingly, his most famous poem, "If", appears here.
But there is no road through the woods....
But there is no road through the woods....
October 10, 2023
Overall, I think this is a stronger book than its prequel, Puck of Pook's Hill. 3 and a half stars.
'Gold is for the mistress--silver for the maid!
Copper for the craftsman cunning in his trade.'
'Good!' said the Baron, sitting in his hall.
'But Iron--Cold Iron--is master of them all!'
'Gold is for the mistress--silver for the maid!
Copper for the craftsman cunning in his trade.'
'Good!' said the Baron, sitting in his hall.
'But Iron--Cold Iron--is master of them all!'
September 5, 2025
Absolutely delightful. This book is as charming and poetic as Puck of Pook's Hill, a fitting continuation. The characters are vibrant and personable, the humour is warm and kind; I've nothing negative to say about it other than that I prefered the first book by a small margin.
November 10, 2017
I enjoyed this second part. I didn't think it was as good as part 1 but, as a whole they are both very good.
Read
October 26, 2019Poem about perseverance - If
February 25, 2021
An absolute gem of a 'children's book'.
Read
March 13, 2021not really my writing style, to be honest.
August 26, 2021
The sequel to Puck of Pook's Hill. More historical stories and verse along the same lines.
April 10, 2022
I still think this is a magical idea but it was even more dated than Puck of Pook’s Hill and it lost me in a few places, I can’t imagine a child caring. Even ‘If’ can’t save this one.
October 13, 2023
Love volume 2 of Puck of Pook's Hill
December 29, 2025
Nobody writes as he does.
Amazing .
Amazing .
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