Puck

by Rudyard Kipling, Ottavio Fatica (Translator)

Kipling osservava un’antica Legge: «Non appena scopri di saper fare una cosa, passa a un’altra che ancora non sai fare». L’aveva infranta una sola volta, con Il secondo libro della Giungla. Ma il Demone, come lui chiamava l’ispirazione, non era soddisfatto dei primi, pur strabilianti, racconti dedicati a Puck – piccolo fauno di shakespeariana memoria, vecchio come il Tempo, capace di ricreare il Passato davanti agli occhi dei due giovani fratelli Dan e Una. E dopo aver portato in scena, grazie alla magia evocativa del folletto, centurioni romani di stanza al Vallo di Adriano, cavalieri della conquista normanna, vichinghi in lotta con i gorilla, e infine lo struggente esodo delle Fate dall’isola di Albione, Kipling dovette, per placare il Demone, cimentarsi in un secondo ciclo di racconti. Un cast, quello del Ritorno di Puck, ancora più impressionante per varietà e prestigio – dal contrabbandiere al santo, dall’ultimo re sassone alla regina Elisabetta, fino a Talleyrand e Napoleone –, seguendo il quale si passa dal Neolitico alla Rivoluzione francese, si affronta l’Invencible Armada e si attraversano le lande sterminate degli indiani seneca durante la rivolta delle colonie americane. Un mondo dove tutti sono «servi dell’Anello di Ferro», dove tutto cospira alla creazione di quell’incubo ammaliante che i «grandi» chiamano Storia.

464 pages, Paperback

Published November 8, 2024

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

[Diletta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guida per riconoscere di cosa è fatta la Terra e quanto ci tiene legata con lacci e incantesimi.