Rudyard Kipling

by Andrew Lycett

This biography of Rudyard Kipling goes back to basic sources to unravel the intricate story of a misunderstood genius who became Britain's most famous and highest earning author in his day.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Literature

Paperback

First published September 9, 1999

About the author

(born 1950)

Reviews

[Salli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a long hard slog of a read for research for a project. I still have some pages to go and to be honest not a lot useful to say. The start was hard but useful for ideas and philosophy. Somewhere about half way through it merely became readable. A man in three dimensions certainly, a product of his time. I am really not quite sure why he was so famous and so quoted. A lot of fairly poor verse. I have not read his short stories, so think I must read a few. A lot of time spent by Lycett assuming his stories reflected the man and his personality. I admire Lycett's stamina for research but will be glad to finish and give this back to the library. It has taken up a lot of hours and I am not sure to profit.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that beautifully uses microhistory to talk about larger historical trends. I was mostly unfamiliar with Kipling (other than his most famous poems), and so it was fascinating to realize how much he defied his own stereotypes.

[Sigrid Fry-Revere · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this biography. It was well written but not exceptional.

[Hollie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 -- could have been much shorter but is a very detailed look at his life.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Run of the mill biography of a high empire writer. Either the biography was sub-par or Mr. Kipling is not worthy of a biography.

Recommendation: for Kipling fanboys

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

[Norma Bush · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't finish. Too many tangents which really weren't about Kipling.