The Jungle Book

This collection of short stories remains an elegant and much-loved classic. Although Kipling was the product of an imperial era, he had a profound understanding of India and he was able to capture the wonder of the land and its people in these memorable tales. The wonderful allegorical array of characters in the stories includes the brave & kind-hearted Mowgli (the man-cub), Akela the wolf and Gray Brother, Kaa the python, Bagheera the black panther, Baloo the bear, the Bandar-log monkeys, and, of course, Mowglis nemesis, the malevolent tiger, Shere Khan. These lovely tales remain timely & heartwarming to those… show more.

Before television, the only way for most people to “visit” exotic locales was through a novel like The Jungle Book. Its many grand themes will always keep it relevant, but for me, it’s through the unknowable interiors of India, the character animals that “live” there and the code they live by – the living breathing Law of the Jungle, by which The Jungle Book retains its “teleportative magic” in the digital age. Thrust in the middle is the “man-cub” Mowgli who is trying to discover for himself if he can or even should live by the law too. On… show more.