is type of his works his _William the Conqueror_
and _An Habitation Enforced_ are filled with a gentle-human sympathy
that causes us to forget and forgive any vulgarity he may have used in
his more primitive and coarse characters. Even Kipling partisans must
sometimes wish that Kipling's vision were not so dimmed by the British
flag and that he might forget for a time the British soldier he loves
so ardently.
His writings since 1899 are much more mechanical than his earlier
works. He seems, at times, to resort to the orator's superficial
tricks in his attempts to attract readers. The _Athenaeum_, a friendly
organ, says of his later work: "In his new part--the missionary of
Empire--Mr. Kipling is living the strenuous life. He has frankly
abandoned story telling, and is using his complete and powerful armory
in the interests of patriotic zeal."
Whatever may be the final judgment of the world concerning Kipling's
claim to literary genius, the young student may rest assured that
there is no one in England who can compare with this strenuous and
versatile writer. He is original and powerful, interesting and
realistic. He is a lover of the men who earn their bread by the sweat
of their faces and a despiser of "flannelled fools." He lacks the
day-dreams of Stevenson and preaches from every housetop the gospel of
virile, acting morality. Many of his readers have criticised adversely
his spiritual teachings, because of the furious energy with which he
denounces an apathetic religion and eulogizes the person who works
with all his might, day after day, for the highest he knows and never
fears the day of death and judgment.
GENERAL REFERENCES
_The Book of the Short Story_, Alexander Jessup.
_The Short Story in English_, Henry Seidel Canby.
_Bibliography of Kipling's Works_, Eugene P, Saxton.
"Contradictory Elements in Rudyard Kipling," _Current Literature_, 44:
274.
"Where Kipling Stands," _Bookman_, 29: 120-122.
"Are there two Kiplings?" _Cosmopolitan_, 31: 653-660.
"Literary Style of Kipling," _Lippincott_, 73: 99-103.
COLLATERAL READINGS
_The Man Who Would be King_, Rudyard Kipling.
_William the Conqueror_, Rudyard Kipling.
_Phantom Rickshaw_, Rudyard Kipling.
_The Finest Story in the World_, Rudyard Kipling.
_Under the Deodars_, Rudyard Kipling.
_An Habitation Enforced_, Rudyard Kipling.
_Plain Tales from the Hills_, Rudyard Kipling.
_The Light that Failed_, Rudyard Kipling.
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