Rudyard Kipling

Far too many mainstream biographies seem to be written primarily for besotted descendents of the subject or for graduate students plumbing the depths of minutiae for footnotes to their dissertation. I applaud those few series, such as Penguin's Lives and the Overlook Press Illustrated Lives, that seek to present in less than 200 pages an informative yet critical overview of the lives of noteworthies from the (admittedly) English-speaking, Eurocentric civilization in which we live. "Rudyard Kipling" by Kingsley Amis is one of the rare but exemplary short biographies that, in a more ideal world, would find much wider circulation than the more frequently published 500-page doorstops. Amis was often thought of as a sort of curmudgeon of British letters, but here he is anything but. Indeed, he clearly is a fan of Kipling, both of his stories and of his writing. For example, Amis calls "Kim" "one of the greatest novels in the language." (I happen to concur with Amis' judgment -- confession, every ten years I re-read "Kim" for the sheer joy of it -- but I am gratified to learn that someone so much more qualified than I holds the same opinion.) Yet the book is balanced and critical. Amis does not ignore the unpleasant, arrogant, imperialist aspects of Kipling's character. But he is also sensitive to Kipling's insecurities and all-so-human weaknesses, and he highlights the determination, drive, moral code of conduct (although we, nearly a century later, may nitpick with that code), and basic humanity that ultimately made Kipling one of the most public of all Anglo-American literary figures and, at least to my mind, one of the more admirable ones. In addition to more traditional biographical matters, Amis also touches on literary aspects of Kipling's works. The book is very liberally sprinkled with photographs and illustrations. I believe it is now o.o.p., but it appears to be readily available in the secondary market, and for anyone interested in an intelligent overview of Kipling it is worth the time and effort to acquire and to read (although the latter certainly requires no undue time and effort).