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by Rudyard Kipling
The next time someone starts going on about an author "telling" instead of "showing", I'm going to direct them to Rudyard Kipling. There's a reason why it's called telling a story and Kipling does an excellent job of telling us about each of the most important characters that populate the jungle in this wonderful classic story.
It is told in the tone of an old fairytale with almost an Old English feel, and the events are surprisingly close to the Disney version. I understand now why the other animals in the jungle stayed away from the monkeys.
The characters are very distinctive and well-developed. I have new respect for Baloo, who was depicted as a buffoon by Disney. The biggest deviation was Kaa the snake who co-operated with the other creatures more than was suggested in the animated film.
While I wasn't overly impressed with the poetry in the song lyrics that were interspersed with many of the chapters, the prose was very engaging and I felt myself drawn into the world of the animals. The primary difference from the animated film version is that Mowgli has much more interaction with humans in the later part of the story concerning him, then his story is followed by other tales of animals, starting with The White Seal. These tales include Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, a tale of a mongoose which has also been animated.
I felt that Kipling has a unique voice that made the reader feel the culture of India where most of the tales take place, although from the animals' point of view. I'm glad that I've read this classic book now and feel that the journey was very enriching.
