Rather belatedly, I have just read something considered by many to be one of the classics of English literature, "Kim" by Rudyard Kipling. A lot of Americans know Kipling, if at all, only as the author of "The Jungle Book." He was an interesting guy, though, and wrote a lot of interesting stuff. He was also part of a generation I find particularly fascinating, who lived in a time I consider the Age of Adventure.
Not the Age of Discovery, though: that title I give to the period between 1475 and 1675, when the great sea voyages opened up the world. I think of the period 1825 to 1925 as an age of adventure, because this was the period when individual explorers, historians, archaeologists (etc) set out to experience the world for themselves. It was also, not coincidentally, the height of the British empire.
Kipling was one of those well-educated, well-traveled men who recorded his adventures and observations. "Kim" is drawn from his own experiences living in India in the late 1800s. It's a terrific book, fast-paced and full of intrigue, with wonderful descriptive passages and excellent characters. (I am fortunate to have a beautiful Everyman's Library edition, with an informative introduction, and a chronology of Kipling's life set in context with historical events of his time and paired with a literary timeline to illustrate the influences on his work. I wish all my great books had these features!) After finishing it, I read "Quest for Kim," by historian Peter Hopkirk, which is a personal travelogue and literary history. Hopkirk follows Kim's itinerary and explores the real-life characters who probably underlie Kipling's characters. This is also a terrific book.
And those two led me back to Laurie R. King's "The Game," one of her Mary Russell mysteries, which is set in India and features the further adventures of ... Kim. Another terrific book, and reading them all together was a lot of fun.
