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The Jungle Book is the story of man-cub Mowgli, who is raised by wolves in the Indian jungle.
Shere Khan, the stripped tiger, was Mowgli’s reason for ending up in the jungle in the first place. And as Mowgli grows, Shere Khan makes himself Mowgli’s nemesis. Mowgli is taught The Law of The Jungle by Baloo the bear and Bagheera the black panther. At one point Mowgli is taken by monkeys in the canopy above. Baloo and Bagheera rescue him with the help of Kaa the Python. |
The Jungle Book has probably become a classic because it taps into our curiosity of wildlife and our desire to learn about foreign and exotic lands. Kipling brilliantly crosses the worlds of animal and human with main character Mowgli.
Kipling uses anthropomorphism, giving all animal characters human traits, emotions and intentions. The Jungle Book was written in 1894 and as such some of the language has dated and some of the description is unclear.
The Jungle Book would probably be called a novella today, in terms of word count. The CollinsClassics Edition I read contained four other Kipling short stories.
The Jungle Book is well worth a read, although the reader will probably only want to read it once. The Jungle Book is available to buy on Amazon and at all good book shops.
Review soon,
Antony
