A review by random_spider
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

2.5

I'm not really comfortable rating this book. It was just a throw-in piece to read and then move on, and I didn't really expect it to be a collection of short stories with a motif of animal protagonists. So...this was not in my usual field of literature that I usually partake upon.

I admire Rudyard Kipling for writing this poetic book. There were basically 7 short stories in total:

1. The first three were about Mowgli the man-cub. His inclusion with the wolves, his time with the monkey people and the rescue of Kaa, and his life with the rural villagers as a herder.
2. A heroic and adventurous seal named Kotick.
3. A feisty yet protective mongoose named Rikki-Tikki.
4. A story about a bunch of labor elephants (forgot their names.)
5. The mingling of various beasts of burdens and their fearful tales

It was obvious this was meant for younger readers. Each short stories contained some inherent general lessons about life that parents could educate their children after reading this to them during bedtimes, for example. If you squint hard enough to analyze each of their narratives though, you could spot inherent flaws that does harm the book's sensibility. And, for some reason, the writing style changes from each one. This inconsistency had led me to enjoy some short stories (those of Mowgli and Rikki-Tikki) but skimmed on others (those of the elephants and beasts of burdens.)

And it's kinda amusing how the Disney's adaptations were only focused on Mowgli's chapters. They made Kaa's character flipped roles in the movies which was funny 🤣. But it kinda made sense for them to only focus on the man-cub since Mowgli's story was the only multi-chaptered.

It's not bad, but could definitely be better. Being considered a classic meant it stood the test of time. Not my favorite read but I can't like all books, right?

Frankly, it's more on the mediocre side. A 5/10 book. But if it's your kind of read, then I'm happy for you ☺️.