#151 in Adventure
Kim
- 284
- Pages
- about 5 h
- Reading time
- Film 1950 +1
- On screen
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Our view
“Kim” is a vivid picaresque novel whose riches lie in its portrait of India: its peoples, faiths, bazaars and roads. With the Great Game between Britain and Russia in the background, the young hero grows up among a wide variety of characters. Readers often find its dense cultural and political references hard to get into. Some also note that Kipling draws India so warmly and without judgement that it cannot pass for an accurate picture.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Kim is a picaresque novel by English author Rudyard Kipling. It was first published serially in McClure's Magazine from December 1900 to October 1901 as well as in Cassell's Magazine from January to November 1901, and first published in book form by Macmillan & Co. Ltd in October 1901. The novel is notable for its detailed portrait of the people, culture, and varied religions of India: "The book presents a vivid picture of India, its teeming populations, religions, and superstitions, and the life of the bazaars and the road." The story unfolds against the backdrop of the Great Game, the political conflict between Russia and Britain in Central Asia. The novel popularised the phrase and idea of the Great Game.
On screen
This book has been adapted for the screen 2 times — from 1950 to 1984.
Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.0 across 83 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 36% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Adventure average of 7.8. That is how 7.5 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.4 | 18 | 22% |
| Hardcover | 6.9 | 65 | 78% |
Frequently asked
How long is Kim?
It has 284 pages — longer than 58% of the ranked books in Adventure.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Adventure — with scores between 7.3 and 8.1, closest to this book.
