Since Kim is all about equilibrium, it is oddly appropriate that it was written in the pivotal year between two centuries, and exactly half-way through Kipling's life (1865-1936). Its success with generations of readers, and the peculiarly personal affection it has often inspired, speak to its triumphs of balance, as it seems to offer the best of both or many worlds – Indian and British, the satisfactions of the spirit and the pleasures of adventure, the lives of contemplation and of action, the freedom of the resourceful orphan and the security of a boy loved and protected by a whole series of father-figures. Above all it brilliantly persuades us that it is possible to live fully in the adult world and remain a child.

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Published 21 March 2002

Citation: Kerr, Douglas. "Kim". The Literary Encyclopedia. 21 March 2002.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4239, accessed 20 November 2009.]