Rudyard Kipling, Puck of Pook's Hill

Joshua Grasso (East Central University)

Ed. by Grace Moore, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Birmingham Newman University), Louise McDonald (Birmingham Newman University), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1906

Places

India (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Children's Literature
Story Collection

Resources

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The collection of stories and poems entitled

Puck of Pook’s Hill

appeared at the very height of Kipling’s reputation, sandwiched between

The Jungle Books

(1894/1985) and

Kim

(1901) on one side, and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1907) on the other. They represent both a summing-up and a leave-taking for Kipling, as they mine the rich narrative of childhood and wonder which made

The Jungle Books

so popular, while completely abandoning his fascination with India and the East. Indeed, the work is Kipling’s most blatant attempt to stamp himself as an ‘English’ writer, ostensibly by adopting the character of Puck, a sprite from English folklore made popular in Shakespeare’s

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

. The ten stories of the book (each with a poem as preface and epilogue)…

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2169 words

Citation: Grasso, Joshua. "Puck of Pook's Hill". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 January 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2523, accessed 18 April 2024.]

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