The jungle book

Classic for a reason.

Realized that I should have read this book 5 years earlier. The way it could influence someone would have come in handy while forming a world view. Kipling has a unique perspective of looking at things. Through varied forms of narration and the disjoint plot, but connecting theme of short stories, he builds a framework which dissolves the apathies towards animals, prevalent about us.

Such a compelling read, I struggled to get all the way through it as a kid. I remember bringing it to a book exchange and not being able to hand it over.

I don't think I ever did finish it, and nobody explained the colonial implications of it until much later in life.

Magical. Simply magical.

Full review posted below. This was my first book completed on the Serial Reader app, an awesome way to read classic works of literature in less than fifteen minutes a day. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in reading some classics, but who doesn’t want to get bogged down in them. And no, I haven’t been asked to advertise the app; I just really think it was a fantastic idea, and the execution of that idea was incredibly well done. End advertisement. ;) Onto the story at hand. Most everyone probably knows at least a little about this book, due in large part to Disney’s animated movie and their more recent live-action film. I enjoyed reading about Mowgli and his adventures growing up as the lone man-cub in the jungle. Bagheera the Panther, Baloo the Bear, and Kaa the Python all had different personalities than their film counterparts, but were just as much fun to read as they are to watch. Mowgli was headstrong and clever and never backed down from a challenge. Raised by a Wolfpack against the wishes of Shere Khan, the man-eating Tiger, Mowgli lived an interesting life to say the least. He learned every language present in the jungle, and then spent some time in a human village and learned to speak as they speak. But the village could not hold him. He conquered his foes and returned to the jungle, triumphant. Besides the main story of Mowgli, Kipling also included the stories of Kotick, the White Seal; Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, the Mongoose; Toomai, the Elephant boy; and different animals in the military, who argue about whose method of fighting is right. Of these, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi’s story was by far the best. I completely understand why his is the segment included in so many literature books, because it was the most engaging story in the entirety of the Jungle Book, in my opinion. I enjoyed the adventures of the little mongoose even more than I did the tales of Mowgli the man-cub. Second-best out of these secondary tales was the story of Kotick, the White Seal. I was thrown by his story at first, because it was the first after Mowlgi’s story, but once I adjusted to the change I enjoyed the little white seal, out to save his people from being butchered. He swam to the beat of his own drum, and I can always respect that. The last two stories weren’t enjoyable to me. They’re where I bogged down and just had to make myself power through to the end. I found Toomai annoying, and I could care less about which animal thought they were the most important in a battle. If the book had ended after the tale of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, I would’ve easily given it 4 stars. But, because of the drudgery of the last two stories, I’m settling at a 3 here. It was a short, mostly fun classic to mark off of my “to-read” list, and I enjoyed marking it off in the 24 episodes that Serial Reader provided. The novelty of the app added to my enjoyment, and I will most definitely be reading more classics this way! For more of reviews, as well as my own fiction and thoughts on life, check out my blog, Celestial Musings

Absolutely loved this audible! Ralph Cosham made the characters come alive. Love all the little short stories and poems about life in the jungles of India. The little side stories thrown in outside of Mowgli’s life. Rikitikkitovi was my favorite. A bit graphic for young readers but great book for adolescents and above.

I liked book 1 considerably more than book 2 in general. My favorite stories were the ones involving Mowgli.

Manga version of the classic tales. A nice antidote to the Disney version as it is true to the original story. Reads from right to left which takes a bit of adjustment. Illustrations generally good, true to Japanese manga style which can be a little disconcerting given the Indian jungle context.

I'm not going to say too much about the plot - you're probably already pretty familiar with the story. I am, however, going to comment on the soundtrack provided by Booktrack. If you haven't heard of it, it's basically a site where you can buy, write and read books with coinciding music and sound effects. (I've always used sites like MyNoise to create soundscapes and things to help immerse me in the fictional worlds I'm reading, so the discovery of Booktrack was heaven-sent.) So yeah, obviously this is the story of Mowgli, the man-cub, raised by wolves and Baloo and Bagheera. He lives in the jungle, until finding a human village to take him in. But he does not belong - he may be man by blood, but he is of the Jungle People now. The soundtrack with this book really helps you feel as though you are in the forest, hearing the life all around you. There's music to accompany the little songs and poems included throughout, and dramatic music to portray the intensity of the plot and action. The only problem I really have with the track is how it sometimes jumped or cut off when I turned a page, but that may just be due to me reading faster than it is expecting. Altogether, the story and Booktrack has earned 3.5 stars from me. It's a nice read, and the soundtrack is a great accompaniment to the story.

The Jungle Book isn't my favourite book ever, but I like this Manga Classics collection and thought I'd give this one a try, too. This one was quite different from the others I've read, containing seven different "books" - three of which made up The Jungle Book story itself. The other tales were of a white seal trying to save his friends from the murderous men, a mongoose protecting his new family from snakes, a young boy who witnessed the dance of the elephants that no man has ever seen before, and finally a man and the parade of animals serving. Four of these books I had never heard of before, so they were interesting to read. They all contained little poems like those in The Jungle Book, meaning they all fit together well as a collection.  The art was different to what I expected; it often took a comedic, exaggerated look. It wasn't the best art I've seen in a novel like this, but it expressed the story well enough. I did, however, notice a few typos throughout the novel. Not a bad novel, but I can't say I'm overly amazed by it. I'd give 2.5 or maybe 3 stars at a push.

3.5 (Just put the 4 in because it was definitely closer to a 4 star then a 3) I thought this was a cute little read. It's alot different then the movies make it seem, but it's very good even with the dark aspects of it. It was a nice quick and easy read and one which I definitely don't regret reading. And it will be seen as a children's classic one that I would probably let future generations read.

I especially liked the other short stories like Rikki-tiki-tavi..lol. Very cute indeed. I need to read the other stories that Disney turned into movies because they obviously changed things around and I know not all the original works of literature have the Disney endings.

I will be honest, I only seriously read the stories about Mowgli. The rest were interesting, but I didn't realise they were entire separate stories...and when I did, I kind of gave up, because I wasn't overall intrigued.

I was expecting the story I saw in the Disney movies... but no! I think this contains no spoilers, as what I will comment is only what the movie shows. This is a book that certainly tells the story of Mowgli, the boy who was saved by some wolfs and then admitted into the pack with the help of Bagheera, who was taught the law of the jungle by Baloo, and who had load of adventures with Shere Khan, the monkey people, the man people and Kaa (there is a big difference between the Python in the movies and in the book!). However, between these episodes in Mowgli's life there are other jungle adventures which depict elephants, mongooses, seals and some other animals which I do not know. This is a book containing several short stories and poems. I found it boring some times, I think that because I got lost with the names of the animals and I didn't fully get some of the dialogues. It deals with many important topics, such as the law in the jungle, conveying the importance of respecting one another. It has been classified, I think, as children's literature... however, it is quite intense! Mowgli is certainly not a little thin jungle boy!

It’s rare that I get so bored while reading that I fall asleep. However, that occurred quite a lot while reading this... to the point were I gave up. And I don’t like giving up on books! I am still set to finish The Jungle Book, but not today. Maybe not even before I am at least 60

Joyous tale of wonderful beasts Far more than just Mowgli, these stories explore many worlds rich in colour and wild in adventure. Read to explore the story Disney took, and read on for many more tales from the vivid jungle. Glorious.