Return of the Rogue Readers discussion

The book is 277 pages long. I was considering 3 weeks for the read time, but I don't think that's necessary. What do you guys think?

What is the audio book length? Less than 10 hours I assume? If so, it shouldn't take too long. Maybe 2 weeks?

2 weeks sounds good.
Hopefully I can contribute to this one...

We will resume this discussion on April 17th

The topic is open! What did everyone think?

I didnt realize there were so many stories to The Jungle Book.

I, also, didn't realize that it was a collection of short stories going into it. I enjoyed the story of Mowgli, perhaps because it was the one I was most familiar with. Rikki Tikki Tavi was also vaguely familiar. I chose to listen to the book via librivox and found it to be a refreshingly light and relaxing tale to listen to in the beginning. It was definitely an easy and nostalgic story. I have to admit that after the first story ended I found myself easily distracted from the book on numerous occasions. The remaining stories didn't keep my full attention.

I enjoyed it immensely.

I read it via an Audible audio book, so I didn't have to worry about pronunciation, plus the reader had a great British accent.

The old Disney version was a favorite of mine when I was young, and I have read other tales by Kipling in the past, so it was a little bittersweet to remove the shine from the cartoon, and also re-visit a classical author.

I think the naturalistic "law of the jungle" nobility of nature was over done, and became heavy handed toward the end.

I did enjoy the glimpse into the British colonialism in India and what that mindset looks like.

7.8/10

I was personally unimpressed by these stories. I was interested in the ones involving Mowgli to a degree, but felt that the pacing was inconsistent with the payoff not reaching it's potential. The story of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was probably my favorite only because it reminded me of happier, youthful days when I read it in school, with even the illustration in my copy being the same one I remembered from those giant compilation English books from our pasts. The rest of the stories I could have taken or left, with me agreeing with Danielle that my attention waned throughout the stories.

All of this being said, I still like that this collection exists because I can see why it would be considered a classic despite that it doesn't fit my own appreciation. There is a sequel by Kipling (aptly titled The Jungle Book 2), but unlike how I felt after reading Neverwhere, I have no interest at this time to seek out those other stories. One thing I tried to keep in mind with this collection is that they were written for children and that perhaps these children of another time would have had very different expectations than I do in my own life when approaching such material.

Was this read a waste of my time? Not at all. I am glad to have read them for the sake of reading them, but it is a world in which I probably will not find myself returning to.

I liked the book but it was hard to follow lol. It seemed kinda racist to me too but I guess thats just how things were back then. I thought the whole book was stories about Mowgli and I kept waiting for him to show up in the other stores but he never did.

I will eventually read the sequel "The Second Jungle Book" but probably not until next year or two.

Has anyone seen the new movie? People keep telling me its good!

It was called "The Second Jungle Book"! I read my source incorrectly. Thanks, Amy. At the end of Mowgli's last story it said he eventually got married, but that that was another story altogether and it makes me wonder if it is in the sequel or was never actually written. I think I would have enjoyed the collection more if the stories had continued to center on him and his adventures, but perhaps I'm too harsh of a critic for these stories.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but especially after reading this, I would like to go see it. For those interested in this type of adventure, I would recommend Tarzan of the Apes for a good read in a similar vein with more adult themes. I'm a huge Burroughs fan, so I'm very partial, but the similarities between the stories go far enough for it to act like Mowgli's older brother.

Sorry guys, I was called away on business and my robot butler refused to post on my behalf.

I agree with everyone else. The book was a bit heavy handed at times and the motivation of certain characters was hard to relate to, but it wasn't a bad experience.

Mike, you said you read both books?

Thank goodness someone posted. I thought everyone else died and I was waiting for the Jungle Book Killer to find me next.

I can't blame a robot butler, only my own social media ineptitude.

I've done some research (i.e. read some wikipedia) and it seems that all of the stories in both Jungle Books were first published as magazine articles, and then later compiled into the books. I think this explains something of the format and tone of the stories.

Also, most of these were published in the 1880s and 1890s, so I'm not surprised at the nonchalant racism, as Kipling was somewhat a member of the pre-eugenics school of thought.

The Audiobook I read included the Second Jungle Book, and was a similar format; short stories, mostly of Mowgli, all with some naturalistic morality tale woven in.
I especially enjoyed the story "Red dog". I found it to be an entertaining piece of action and adventure.

Of the 8 stories, 5 of them are about Mowgli, 2 are about unrelated people, and 1 about some anthro-animals.

I especially enjoyed the story "Red dog". I found it to be an entertaining piece of action and adventure.
If you're at all interested in how Mowgli's story concludes, I recommend reading the last story "The Spring Running". It describes the end of Mowgli's time in the jungle, and wraps things up pretty well.