Kim by Rudyard Kipling
The bad thing about Kim is that it’s quite incomprehensible in spots. Not being Indian or even English or from that era of time, I couldn’t follow certain concepts without further explanation and the habit Kipling had of defining one word I didn’t know by using another I didn’t know was beyond irritating. But I still liked it.
In contrast to my rant about Little Lord Fauntleroy, this is a children’s book suitable for both children and adults. The hero is a real boy with both good and bad traits. He grows as the book continues, making more of his good traits but never losing completely the bad. He’s both lovable and real.
It’s also fun from a travel and cultural perspective. Kim’s adventures cross India and bring him in contact with all its personalities. Whatever racism it displays (which isn’t much) seems in keeping with the reality of the time. The white man is never admitted as being superior, merely as being in charge. Kim does identify with the British politically, but he’s also British by heritage, so why not?
This is a book that deserves its status as a children’s classic.