the codeword for "forget the critique and enjoy it" is "those books were a product of their times"
John Sundman [14/07/12 02:05 -0400]:
I wonder what you-all think of Kipling's Just So Stories? I myself find them delightful -- especially when read in facsimile of the original printing, with Kipling's own illustrations. The Just So Stories are some of my favorite children's stories ever. I love the voice, tone, whimsey, humor, use of language, gentleness, kindness, subtlety, etc. In fact, when my wife & I opened our children's book & toy store in 1988 we named it The Elephant's Child. I know a little bit about Kipling's standing as the Voice of Empire and Racist Hegemony. But having never been to India nor studied much of its history, I'm sure that I miss much of the nuance in both Kipling's writings and the critiques of them. So I wonder: What do Silklisters (especially Indians or members of the Indian diaspora) make of the Just So Stories? Do you find them innocent & lyrical & funny & potent as I do, or do you find them obnoxious and all of the same cloth as his other "white man's burden" imperialist writings? Curiously, jrs
