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Summary of If 

4.4 . 53 reviews

Short summary

Rudyard Kipling and his relationship with the United States of America is often ignored by scholars today when his works are studied. Meanwhile, he had a significant influence on 20th-century America — particularly between 1889 and 1899. The central focus of this book is Kipling’s extraordinary American decade and how he made himself into a specifically American writer. Christopher Benfey is an American literary critic and the Mellon Professor of English at Mount Holyoke College who pursues a historical approach in his narration of the relationship Kipling forged with people like Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, and Henry Adams. Any historical account of 20thcentury America will be incomplete if due regard is not given to the contribution of Rudyard Kipling. That’s what “If” draws to our attention.

Table of content

  • Summary of If
  • About the author
  • What is If about?
  • Who should read If
  • Topics in If
first key point

The most successful years of Rudyard Kipling’s literary career were between 1889 and 1899 when he lived in America

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Rudyard Kipling would have remained in America if certain circumstances had not forced him to leave. For him, there were only two places in the world where he’d rather live. They are Bombay and Brattleboro.

Kipling rose to the top of not just English literature, but indeed the entire literary world. In 1907, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, becoming its youngest winner at age 41 and the first in the English language. Not only is his work hardly read today but also read within the context of colonial India rather than his ancestral home — England. But, in fact, Kipling's most prodigious and creative period took place in America, which was also his preferred home. It was here, on the crest of a Vermont hillside overlooking the Connecticut River, that Kipling wrote both “The Jungle Book” and “Captains Courageous”. His most rapid ascent to fame also happened here.

Had a family dispute not forced his departure in 1896, he would have stayed in the United States. He saw himself not just as an American, but a particularly American artist. Steeped in the history of the Gilded Age, Christopher Benfey brings to life in fresh revelatory detail American Kipling, tracing a great but today deeply unfashionable writer's intense personal, political, and artistic involvement with the United States.
‘Kim’, Kipling’s shimmering novel of international intrigue and spiritual quest, is a favorite for countless readers, young and old. ~ Christopher Benfey
He offers an overdue reminder of Kipling's extraordinary influence in his own lifetime, as well as a compelling portrait of the American artists and writers he both influenced and was influenced by, including William James and, in particular, Mark Twain — who Kipling sought out specifically as kindred spirit when he first arrived, and before long had eclipsed in literary fame and critical estimation. Intertwining biography, criticism, and history, “If” restores a true story of great American artistry. The major highlights of this historical account are shared in the following chapters.

Did you know? Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay in 1865 and educated in England. From around 1890 to 1920, he was the most popular and financially successful writer in the world.
second key point

Kipling found the elusive Mark Twain in Elmira, New York and dazzled him with his mastery of the English Language like a denizen of the moon

As a young reporter, Kipling was fond of Mark Twain’s books and set out to find him at all cost. After a long and arduous journey, he traversed 14,000 miles to find Mark Twain sequestered from the public’s eye in Elmira, New York. Kipling was 23 years old at the time. The meeting was in August, 1889. Kipling was a reporter for the Allahabad Pioneer, in remote India. That meeting marked the beginning of a close friendship between the two.
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third key point

Kipling had a mysterious scheme which involved the minuteman statue and a silent vigil at Longfellow’s grave

fourth key point

Kipling had a long-standing encounter with psychical research and the realm of the paranormal

fifth key point

The discovery of Kipling by Charles Wolcott Balestier set in motion the marriage of Rudyard Kipling to his sister, Carrie Balestier

sixth key point

The new couple went on a tour around the world for their honeymoon but the camaraderie was truncated by a financial crisis

seventh key point

The Kiplings begin again in a cottage home which Rudyard describes as a figurative Noah’s ark and where he wrote Noah’s Ark Tales

eighth key point

Conclusion

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What is If about?

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Do you find yourself staring at your computer for long minutes, unaware of time slipping by? Do you enter a room and suddenly cannot remember why you stepped in the first place? Is it a herculean task for you to sit through ten pages of a book without reaching for your phone? If yes, your focus needs some work and fast.

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