Plain Tales from the Hills
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Plain Tales from the Hills
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Narrated by:
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Tim Piggott-Smith
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By:
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Rudyard Kipling
About this listen
Rudyard Kipling's short stories of life in the British Raj began in 1888 as journalistic snippets written to supplement his more serious factual output when he was employed as the assistant editor, at the meagre age of 20, of the Lahori-based Civil and Military Gazette.
A child of the British colonial system, Kipling had been born in India, brought up by a Hindustani-speaking ayah, and then sent, rather brutally, back to England for his school years but returned to the India he loved almost as soon as he was legally allowed to. These wry, evocative and extremely witty stories of the British at play in the hills of Simla, escaping the fire of the Indian high summer, have had their share of controversy.
Kipling's love for the society he was born into and worked with shines out of the tales with the heat of the Indian sun. But his enthusiasm has often been taken to be an endorsement of the English colonial system - George Orwell called him the 'prophet of British Imperialism', and he did indeed revel in the eccentricities and peculiarities of the expatriate community. But his tone is undeniably ironic.
Mrs. Hauksbee, one of the most enduring of Kipling's characters encountered in these tales, is every inch the haughty tigress of a colonial memsahib before whom we are meant to cower and to whose brilliant manipulations we are meant to succumb. However, we are also supposed to laugh at her. She's very funny. In these tales India is a character of her own, one to be warily watched by those clinging staunchly to a sense of their own very distant culture.
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What listeners say about Plain Tales from the Hills
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- hoplitehamilton
- 07-06-24
This book was a shock.
I came to this book expecting something a bit soggy and imperial. But I was shocked at how modern the writing is, parred back to the bone, beautiful and concise. Many of the stories are very short but contain a whole world, they are moving, funny and profound. This book is truly a treasure chest. No wonder Kipling won a Noble prize! This is a must read.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sandydan
- 02-03-23
So well told
I was lucky. My first Kipling on Audible was read by Tim Piggot-Smith. His enunciation is perfect, he really understands the tales hence the nuances are pitch perfect. I now need to find what othe Kipling he reads…
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Pamela
- 11-11-22
Humanity Prevails Through
Tim Piggott Smith is an excellent narrator and gives a wonderful performance. Without a doubt, Smith brings to life and creates this vivid world that Kipling describes.
First published in 1888, Plain Tales from the Hills was Kipling's first volume of prose fiction. Most of the stories it includes had already appeared in the Civil and Military Gazette they were written before he reached the age of twenty-two, and reveal his exceptional literary talent.
Kipling writes of the small, intimate episodes of everyday life, humorous, bittersweet, and harsh, but all authentic. The storytelling is simple and effective,
And I must add people reviewing books published one hundred and thirty years ago and then complaining that they don't conform to modern ideals and sensibilities is ridiculous. You don't have to defend attitudes of the past to learn from reading about them. Social mores and manners change but kindness, and goodness in people rises above these things.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- bookworm
- 07-02-22
The Humanity Rings True
I am sure that this review will irritate some, but nonetheless here goes. Considering when this was written and where it was written there will be language and sentiments that some seeking a reason to score it down will use. That it was written at the height of the British Empire in India is just the stage set and context for Kipling to write about love, death, revenge and the other absurdities of life
When considering the human themes covered and the gentle and affecting language used and the narrator’s delivery I thought this was a fabulous book. Many of the stories address universal human frailties some with quite shocking endings but Kipling’s gentle humour and sympathetic observations made this an extremely enjoyable few hours of listening, and one that I would wholeheartedly recommend.
The past really is another country… but that’s another story!
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Schmick 23
- 10-08-16
Heartwarming stories from another place and time
I grew to love these stories. Although the setting predates our time the people Kipling introduces us to are entirely relevant to us today. Excellent narrator in Tim Pigott Smith who in many ways embodies the voice of the British Raj.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- forester
- 18-06-17
Wonderful stories from the Raj
Would you listen to Plain Tales from the Hills again? Why?
I love these stories, the people have become very real to me, I listen to them or read the book over and over. Highly recommended
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Simon E.
- 15-04-22
Marvellous.
A beautiful reading by Tim P-S of a collection of some of Kipling’s best India short stories. Highly recommended.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 07-11-18
Not sure why it has such good reviews overall
This book is OK. I did struggle to finish the book. Possibly because as a western in India at the time I had been struggling with corruption and preducise. I think if read 40-60 years ago it would have rung more true but it felt like an attack on western people's morales and values now but based around ideologies that are no longer prevalant today in India. If I had not been facing unfair treatment myself at the time I might have enjoyed it more. Maybe I was just too closed minded, or maybe the stories were not that good and the moral preaching undertones rubbed me the wrong way?
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2 people found this helpful