Originally published on my blog here in July 2001.Few of Kipling's fictional stories contain much of an autobiographical element, despite his frequent use of the first person. In this collection of stories, the school and some of the characters are based on his own experiences; Beetle, in particular, is a self portrait.The Devon boarding school portrayed in the book is basically a factory for producing future officers of the British army to serve in the colonies, and is by modern standards a violent place, with bullying and savage corporal punishment. Yet Kipling's evident nostalgia for his time at the school infects the reader, who senses the intensity of the friendships and the enjoyment of the experiences, which mainly focus on triumphs over the more petty minded masters. The success of his treatment makes a modern reader quite uncomfortable, especially when he seems to have fond memories of bullying. The way that his schoolboys rebel against authority was controversial at the time, but much less so now. Times have changed.The reader is also made aware, more deliberately, of a different dark undercurrent. Sprinkled throughout the stories are notes about the future deaths of the boys; they are destined to die young in the service of the British Empire. (One of them, interestingly, is going to be shot by his own men, a less glorified death than the others.) Kipling's point is presumably that the Empire was maintained at a human cost; despite his reputation as a jingoist, this is not the only place where he showed an awareness of this. Few today would deny that there was a human cost, though the focus has canged so that we would think about what it meant to the colonised rather than the coloniser.Stalky and Co. is one of the most uncomfortable of Kipling's books to read, and this is a measure of the author's talent, as he glories in what is to us unpalatable and almost brings us to feel we appreciate it too.
I buried my head in Rudyard Kipling’s novel Stalky & Co. It took me a long while to finish that thin book. At first I could not get the hang of the dialogues in it but the setting of the story helped me a lot as it is a school. The story revolves around this three…I repeat…three boys who excel in different fields but do not run out of naughtiness. Stalky is the leader who can worm his way out of any trouble because of his expertise in spoken language. He is quite witty. M’Turk is a placid guy who storms up when triggered and he has a great aptitude in Latin. Beetle on the other hand is a poet who vents his emotions on paper or anything he can write his thoughts on.They, often reprimanded by the school masters and heads, are the pioneers of naughtiness and chaos in school. They don’t care much about rules and stuff. What they know is they have to go to school because their esteemed parents want them to in order for them to become good citizens of their country. As any other students, Stalky, M’Turk, and Beetle use the school as their playground instead.The book reminded me of how I studied seriously in high school and not so seriously in college. How I made fun of the teachers I did not like particularly those who would just go to school, give us things to do without teaching us anything.What is more is that the book finally solidified why three seems to be a good number for friends. I cannot imagine ‘Stalky and M’Turk’ tandem without missing Beetle, and it goes for any other tandem missing out a person. In the friendship of three, there may be a stronger bond between two friends, it won’t be the same as having all three together. What is more is there are times one finds himself extremely different from the other that there should be another person to smoothen the relationship.
What do You think about Stalky & Co. (2005)?
I picked up this book because it was on the reading list for literature class; I was not planning to enjoy it quite so much. Kipling has recreated the antics of three boys (known as Stalky & Company) at a British boarding school in the late 1800's. Unlike other popular "boys at school" books of the time, this book does not offer its readers a neat moralistic tale of how to be a good boy at school. Kipling instead takes us along to enjoy Stalky's shenanigans--and to peek inside the social structure of the school.
—Dana
Stalky & co is the ultimate boy's boarding school book for me. If Enid Blyton's numerous school stories reigned my childhood, then Stalky is the story I can continue to enjoy in my adulthood. It's devilishly funny & one of my favourite Kipling's work. My most favourite would have to be Baa Baa Blacksheep (i think that's the title) short story which I somehow mislaid. It's a shame that during this last re-read I became more aware of the imperialistic tone that Kipling's world has. Nothing blatantly annoying, just having this thought at the back of my mind that these boys, these wonderfully wild & incorrigible boys, were drilled to become soldiers defending the "rights" of british empire; and some of them will die because of it.
—astried
Reread because YT reminded me it existed. I loved it when I was eight (apparently it did not bother me that entire conversations were incomprehensible on account of French, Latin, 19th century slang or all three) and enjoyed actually understanding the French, Latin and historical references (well, being able to google them, anyway) this time around. Loses a star for colonialism and one bit of astounding narrative sexism, egregious even for the era, that makes me throw the book across the room every time.
—Chris
