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The Man Who Would Be King and Other Stories

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The Man Who Would Be King and Other Stories

By: Rudyard Kipling
Narrated by: Sean Barrett
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About this listen

In a remote part of 19th-century Afghanistan, two British adventurers pursue their ambition to rule an empire. Using betrayal, threats, and guns, they win the respect of a primitive tribe and become worshipped as gods until one day they draw blood, and the game is up. "The Man Who Would Be King" is an action-packed tale about the pitfalls of colonialism and the temptations and evils of power. This volume also includes the stories "The Phantom Rickshaw", "The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes", "The Mark of the Beast" and many more.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2015 Naxos AudioBooks Action & Adventure Anthologies & Short Stories Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Short Stories British Fiction

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Beautifully read, with character and feeling. Wonderful stories, evocative of another era, glorious use of language.

Beautifully read, wonderful stories

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Kipling's talent brings a motley fistful of tales into fascinating life. Narrated with verve by Sean Barrett, my very favourite narrator I could not help but want more.

The Vicissitudes of India in Colonial Times

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Perhaps the most memorable are stories of child protagonists. Wee Willie and Punch are very different. The former charming and the latter disturbing but both demonstrate an undimmed memory of childhood and of the thinking so many out grow to their impoverishment.

The brevity and the penetration of observation.

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Gripping stories that give insight to life in India under British rule. Makes me wanna know more about Indian tradition and the complexity of being governed by a foreign power.

Learning about India

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A fantastic selection of atmospheric stories (listed below) by Kipling, evocatively read by Sean Barrett with great delineation of tone, voice etc. Quite a few of these stories have a supernatural bent, and I think Kipling achieves appropriate atmospheres very effectively. Others are more straightforward, but all show his perception, humanity, and fascination with and fondness for India and its peoples.

- The Man Who Would Be King
- The Phantom Rickshaw
- My Own True Ghost Story
- The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes
- The Mark of the Beast
- Without Benefit of Clergy
- The Sending of Dana Da
- Wee Willie Winkie
- On The City Wall
- The Education of Otis Yeere
- The Judgement of Dungara
- Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

Great selection of stories

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I have become a Kipling fan late in life. I always had the children’s Kipling stories when I was young and as children do, thought little more about Just So Stories, The Jungle Book, Kim other than I always remembered them. Now that my very elderly mother has died and who lived in India just before the war Kipling is a window onto her and her parents life in India through these stories. These and other ‘tales’ match closely family stories that I was told - but without Kiplings flair for story telling. The narration is excellent although my favourite is the late Tim Piggot-Smith. Both narrators capture the accents and inflections wonderfully as well as acting the parts for the listener. If you enjoyed this then do try Plain Tales From The Hills

Wonderful powerful language

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I’ve only recently discovered Rudyard Kipling. I had assumed he would be toe curlingly racist & imperialist but although he describes some British attitudes & behaviour from that time he clearly has sympathy & respect for other religions, races etc. His story telling is wondrous. A Different time & place but wisdom & wit. Very evocative. I’ve always loved Somerset Maugham & I’m sure he must have been influenced by Kipling in terms of human emotions & ability to capture an atmosphere.

Took me away

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A Delightful collection of Kipling short stories. Nicely read. Love the movie with Michael Caine and Sean Connery and was surprised that MWWBK was only a short story not a full novel. Some of the other tales could be adapted for tv if it still had shows like The Twilight Zone or Armchair Theatre. But instead stick on your headphone, listen and be transported to a different world

Delighful collection of short stories

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Kipling is a good storyteller and the first tale is by far the most straightforward and cinematic, but the others are just as interesting, even if the underlying message is darker.

Dark stories for a dark time

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These were familiar stories, cleverly written and in this format read superbly by Sean Barrett. His voice suited the tales, and he clearly understood Kipling's written words and intentions.
The readings are a joy but I dropped one star for the awkwardness with the PDF. It should surely be possible to align stories with chapters and name them in the chapter listings. But that is a minor flaw in a wonderful performance.

Superb reading

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