David Drake

Kipling had a major influence on my writing and a lesser one on my life. The photo above is me in the garden of his house in Brattleboro in September, 1996. The one at the bottom of the essay is a more general shot of the house and grounds, looking down toward the Connecticut River. (The child is Sarah Van Name, the daughter of my friends Mark and Rana.)

My folks had copies of The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book which I read them when I was quite young. The first volume contains the Mowgli stories, which are fairly straightforward. I won’t say that I understood them at age ten or so, but I thought I understood them. continue reading…

On June 5, 2000, Jo and I visited the Mark Twain Mansion in Hartford, CT. Twain and Kipling were similar in many ways, drawn from poverty by their genius, and they got along well when they met. I was struck by the different ways they lived, though.

Kipling’s house in Brattleboro was a writer’s work area with lovely views, very secluded. Twain built a mansion in the center of the literary district of Hartford (beside Harriet Beecher Stowe), and entertained lavishly to build his image with opinion makers.

They both succeeded brilliantly, and both were (and remain) world-class writers. But my taste is with Kipling’s methods.