Captains Courageous

Greetings, followers!

I have just finished reading Rudyard Kipling's novel, Captains Courageous. Having never read a book by Kipling before, I had almost no idea what to expect. I had been meaning to get into his books for a long time, and this seemed like a good opportunity.

Captains Courageous tells the story of Harvey Cheyne, a spoiled rich kid who falls off the side of an ocean liner and gets picked up by a bunch of fishermen, led by captain Disko Troop (coolest name ever.) Disko won't take him back to his parents, so he has to stay on the boat and learn to be a sailor.

I found Kipling's style to be very appealing. He's sort of a tough-guy writer, not unlike Mark Twain, but not nearly as funny. Much of the dialog in this book is in heavy dialect, which may be confusing to some people. You just have to pay close attention to know what's going on when the sailors are talking. I thought the plot was pretty exciting and the narritive pretty well-structured. Although I did enjoy this book, I get the sense that this isn't Kipling's best book by a long shot. That being said, it may be a good place to start if you aren't familiar with his work. After having read this, I'm excited to read some of his more well-known stuff, like Jungle Book.

3/5 Recommended.

Now, how about some questions for the comments...

1. Have you ever read a Kipling book before? What do you think of his style?
2. Is Disko Troop the coolest name ever or what?