The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling
How ironic that two of the stories in "The Jungle Books" actually take place in the Arctic? No matter.
They're delightful, especially the tales of Mowgli and of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.
1. Why do children (and our inner children) so love anthropomorphization? Speaking to animals, thinking of them as furrier humans ... fascinating that we are so fascinated by it. Perhaps as children we feel stronger kinship with more diverse beings and we find the delineations drawn later in our lives to be artificial. But I hate how Walt Disney cartoonizes it all. Blah. Walt Disney sucks. Cartoons suck. The real stories are so much better than "Bear Necessities."
2. Social capital and information as power. Once Mowgli becomes "Lord of the Jungle" all creatures, including Ka, keep him informed of the comings and goings. His life is saved by his friends letting him know about Shere Khan. Instinctively I've always known that the more I know, the better off I am - when the janitors and secretaries and everybody trust me to tell me what they know, I am rarely surprised and usually on strong footing. Only within the past year have I understood conceptual theories about this - but networking is so, so key.
3. I just can't help but love Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. The curiosity of this mongoose, the lack of fear, the loyalty, and glowing red eyes when angered and fighting to the death - what's not to love?
4. Materialism - ah, weren't we just discussing that yesterday? When Mowgli takes the ankus from the cobra-guarded treasure, it does indeed bring death because "man" is so consumed with greed. Yes indeed, suffering is caused by desire.
5. I'll ignore Kipling's colonialist and rigid social constructs here. They aren't glaring, and I'm not an historical revisionist. It is possible to just enjoy some good tales here.
They're delightful, especially the tales of Mowgli and of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.
1. Why do children (and our inner children) so love anthropomorphization? Speaking to animals, thinking of them as furrier humans ... fascinating that we are so fascinated by it. Perhaps as children we feel stronger kinship with more diverse beings and we find the delineations drawn later in our lives to be artificial. But I hate how Walt Disney cartoonizes it all. Blah. Walt Disney sucks. Cartoons suck. The real stories are so much better than "Bear Necessities."
2. Social capital and information as power. Once Mowgli becomes "Lord of the Jungle" all creatures, including Ka, keep him informed of the comings and goings. His life is saved by his friends letting him know about Shere Khan. Instinctively I've always known that the more I know, the better off I am - when the janitors and secretaries and everybody trust me to tell me what they know, I am rarely surprised and usually on strong footing. Only within the past year have I understood conceptual theories about this - but networking is so, so key.
3. I just can't help but love Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. The curiosity of this mongoose, the lack of fear, the loyalty, and glowing red eyes when angered and fighting to the death - what's not to love?
4. Materialism - ah, weren't we just discussing that yesterday? When Mowgli takes the ankus from the cobra-guarded treasure, it does indeed bring death because "man" is so consumed with greed. Yes indeed, suffering is caused by desire.
5. I'll ignore Kipling's colonialist and rigid social constructs here. They aren't glaring, and I'm not an historical revisionist. It is possible to just enjoy some good tales here.
posted by NOLA at 8:00 PM
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