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A boy who belongs in every crowd must find where he truly belongs.
Kimball O'Hara grows up an orphan on the streets of Lahore, quick-witted and at home in its bazaars. When he meets the Teshoo Lama, an old Tibetan monk seeking a sacred river, he joins him as a disciple. Together they take the Grand Trunk Road through a country crowded with strangers and possibilities.
But Kim also carries a message for Mahbub Ali, a horse dealer who secretly serves the British. That errand draws him toward the Great Game, a struggle of agents, maps and disguise between Britain and Russia. In Rudyard Kipling's adventure, the lama's spiritual search runs beside imperial intrigue, while Kim faces questions of loyalty and belonging.
What you’ll discover
- A hero living by wit Follow a curious street boy whose gift for blending in opens doors to adventure.
- The road through India Travel among trains, bazaars, soldiers and holy men, with fresh encounters at every stop.
- Secrets beneath an errand Watch a simple message pull Kim toward a world of informers and hidden loyalties.
- A lama's searching faith Walk beside the Teshoo Lama as he seeks a river he believes can end suffering.
- The question of belonging Explore Kim's divided loyalties as his Irish origins meet the Indian world that raises him.
Who will love it
You will love this if you enjoy road stories, secret agents and colourful worlds, or if the bond between a gentle old teacher and a quick-witted boy appeals to you.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A street boy joins a pilgrimage
- A small errand carries imperial stakes
- The promised sign becomes a cage
- His guardians prepare different futures
- A disguise tests his divided loyalties
- Violence changes the mountain pilgrimage
- Many identities leave Kim feeling alone
- Two quests share the same road
- Belonging remains the question beneath adventure
Who’s who
- KimAn orphaned Irish boy raised in Lahore's bazaars who loves the Road, disguises and games, and wants to keep his lama and find his Red Bull.
- The LamaA gentle, learned Tibetan abbot who leaves his monastery to find the River of the Arrow that will free him from rebirth.
- Mahbub AliA scarlet-bearded Afghan horse dealer who secretly gathers information for the British and looks after Kim as his clever colt.
- Colonel CreightonA calm English officer who heads a secret survey and sees in Kim a future agent, and arranges his schooling.
- Hurree BabuA talkative, fearful and wonderfully brave Bengali agent who quotes Shakespeare, collects ethnological notes and dreams of being honoured by the Royal Society.
- Lurgan SahibA Simla jeweller who trains Kim in memory, disguise and sharp observation, and tests his will.
- Father VictorThe kind Irish Catholic chaplain of the Mavericks who recognises Kim's father and works to give the boy an education.
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Kim
by Rudyard Kipling · 1901
A barefoot boy on a cannon meets an old Tibetan lama who seeks a river, and a secret message changes both lives.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“After you have read Kipling's fifty or seventy-five best stories you realize that few men have written this many stories of this much merit, and that very few have written more and better stories.”
In short
What happens when a street boy with no family, but a charm around his neck, sits on a cannon and starts talking to a stranger? In Lahore, Kim is an orphaned Irish boy who looks and sounds like any bazaar child.
Kim at a glance
- Reading time
- About 7 h 10 min5 h 40 min fast, 8 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 102,500 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1901by Rudyard Kipling
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A street boy adopts a holy man in Lahore
Kim begins the book astride the great bronze gun outside the Lahore museum. He is white, the orphaned son of an Irish soldier, yet he is sun-dark and speaks the street languages better than English. Around his neck hangs a leather case holding three papers his father left him. His father also left a prophecy that a Red Bull on a green field will one day help his son.
A tall stranger in layered wool shuffles toward the museum. He is a lama from Tibet, on pilgrimage to the Holy Places of the Buddha. His deeper wish is to find the River of the Arrow, a stream that washes away all sin. Kim hears every word, begs the faint old man a meal, and shares it with him in the shade of the gun.
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Details
- First published
- 1901
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 7 h 50 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Kipling, Rudyard. Kim. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/kim.
Kipling, R. (2026). Kim. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/kim (Original work published 1901)
Kipling, Rudyard. Kim. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/kim.
@book{kipling2026kim,
author = {Kipling, Rudyard},
title = {Kim},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/kim},
note = {First published 1901}
}
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What is Kim by Rudyard Kipling about?
Kim follows an orphaned Irish boy in British India who becomes the disciple of a Tibetan lama seeking a sacred river. Along the way he is drawn into a secret service, and the book joins a spiritual quest to a spy adventure.
Who is Kim in the novel?
Kim is Kimball O'Hara, the son of an Irish soldier, orphaned young and raised in the streets of Lahore. He looks local, speaks the languages of the bazaar and is nicknamed Little Friend of all the World.
What is the Great Game in Kim?
The Great Game is the name used in the book for the secret contest of spies and informers watching the northern frontier of India. Mahbub Ali, Colonel Creighton and Hurree Babu all play it, and Kim is trained to join them.
The author
Rudyard Kipling
1865–1936 · English novelist and poet
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) was an English writer and poet born in Bombay, India. He lived in India, England and the United States. He wrote The Jungle Book (1894), The Second Jungle Book (1895), Kim (1901) and Just So Stories (1902). He died in London in 1936.
“Little Friend of all the World”
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