Rudyard Kipling

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We mostly go away for our dear Master’s birthday; this year was no exception. Of course, we Bookfayries prefer to go to bookish places. Just as much as we love going away, nothing tops the cosy hours in front the fire when the four of us discuss where to go next. So we put all our heart and decisiveness together to go somewhere where we Bookfayries, our Master and Dina will be happy. Dina likes scenic places where she can practice her photography. Our Master and Siri always look for literary or arty places. After quite some teas, talks and researching we decided for the quaint village of Rye. Dina was easily persuaded after she saw pictures of this romantic town. Famous authors and publishers met here in the house of Henry James a long time ago. But, oh dear, much to our dismay, Lamb House was completely closed during the off-season. – In our next post we’ll show you our impressions of beautiful Rye.

Zu Masterchens Geburtstag fahren wir wie auch dieses Jahr oft weg. Als Buchfeen möchten wir natürlich dahin fahren, wo es einen literarischen Bezug gibt. Wir lieben zu reisen, aber nichts lieben wir mehr als wenn wir vier, gemütlich vorm Kamin hockend, eine Reise planen. Wir Buchfeen setzten all unsere Begeisterung und Energie daran etwas zu finden, mit wir alle vier mehr als zufrieden sind. Dina liebt großartige Natur und solche Orte, an denen sie ihre Kamera ausprobieren kann, wohingegen speziell Siri und Masterchen Häuser mit literarischem Bezug und Kunstausstellungen lieben. Nach einigen Tassen Tee und vielen Nachforschungen entschieden wir uns für das für das malerische Städtchen Rye. Alles, was damals in der Literatur Rang und Namen hatte, traf sich hier in Lamb Haus, den Alterssitz von Henry James. Aber, oh weh, leider ist dieses Haus außerhalb der Saison völlig geschlossen. – In unserer nächsten Post werden wir euch dann von unseen Eindrücken in Rye berichten, das uns fürbass erstaunte.

As we couldn’t visit James we went to Bateman’s in Burwash, Rudyard Kipling’s house not far from Rye. Bateman’s was build in 1634 and Kipling called it “A good and peaceable place“. Unfortunately we didn’t know much about Kipling. So we assiduously started researching. Immediately we had our problems with Kiplig though he was as bookish as we are. The problem with Kipling is the same we have with such diverse authors as Archer, Handke and Hamsun. Not only we ask ourselves if we can allow an author politically being wrong but also being a great artist. We Bookfayries call lumping together aesthetics and political believe reductionism. Well, Kipling is a challenge not only for us. Should we differentiate between aesthetics and ethics? Should we see artists in their time?

Statt H. James statteten wir Bateman’s in Burwash, dem Haus Rudyard Kiplings, nicht weit von Rye gelegen, einen Besuch ab. Es stammt aus dem Jahr 1634 und Kipling nannte es “A good and peaceable place“. Leider wussten wir fast nichts über diesen freilich berühmten Autor, so mussten wir mit roten Bäckchen schnellstens recherchieren. Sogleich begannen unsere Probleme mit ihm, obwohl er uns als Bücherwurm ähnelte. Es geht uns mit ihm wie mit solch unterschiedlichen Autoren wie Archer, Handke und Hamsun, bei denen wir uns fragen, wieweit wir einem Autor zugestehen, dass er politisch irren aber dennoch ein großer Künstler sein kann. Die Ästhetik eines Werkes und die politische Einstellung seines Autors in einen Topf zu werfen, nennen wir Buchfeen Reduktionismus. Kipling ist echt eine Herausforderung nicht nur für uns. Sollen wir zwischen Ästhetik und Ethik unterscheiden und Autoren stets in ihrer Zeit sehen?

To reduce Kipling to a eulogist of imperialism like George Orwell did, who was also born in India, seems narrow-minded and politically as debatable as the imperialism itself. For us Kipling shows in some of his texts a perfect feeling for rhythm and sound of his language f.e. in his most famous poems “If“ and “On the Road to Mandalay” we listened to sitting in his armchair when we went through his guestbook. If some biographers write about a withdrawn Kipling in his later years, they would call the Fab Four hermits. Kipling entertained at least three guests daily in his last years although his wife tried to protect him from visitors.

Ihn einzig, wie der ebenfalls in Indien aufgewachsene George Orwell, unter dem Aspekt eines Lobredners des Imperialismus zu sehen, scheint uns Buchfeen kleinkariert und politisch ebenso fragwürdig wie der Imperialismus selbst. Wir finden, dass Kipling in einigen Gedichten ein perfektes Sprachgefühl zeigt wie z.B. in seinen berühmtesten Gedichten “If“, und “On the Road to Mandalay” und die wir dort, gemütlich im Sessel sitzend, hörten, wobei wir sein Gästebuch durchblätterten. Wenn einige Biografen von seinem zurückgezogenen Leben sprachen, so müssen wir sagen, dass wir im Vergleich dazu als Einsiedler leben. Erstaunlich ist, dass er bis zu seinem Tod mindestens drei Besucher täglich empfing, obwohl seine Frau vergeblich versuchte ihn abzuschirmen.

Kipling won the Nobel Prize in 1907 as the first English author. With 41 years he was youngest author winning this highest Prize for literature until today. It was awarded to him “in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous author.” Afterwards he refused the the title of nobility and becoming Poet Laureate, well, we are impressed.

Kipling bekam 1907 als jüngster Autor bis heute mit 41 Jahren den Nobelpreis für Literatur für seine genauen Beobachtungen und sein Erzähltalent wie auch für seine originellen Buchkonzepte wie z.B. in “Das Dschungelbuch“. Die Erhebung in den Adelsstand zum Poet Laureate (Hofdichter) lehnte er ab, was uns imponiert.

Kingsley Amis called the atmosphere at Bateman’s gloomy. But we could easily live here with Dina and our Master and imagine getting read the “Just so Stories” or stories from “The Dschungle Book” in our cosy little beds before falling asleep. We liked reading that Kipling often rather played with children than to talk to adults. It was hard on him loosing two of his three children. The doll in his office was his late daughter’s toy. – But back to the question “are we allowed to like the work of an author who doesn’t share our political ideas?” We don’t know but try to answer this question since we wrote about Ernst Jünger. Maybe you have an answer? 

Der englische Autor Kingsley Amis fand bei seinem Besuch Bateman’s bedrückend, wir dagegen könnten uns gut vorstellen, dort mit Dina und Masterchen zu leben und in unseren Kuschelbettchen die “Genau-so-Geschichten” oder gar das “Dschungelbuch” vorgelesen zu bekommen. Mit Freude lasen wir, dass Kipling es liebte mit Kindern zu spielen und dies oft der Gesellschaft mit Erwachsenen vorzog. Umso härter traf ihn der Tod zwei seiner drei Kinder. Die Puppe in seinem Arbeitszimmer gehörte seiner verstorbenen Tochter. – Aber zurück zu der Frage: Dürfen wir das Werk eines Dichters mögen, der politisch nicht die Ideale vertritt wie wir selber? Wir haben keine Antwort darauf, ringen aber mit der Frage seit Jahren, als wir begannen Ernst Jünger zu lesen. Vielleicht habt Ihr eine Antwort?

 

 

Warm greetings from the cold sea
Mit lieben Grüßen von

Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma and from  Dina 🙂 and 🙂 our Master as well

 

© Text and illustrations, Hanne Siebers and Klausbernd Vollmar, Cley next the Sea, 2019

 

172 thoughts

    • Dear John,
      thanks for commenting 🙂 🙂 You are very welcome.
      Yes, Kipling’s estate is really beautiful and too big, small but nice.
      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  2. I love his work.
    When I was 12 my mother decided to give our edition of the works of Kipling to a new library. I frantically begged her not to because I needed them for my thesis.
    She informed me that I was far too young to know my thesis topic. The books went.
    As I graduated from TWU with my MA, I reminded her of that. She sheepishly told me that I had to be the first 12-year -old to have already chosen my thesis topic.
    My husband also is a major Kipling reader, and that is one of the reasons we wound up together. It often happens that one of us will say one line from a poem by Kipling and the other will say the next line.
    Most of his poetry is excellent. Some of his short stories are too juvenile. He was not a good novelist, although Kim was a major success. His mother once said of him that he couldn’t make a plot to save his life. To some extent that is true. Even Kim is more picaresque than tightly plotted, and revolves more around character and setting. I find his other long fiction unreadable.
    Both my husband and I agree that his poetry is by far the best of his work.
    I’d love to visit this place, so beautifully presented.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    • Dear Anna,
      we Bookfayries took the effort reading a lot of Kipling’s work. We were amazed about the different literary quality of his texts. We agree, his longer texts are not at all to our taste. Dina is just reading “Kim”. We flipped only through the pages and thought this novel is entertaining but not `high literature’ like Cervantes, Grimmelshausen or Twain f.e.
      Thank you very much for your comment
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  3. I too was born in “India”. Though after the partition that part of Indi was now called “Pakistan”. My family lived in India for nearly two centuries. Does it make us Imperialists? 🙂 I say no, we always arrived in a country after Independence… Hehe.
    Now Kipling? Is the Jungle book Imperialist? I say no. It is universal. Are the the jus-so stories colonialist? I say no.
    There is a growing tendency to read the past with today’s spectacles… I will not yield to that. I like Kipling as an author. Didn’t know the man. And I don’t care. The French revere Céline – a notorious anti-semit – for his voyage au bout de la nuit… I don’t like the book and I don’t like the man. Last but not least, García Marquez was an unpleasant man, according to a friend of mine. But his books are greater than he was.
    Enough ranting my four friends. Thank you for showing us Kipling’s house. I will make a note to visit on our next English trip. Tschüss. Au revoir.
    Brian

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

    • Good afternoon, dear Brian,
      we love the “Just so”-stories and the “Jungle Book” as well as some of his poems. But most of his work is not so much to our taste.
      Kipling is not seen as an imperialist because he is born in India and lived there but because he expresses f.e. in “The Road to Mandalay” (a poem that’s perfect seen from its style) that Burma is longing for English to come back. It was his idea that English imperialism was a positive power in India. Well, one has to see it from the perspective of his time. On the other hand he was not that one-dimensional because in South Africa his sympathy was with the Boers against the English.
      As we said, we have our problems with Kipling and maybe that’s a sign of quality – at least he is not one-dimensional.
      Tschüss, all the best
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Interesting. I didn’t know about his positions in favour of the Boers… (I also have family in South Africa. English, not Boer)
      And yes, one has to remember the perspective of his time. The dark side leading to the Nazi party.
      Agree with the writing. I do have many of his books, mostly my father’s. Kim I just read, and was interesting from a historic and social point of view. As is Indigo, written by Christine Weston, a cousin of my grandmother’s. (Both born in India) about the life in an Indigo plantation around the turn of the (19th) century. My family were indigo planters, the book tells of that life. Like I said, the interest is now more historical…
      Au revoir et bon week-end.

      Liked by 1 person

    • With the Indigo … I find it VERY interesting because I wrote several books about colour. There was a big competition between the European woad growers and the Asian indigo growers. But from the Asian Indigo one could get much more pigment. So they won in the end. That caused social disasters in parts of Europe (southern Germany f.e.).
      So long
      Klausbernd

      Liked by 1 person

    • Several books about colour? How interesting. My great-grandmother Wilhelmine Goutière was an indigo planter’s daughter. During the British Raj, Europeans could not buy land, but they had some sort of concessions. Made a good living with indigo. But then around the turn of century (20th) German chemists synthesized the firs chemical dyes… Much cheaper. And that was the end of the indigo planters… 🙂
      Cheers

      Liked by 1 person

    • Here are some books of mine about colours (always the original title, but these books are translated in different languages):

      Das große Buch der Farben
      Die Magie der Farben – erleben und anwenden
      Farben
      Farben, gekürzte Ausgabe
      Das kleine Buch der Farben
      Die faszinierende Welt der Farben – ein Glossar von A-Z
      Sprache und Macht der Farben
      Das Geheimnis der Farbe Rot
      Das Geheimnis der Farbe Schwarz
      Das Geheimnis der Farbe Weiß
      Das große Handbuch der Farben
      Schwarz-Weiß

      There are some older ones which are out of print for ages.
      All the best
      Klausbernd 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

    • Fascinating. Were you in the textile industry? Chemical industry? Does farben mean fabric? Hmmm. Probably not. IG Farben was a chemical company… Checking… Ok. Farben = colours… 🙂
      So you wrote on Red, Black, White, B&W?
      My apologies for my scant German.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Don’t worry, we are not good at all with foreign languages.
      Our dear Master was a specialist for symbols teaching at the McGill University/Montreal and writing these books about how we use and perceive colours. It all started with a commission of an international publisher to write a book about the symbolism of the colour black.
      We wish you a happy week
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • McGill? Wow. That is a very prestigious university. Compliments. 🙂
      Now the symbolism of black is an interesting theme. It does vary widely from culture to culture. Grief and mourning in the West. While White is the corresponding colour in Africa and Asia…
      Cheers my friends.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. I think it is allowable to admire the work of an author even if one disagrees with their politics or even with the way they behave in general. I like some of Kipling’s stories and I love a lot of his poetry. He was a man of his time and suffered greatly in losing two of his beloved children. I have never visited Bateman’s though I have been fortunate enough to have visited Lamb House. I love the town of Rye very much.
    Belated best wishes for your birthday, Klausbernd! I wish you all a cosy weekend by the fire!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Anne,
      we like our discussion in front of the fire sitting between maps and travel guides, Dina and Selma searching the net to find out where to go next. Especially Siri watches that we try to travel more or less ecological, not to fly and not too far. These preparations are exciting and a lot of fun.
      Wishing you a cosy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  7. The very question — are we allowed to like the work of an author who doesn’t share our political ideas? — suggests there is someone (or some nameless, faceless force) with the power to influence or even to determine our acceptance or rejection of an author. I am no more ready to accept that than I am to accept the exclusion of certain words from the lexicon, or to accept forced use of words I find tiresome or banal. Refusal of history is dangerous, and expunging everything in art that offends us also impoverishes. Oddly, the thoughts your post stirred brought me around to one of my favorite songs. When thoughts are free, acceptance of human complexity becomes more possible.

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    Reply

    • We love this song of 1848 revolution in Germany as well. Especially the authors Heine and Bücher were very active to fight for free thinking. In those times free thinking was revolutionary. Nowadays we see it on one hand as basic for a democracy but on the other hand it’s dangerous as well. What about fascist ideas? What about racism? Oh dear, that brings us back to Kipling who admired imperialism. We think, it’s important to stay in communication with ideas that contradict our believes.
      Anyway, we agree the that refusal of history is highly dangerous. Hegel saw this already at the end of the 18th and beginning of 19th century which brought him to the idea of the zeitgeist. We think that every artist has to been seen as influenced by the zeitgeist as well as what she or he can communicate for us now.
      Thank you very much for your comment and your link.
      We wish you a relaxing weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

    • Good afternoon, dear Peter,
      thanks a lot for liking Dina’s photography 🙂 🙂 and our text. We had quite a struggle to write about Kipling who is not our favourite author. We didn’t know much about him. At least that has changed now but made him not to our favourite author.
      Wishing you a happy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Now I am even more interested in reading some of his work. Apparently you have already read some of Kipling’s works and are entiltles to your opinion. As an ignoramus, I must withhold my judgement until later. You too have a happy perhaps sunny weekend!

      Liked by 1 person

  9. I think Equinoxio made a good point. Authors need context and they are part of their times. They should be judged by their art and their response to those times. Context is good. There is a term in history called presentism, which is judging people as though they lived now. It’s something to be avoided. And then there is the work–is it influenced by the attitude? I have enjoyed (laughed out loud) Angela Thirkell’s fine comic novels, but have also cringed at their easy racism and superiority. Still, they are pictures of a time and place and context, and therefore informative. Mark Helprin also has political views that could be described as right wing; yet his novels reflect none of that and create worlds and tell stories with magic and surprise (though a friend once described the nexus between his writing and his political views as reflecting a certain detachment from reality. If someone is truly a monster, (and whose to say Picasso wasn’t, which makes the whole thing really difficult) then maybe feeling one shouldn’t view the art could be a consideration, but it’s more interesting to see the art and interact with it. Does it speak to you? Why? Does it advocate a certain view? Do you subscribe? And if you don’t, does that negate what the art says to you? It’s a thorny question. Thanks for writing about it.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    • Thank you so much for your really great comment! 🙂 🙂
      We suppose to judge art we have to take into account different factors. It’s the art within the world of art of its time and how it’s seen nowadays, also art seen under the aspect of the political zeitgeist of its time and how the receiver is understanding it nowadays. That makes it a multidimensional project. But also one has to reflect one’s personal tastes and believes. So we suppose it’s too hard for us to judge art although we are aware that we can’t talk or write about art without judging. Maybe we should use our reception of art as a kind of therapy or at least as a chance for a better self-understanding.
      A thorny business, indeed!
      All the best and thanks again
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  10. I doubt I’ve read enough Kipling to have a solid opinion of the work in context or the present. Good literature speaks to its time; as it’s mainly supposed to. But it has the capacity to speak to the reader’s present. The text should engage on its own, the writer standing by (though unable to participate if dead). I read The Jungle Book a long while ago. I enjoyed the animal-characters and felt sad by the end. There’s craft in Kipling’s verse. In terms of message below the message, that’s fair to look for, though it’s both author-bound and reader-bound. If Kipling was an imperialist and worse, I imagine that can be discovered in the text. And we’ll assess accordingly. I’d like to take these issues up in a book discussion group that honors texts and then contexts. Thank you for visiting Kipling’s home and sharing wonderful images and thoughtful impressions and questions with us.

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    Reply

    • Kipling is not an easy author. The quality of his texts varies a lot. In his poetry we found texts with a perfect feeling for rhythm and style and other poems didn’t show this quality at all, the same with his stories. He had obviously problems with the plot of longer stories. As you see, he is not our favourite author. For nowadays readers very few of his stories are worth reading like his “Jungle Book”, the “Just so” stories and maybe “Kim”, but most of the rest besides some poems like “If” is not aged well.
      We would love to hear what your book discussion group will think about Kipling.
      Thanks for commenting.
      Wishing you a happy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  11. Thank you for taking us along on this interesting visit, and for raising intriguing questions. I think misguided people can still be inspired and inspiring artists, but depending on how much I disagree with their political stance, I might chose not to support their art. But this is a very personal decision.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Good afternoon, dear Tanja,
      we already wrote a lot in our answers to the comments about the problems to judge art and especially Kipling’s. The more we think about it the more complicated it gets.
      Maybe we should get away from liking or disliking an author’s work but rather trying to understand the structure of the work and kind of try to communicate with it. Or shall we use it to understand our personal tastes?
      Thanks and all the best
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  12. Isn’t it interesting that we all look at books in different ways, in an attempt to determine the reasons for a particular style of writing. Rudyard Kipling had great tragedy in his life, which is embedded in his writing. What I admire most about him was not all the awards and accolades – those are fleeting, at best. Very few people know that he was given an Nobel) Rather, what resonates with me is his courage to tell the story of his time, his generation, his world. “If any question why we died / Tell them, because our fathers lied.” May we have his courage, his acceptance of life as it is given. Thank you, dear dear friend, the Fab Four of Cley for your generosity of spirit. Much love and many hugs coming across the pond.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    • Dear Clanmother,
      what we like best of Kipling’s work is his phantasy best seen in his “Jungle Book” and the “Just so Stories”. We agree, he told the stories of his time. It’s interesting from a historical point of view and he was well connected and knew a lot about the English politics during his life time. As nowadays readers we are not really taken by most of his texts. Thank you very much for changing our perception of him because we didn’t see this aspect of accepting life as it is in his work. It immediately makes sense.
      We read some biographies about him and it’s amazing that most of the authors struggle with Kipling’s work – as we do. Kipling is a challenge, but as every challenge it makes us aware of how we judge and make us think.
      With lots and lots of love and hugs to our dear Canadian friends. It would be great if we would meet again next year.
      Have a happy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

    • I so enjoy our conversations. I too struggle with his writings and with his world-view. Most (and I include myself in this group) see the Jungle Book through the lens of a musical cartoon. By the way, you had me going back to Kipling’s biography. I just found out that his mother was Alice MacDonald – one of the four famous MacDonald sisters. The other three sisters were: Georgiana who married Edward Burne-Jones, Agnes who married Edward Poynter, Louisa who married Alfred Baldwin, and whose son became UK prime minster Stanley Baldwin. I continue to learn. The sun is shining in Vancouver – heading out for an adventure.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks a lot, we didn’t know about these MacDonald-sisters before. You got us into researching as well.
      GREAT, this is what is blogging for: learning from each other and becoming friends.
      We had a sunny day here as well but spiced with short showers.
      Have a great adventure!
      Love
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  14. I think one must look past a person’s political ideas and just enjoy his art. At that time he was influenced by politics of the day. Today lots of things have changed and one cannot just shut out the past, because of the way people thought.
    Beautiful photo’s!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • We agree with you but, of course, there are limits. What’s about fascist and racist literature and literature glorifying war? Kipling didn’t do this.
      We find a lot of Kipling’s texts not interesting. For our taste his work has not aged well – except some stories like the Jungle Book and some poems. We cannot really enjoy his art because it’s too much only a document of his time which often lacks literary qualities.
      Thank you very much for commenting.
      We wish you a cosy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  15. I think we need to approach Kipling in the same way as we approach people such as Winston Churchill and Cecil Rhodes. We should not ignore the nastier sides to his character, and we should not make excuses for his imperialism, but we should also not allow that to cover up his undeniable literary genius. He had a unique gift for adapting and using the rhythm of language in order to write poems and stories of a fantastic calibre, but he also used his gift to defend the worst aspects of the British Empire.
    Virtually nobody in the history of the English language has had a better grasp of poetry than he did. That cannot be taken away, but nor can it obscure his viewpoints that are, in modern times at least, indefensible.

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    Reply

    • Dear John,
      sorry, we disagree. You are right Kipling wrote some poems with a perfect rhythms and a great command of the English language but he wrote as well quite some poems we find rather botched. With his stories it’s the same. He especially lacked a plot design in longer texts. We don’t see him as a literary genius because of this changing literary qualities of his texts. But without doubt, he had a lot of phantasy. You see, we are not fans of his literature but studying it made us think a lot about literature and its perception.
      Thanks a lot.
      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  16. My dear friends,
    I loved reading about your visit to Rudyard Kipling’s wonderful home. I feel almost like I’m standing next to him in his study. It was a joy to listen to IF so well spoken, thanks for the link!
    Regarding Kipling, like E.M.W. Tillyard writes in “The Epic Strain in the English Novel”; he is in important ways a spokesman for his age, with its sense of imperial destiny, its fascinated contemplation of the unfamiliar world of soldiering, its confidence in engineering and technology and its respect for craftsmanship.
    That age is one about which many Britons – and to a lesser extent Americans and West European – now feel an exaggerated sense of guilt; and in so far as Kipling was its spokesman, he has become our scapegoat. Hence, in part at least, the tendency in recent decades to to dismiss him so contemptuously, so unthinkingly, and so mistakenly.
    Whereas if we approach him more historically, less hysterically, we shall find in this very relation to his age a cultural phenomenon of absorbing interest.

    As far as Handke is concerned, it has become almost tiresome to follow the reactions. I’ll get back to him and the reactions in Sweden later. I have to prepare my last lecture before the weekend, then I’m off to Oslo.

    Take care, we’ll talk soon.

    Kram,
    Annalena xx

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Annalena,
      thanks a lot for your knowledgeable commentary.
      We suppose, our problem is that we are not that interested in the age of British imperialism, therefore we find quite some of Kipling’s texts rather boring. As we wrote before, for us he hasn’t aged well.
      Do you remember our course about reception theory? In structural reception theory (like Mukarovsky) an artefact is made to aesthetic object by the receiver. That means that we as nowadays readers define its qualities. Of course, I remember the furious critique of our Marxist orientated colleagues that this theory is ahistorical.
      You see, I have my problems with Kipling’s texts as with their message as with their literary quality. Nevertheless I found it interesting to be lead to Kipling just by chance.
      KRAM
      XXXX
      Klausbernd and the rest of our gang

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  17. I’m not up to your level of reading and knowledge of authors and poets, so can’t comment.

    But I love that house in the first image. Reminds me of a house I stayed in Ewelme, Oxfordshire in 1978 – home of Lady Patricia Hambleden (who I believe died in 1994). That home was unreal and my short stay there a totally unique experience. Her library alone was something you and Dina would have loved. Must have had something like 10,000 books on shelves going up to the ceiling (as I remember it).

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Vicki,
      that must have be great to stay in such a house like Ewelme. It sounds like paradise to us. We would have problems to leave.
      Well, don’t worry, especially our dear Master has studied and taught literature and we all are keen readers, reading quite some hours nearly every day. It was Master’s job and we are bookish Bookfayries. Reading is our hobby. We love to play with our knowledge and hope we don’t overwhelm you.
      Thanks a lot for your commentary.
      Wishing you a great time
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  18. I read a lot of Kipling as a child, and I have been to Rye many times until I moved to Norfolk.
    But I have never visited Kipling’s house. Thanks for your usual combination of excellent photos and words.
    Love from Beetley, Pete and Ollie. X

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Pete,
      in our next blogpost we will write about our visit to Rye. To say it beforehand, we loved Rye.
      We were led to Kipling by accident. Besides the “Jungle Book” and the “Just so” stories aa well as the poem “if” we didn’t know any of his texts. So we did a kind of Kipling crash course, read some biographies and, of course, a lot of his stories and poems. We are still reading Kipling himself and about him. As we wrote before, he didn’t became our favourite author. He is not easy but we learned a lot studying his writings.
      Thank you and love from the Norfolk coast to you and Ollie
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
      xxxx

      Liked by 1 person

  19. Fab Four of Cley,
    I’ve always enjoyed Kipling. I found his political innuendos in the works to be his opinion of the situation at the time. Much like any other first-hand account. When I hear his name though, I hear: “You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din.” It makes me smile to hear him praise the water carrier in a war that probably produced many combat heroes.
    You chose a beautiful location for your Birthday vacation and it sounds like you all enjoyed your stay.
    May all your birthdays be that splendid!
    GP Cox

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    • Dear GP Cox,
      thank you, I had a great birthday. I thoroughly enjoyed it but more about it in our next post. And thank you very much for your wishing me more splendid birthdays. Great!
      With lots of love
      Klausbernd 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear GP Cox,
      as we just wrote above, we didn’t know much about Kipling and had read just very few of his texts. We came to Kipling by accident. Now we we have read quite a lot of his writings, read biographies and his autobiography and are still reading Kipling. He was a challenge for us but as with all challenges we learned a lot, changed many times our judgement until we could see him more or less un-judgemental. Anyway, he was one of the most influential authors of his time and the most read one. In Norway, Sweden and Germany he wasn’t that much read and known therefore we hadn’t come into contact with him before.
      We love your quote and how you commented it.
      Thanks a lot for your comment.
      We wish you and your family a cosy and relaxing, happy and great pre-Christmas-time
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Jude,
      we just visited your beautiful blogpost about Bateman’s with all the Kipling quotes. We loved Bateman’s and its grounds very much, too. What a nice place! Your post complements our’s very well. Thank you and sorry that we didn’t see it before.
      With lots of love and have a cosy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Dear Jude,
      thank you VERY much 🙂 🙂
      I was treated like a king by Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma. Unfortunately Dina has had a slight food poisoning this day but she is fine now. She stayed in bed in a beautiful old and haunted hotel but got better the next day. Well, we ate oysters the day before.
      Warm greetings from the cold sea
      Klausbernd 🙂

      Like

    • Sorry to hear that, seafood has been the cause of a couple of allergic reactions for me, but I still eat it. Not raw oysters though. I like them baked, but not raw. Where did you stay? It sounds interesting.

      Liked by 1 person

    • It tasted lovely, but the reaction was most unpleasant, Jude. I arrived back home with 1,5 kg less on the scales. (Not too happy about the weight loss this time as I’m very slim after having practised the 5:2 fast diet this summer.) In Rye we stayed at The Mermaid Inn. This awesome hotel is fully booked 98% the whole year and we only got 2 nights there. The first two nights we spent in Rye Windmill. Also nice, but nowhere as nice and cosy as Cley Windmill. 😉 Do you know that Cley Windmill is for sale?
      WE have visited the Christmas market in Cley village hall today, now there’s time to decorate, Siri and Selma can hardly wait. 🙂 🙂
      Wishing you a lovely weekend, take care
      Dina-Hanne x

      Liked by 2 people

    • Dear Jude
      it’s funny my literary agent in Spain had for many years a picture of Cley Mill on his website with the text: “It’s here where Klausbernd Vollmar writes his books.” I suppose it’s still there but I hardly can afford a candlelight dinner there 😉
      We all really like the rooms of Cley Mill. Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma fell for the top room in the tower. You can only get something in this room with a winch which is fixed to the ceiling. Great views across the salt marshes to the sea. The singer James Blunt once owned Cley Mill. A disadvantage: Cley Mill is prone to flooding.

      Like

    • We stayed the first two days at the Windmill and then in the Mermaid Inn (without seeing ghosts 😉 ) In our next mail we will write about our time in Rye.
      Dina ate those oysters raw, we and our dear Master as well, but we were well afterwards.

      Liked by 1 person

  24. Hallo ihr lieben vier,

    schön in der Vorweihnachtszeit von euch zu hören.

    Die Frage nach der Ästhetik eines Werkes und die politische Einstellung seines Schöpfers stelle ich mir auch oft in Bezug auf die bildende Kunst.
    Was ist zum Beispiel mit Hitler und seinen Bildern (Kunstwerken?) ? Ich persönlich könnte es nicht trennen und wären seine gemalten Bilder ästhetisch noch so wertvoll, ich könnte sie nicht an meine Wand hängen!

    Gestern haben Micha und ich in euren Schottland Beiträgen gestöbert. Wir haben nun endlich die Flüge für August 2020 gebucht und wollen nun die Route überdenken. Eure Blogbeiträge helfen uns dabei!

    Liebe Grüße senden euch Susanne und Micha

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Liebe Susanne,
      hast du dich ‘mal mit dem Prager Strukturalismus z.B. Mukarovskys Rezeptionstheorie beschäftigt. Das ist sehr interessant, dass er ein Artefakt erst als ästhetisches Objekt sieht, wenn es rezipiert wird. Das ist natürlich höchst ahistorisch, war stets die Kritik der marxistischen Rezeptionstheoretiker, stimmt aber mit neueren Untersuchungen der Kreativitätsforschung überein. Interessant dazu die Werke von Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. Wie dem auch sei, ich würde mir nie ein Bild von Hitler an die Wand hängen. Es gibt so Grenzen, wo ich sagen würde, hier ist die politische Einstellung derart abweichend von meiner, dass ich den Künstler und sein Werk ablehnen würde. Aber, oh weh, da bin ich gar nicht konsequent, denn danach müsste ich Hamsun ablehnen, dessen “Hunger” und andere Romane ich liebe. Ja, wo zieht man die Grenze? Außer als subjektive Entscheidung sollte es da nicht eine allgemeine Richtschnur, und sei es nur für einen selbst, geben. Ich denke mir stets, ich bleibe auf der sicheren Seite, wenn ich einzig das Werk rein aus ästhetischer Sicht betrachte. Dann wäre ich mit Hamsun auf der sicheren Seite aber nicht mit Kipling. In unserer Bibliothek halten wir es so, dass wir keine kriegsverherrlichende, rassistische und faschistische Literatur aufnehmen. Aber Jüngers “Unter Stahlgewittern” steht da auch. Hmmm, sollte man sich vielleicht kühn jede Konsequenz abschminken – huch, welch gefährlicher Gedanke. Sollten wir vielleicht völlig vom Inhalt absehen und nur die Struktur eines Werkes betrachten? Das haben die Strukturalisten und franz. Neo-Strukturalisten auch bereits vorgeschlagen und bekam dafür eine deftige Rüge von den Soziologen. – Wir finden das ein spannendes wie äußerst schwieriges Thema und hoffen noch vielen Input dazu durch diese Blogpost zu bekommen.

      Wir sind sicher, dass Schottland euch gefallen wird. Im Norden Schottlands, an der Küste in Scourie, gibt es ein tolles Hotel, zu dem wir jederzeit wieder fahren würden – ganz einfach das Scourie Hotel. So gemütlich. Und wie gesagt, es lohnt sich auch zu den Orkneys zu fahren.

      Mit lieben Grüßen an dich und Micha
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Guten Morgen, Klausbernd,
      nein, ich habe mich noch nicht mit dem Prager Strukturalismus und Mukarovskys Rezeptionstheorie beschäftigt. Ich behalte es im Auge.
      Ja, es ist so eine schwierige Frage! Mir fällt es schwer, Kunstwerk und Künstlerin/Künstler zu trennen. Und all die Fragen der Konsequenz hinter dieser Aussage habe ich mir auch schon gestellt. Nicht einfach!
      Ich bekomme gleich Malschülerinnen zum Adventworkshop. Wir zeichnen Postkarten und werde schon das Papier verteilen und die Tusche auf den Tisch stellen.
      Oh …. Das genannte Hotel in Schottland geht über unsere Preisklasse aber ich habe schon geschaut, es gibt auch welche, die für uns in Frage kommen. Ich werde morgen unsere Hotels für Schottland buchen. Es ist schon verrückt! Wir fliegen ja erst im August nächsten Jahres aber es ist schon vieles ausgebucht!

      Ich wünsche euch ein schönes erstes Adventwochenende, Susanne

      Liked by 1 person

    • Liebe Susanne,
      habe Dank für deine ausführliche Antwort.
      Obwohl wir gerade mit den Weihnachtsdekorationen kämpfen, müssen wir dich warnen: Schottland von Ende Mai bis Mitte September ist fürchterlich. Fast so viele Touristen wie Midgets. “Da geht die ganze Magie Schottlands flöten”, meinen Siri 🙂 und 🙂 Selma. Von Mitte April bis Mitte Mai und im Oktober und Winter (im Winter ist ein Allrad-Auto ein MUSS) ist Schottland magisch, was bereits in Glen Coe beginnt. Glaube es unserem Masterchen, der sogar fast ein Jahr bei Inverness wohnte und Schottland sehr gut kennt.
      Uns fiel noch etwas in Bezug auf die Kipling-Rezeption auf, was wohl auch allgemein gilt: Skandinavier und alle Deutschsprachigen sehen Kiplings Imperialismus als weitaus gravierender an als die englisch Sprechenden. Das zeigt wieder wie die politische Geschichte unsere Sicht von Literatur und Kunst prägt.
      Auch dir ein tolles Adventswochenende
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Lieber Klausbernd,
      wir haben schon die Flüge von Mitte August bis Mitte September gebucht. Nun habe ich mir vorgenommen, am Wochenende die Route zu bestimmen und die Quatiere zu buchen.
      Ja, die Welt ist voll. Egal wann und wo wir hinfahren, es ist immer viel los. Im Winter sind wir auf Rügen. Das ist ja auch so eine Insel, die im Sommer überquillt. Im Sommer waren wir auf der Insel Poel, die liegt vor Wismar. Da musste ich tatsächlich anstehen, um einen Parkschein zu ziehen. Lange anstehen, nicht nur 5 Minuten. Aber auch wir sind Touristen, die sich dem Besichtigungsandrang anschliessen 🙂 🙂 🙂
      Nun nähern wir uns schon dem zweiten Adventwochenende, liebe Grüße von Susanne

      Liked by 1 person

    • Guten Morgen, liebe Susannen,
      und was für ein schöner Morgen, schon seit Tagen scheint die Sonne, und wir haben nur ein paar Grade über Null, dazu ist es windstill. Solch Wetter lieben wir 🙂 🙂
      Wir sind noch nie auf Rügen, Poel, Usedom, und wie die Inseln alle heißen, gewesen. Ja, leider kennen wir den Osten Deutschlands fast gar nicht. Wir werden im Januar in den Lake District fahren, der durch die Romantiker sehr berühmt wurde.
      In der Zeit, in der ihr nach Schottland fahrt, solltet ihr für alles Fälle etwas gegen Midgets mitnehmen, besonders wenn ihr wandern wollt.
      Ja, da hast du wohl recht, die meisten Orte sind voller Touristen im Sommer und man gehört ja selber auch zu denen. Aus dem Grund fahren wir seit einiger Zeit immer im Spätherbst und Winter durch die Gegend. Aber nicht nur deswegen, wir können schlecht unseren Garten wochenlang sich selbst überlassen, wo uns doch unser Gärtner schnöde verließ.
      Liebe Grüße an dich und Micha
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Lieber Klausbernd,
      leider ist auch der Winter oder Herbst nicht mehr vor den Touristenscharen sicher! Wir waren im Herbst in Wien und auch hier konnte man kaum treten. Selbst beim Heurigen hatten wir Glück, noch ein Plätzchen zu bekommen! Aber ich mache immer das Beste draus, ein paar Schritte neben dem bekannten und beliebten Blick tun sich neue Blicke auf, die ich in aller Stille geniessen kann.
      Liebe Grüße von Susanne

      Liked by 1 person

    • Oh dear! 😦
      Da haben wir ja noch Glück. Bei den Reisezielen, die wir in der letzten Zeit besuchten, waren wir im Winter stets alleine auf weiter Flur und weitgehend nur unter Einheimischen in den Städten, Pubs und Restaurants. Angesichts dieser von dir geschilderten Entwicklung wird es mehr und mehr fraglich, warum man überhaupt noch wegfährt.
      Mit lieben Grüßen von uns zu euch
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Lieber Klausbernd, trotz der Fülle an Menschen an den schönen Orten der Welt, finden sich doch immer wieder kleine Flecken Erde, die man sich nicht mit den Massen teilen muss.
      Wir wollen heute zum Kudamm. Ewig waren wir nicht mehr dort, jedoch sollen die Weihnachtslichter und der Weihnachtsmarkt dieses Jahr dort besonders sein. Jedenfalls laut rbb (sfb + orb).
      Wir werden sehen, wie besinnlich es wird.
      Einen wundervollen zweiten Advent von Micha und Susanne

      Liked by 1 person

    • Vielen Dank, liebe Susanne 🙂 🙂
      Viel Spaß auf dem Ku-Damm. Wir werden uns auch Anfang nächster Woche ins Gewühl stürzen. Da schauen wir uns die Weihnachtsbeleuchtung in Norwich an und werden wohl auch etwas shoppen. Nach den Tagen der Ruhe in Cley ist so ein Gewimmel auch schön – “wenn’s nicht zu lange dauert”, meint Selma :-).
      So richtig toll romantische Weihnachtsmärkte gibt es hier eher selten. Einige Leute versuchen die einzuführen, aber man merkt, dass dies hier keine Tradition hat.
      Wir hörten heute Morgen beim Frühstück “Walking in the Air” von “The Snowman” was für Masterchen unbedingt zu Weihnachten gehört und hier seit einiger Zeit eines der beliebtesten Weihnachtslieder ist – eigentlich vom Text her ein Winterlied und nicht unbedingt ein Weihnachtslied.
      Wir wünschen euch ebenfalls ein höchst gemütlichen zweiten Advent.
      Mit lieben Grüßen vom sonnigen aber stürmischen Meer
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Liebe Susanne,
      nee, es geht nicht um den Film. “The Snowman” ist ein beliebter Titel, der Film und Roman von Nesbø etc. Hier handelt es sich um ein kurzes Kinderstück, in dem dieser Song den größten Raum einnimmt. Es geht um einen kleinen Jungen, der mit dem Schneemann zum Nordpol fliegt, um den Weihnachtsmann zu besuchen.
      Hier ist heute Wahl, wir gehen gleich zu einem Vortrag.
      Mit lieben Grüßen
      Klausbernd 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Liebe Susanne,
      wir hätten dieses Ergebnis auch nicht in der Höhe erwartet. Das lag daran, dass wir nicht mitwählen durften 😉 Wir haben nur das Recht, bei Kommunalwahlen mitzuwählen. Da hat sich doch der alte Kalle Marx grundsätzlich vertan, die Verarmung der Bevölkerung in den alten Industriegebieten bringt einen Rechts- statt Linksruck hervor. Genau in diesen Gebieten hat Labour verheerend verloren. Für uns ist schlecht, dass der Wert des £ erstaunlich in die Höhe geschnellt ist, was für uns das Leben hier merklich verteuert. Wir hoffen aber, dass dies nicht so bleibt.
      Wir müssen jetzt zu Weihnachtsfeier des National Trust und das in “Christmas attire”.
      Mit lieben Grüßen an euch beide
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Das kann ich mir gut vorstellen, Klausbernd. Die Verarmung ist in Deutschland besonders im Ruhrgebiet zu beobachten, übrigens das ärmste Gebiet Deutschlands also noch ärmer als die neuen Bundesländer. Der Rechtsruck in Deutschland ist jedoch besonders heftig in den neuen Bundesländern zu beobachten.
      Ich habe mich gerade gestern gefragt, ob es überhaupt noch “den Arbeiter” im klassischen Sinne der Definition des 19. / 20. Jahrhundert gibt. Ich denke nicht.
      Liebe Grüße von Susanne

      Liked by 1 person

    • Liebe Susanne,
      den Arbeiter früherer Zeiten, wie ihn Marx im “Kapital” sah, gibt es nicht mehr. Da gebe ich dir völlig Recht. Bei Marx gibt es ja noch das ‘Lumpenproletariat’, das scheint mir nicht ganz so ausgestorben zu sein.
      Auf jeden Fall solange die Schere zwischen arm und reich weit offen ist, wird man ergebnislos gegen Rechts kämpfen.
      Liebe Grüße. Wir fahren jetzt mit Dinas Dienstwagen, einen sehr geländegängigen Landrover, ins Naturschutzgebiet und achten auf die Kegelrobben, die über 3000 Junge bekommen haben. Da draußen gehen wir 5 Stunden bei 2 Grad und ziemlich starken Wind herum. Man kommt sich wie auf einer Expedition vor.
      Mach’s gut, liebe Grüße
      Klausbernd

      Like

    • Lieber Klausbernd,
      ich hoffe, ihr hattet viel Spaß mit den Kegelrobben. Hier in Berlin sind es um die 10 Grad also noch sehr warm und nichts mit weihnachtlichem Schnee. Gerade geht die Sonne auf und ich werde erstmal frühstücken.
      Liebe Grüße an euch alle und einen schönen 4. Advent von Susanne

      Liked by 1 person

    • Liebe Susanne,
      es war richtig toll bei den Kegelrobben. Wir hatten richtig gutes Wetter, Sonne aber ziemlich windig. Heute ist jedoch das Wetter fürchterlich. Auch hier ist es warm, um die 10 Grad C, und es regnet still vor sich hin. Hanne-Dina und ich haben noch am Wochenende unseren letzten Seehunddienst. Da fahren wir mit dem Boot zu den Robben. Viele Robben haben jedoch schon wieder, nach dem sie geboren haben und die Jungen ins Wasser können, den Blakeney Point verlassen.
      Wir wünschen euch beiden eine höchst angenehme Festzeit und alles Gute zum Neuen Jahr. Lasst es euch rundum gut gehen 🙂 🙂
      Mit lieben Grüßen
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Lieber Klausbernd, liebe Hanne,
      ich hoffe, ihr habt das Fest besinnlich hinter euch gelassen und freut euch nun auf das neue Jahr. Das Pfund steht ja günstig 😉 mal schauen, wie es sich entwickelt, besonders nach dem 31.1.
      Wir schlendern jetzt durch das sonnige Berlin, vom Halleschen Tor zu Torstrasse über das jüdische Museum, Prinzessinengärten, Märkische Museum und Naturhistorische Museum — natürlich nur von außen, für sonnige Skizzen und Fotografien.
      Liebe Grüße aus Berlin, kommt gut ins Neue Jahr,
      Susanne und Micha

      Liked by 1 person

    • Guten Morgen, liebe Susanne,
      wir hatten ein leckeres Weihnachtsessen und haben es uns dann gemütlich vorm Kamin gemacht. Am ersten Weihnachtstag spazierten wir am Meer entlang und blätterten später durch all die feinen Bücher, die wir zu Weihnachten bekommen haben. Heute ist Hanne-Dina zu den Robben gefahren, um noch besondere Fotos zu machen, bevor alle Kegelrobben den Blakeney Point verlassen haben. Ich sitze zu Hause, blogge erst ein wenig und gleich werde ich gemütlich lesen. Ich bekam u.a. zu Weihnachten von Robert Macfarlane “Underland” (“Im Unterland”), ein Buch, das mich fasziniert und ich gar nicht aufhören kann, es zu lesen.
      Auch euch wünschen wir ein ein wunderbares, gesundes und fröhliches Neues Jahr
      Klausbernd und der Rest der Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Das Buch hört sich interessant an, Klausbernd. Ich habe gegoogelt und den Klappentext gelesen.
      Im Frühjahr fliegen (und fahren) Micha und ich nach Capri. Ich freue mich darauf und lese von Dieter Richter “Die Insel Capri”. Ich habe schon einige Bücher von Richter gelesen, so auch das Buch über das Meer, das dir auch gefallen könnte.
      Unser heutiger Spaziergang war sehr ausgiebig und ich freue mich nun auf eine Tasse Kaffee und mein Buch.
      LG Susanne

      Liked by 1 person

    • Guten Morgen, liebe Susanne,
      von Dieter Richter habe ich noch nie etwas gelesen. Ich habe ihn gerade gegoogelt. Du hast recht, jetzt bin ich neugierig auf ihn geworden. Habe herzlichen Dank für den Tipp.
      Im neuen Jahr werde ich wohl – natürlich mit meinen liebklugen Buchfeen und Dinas Bildern – einen Artikel u.a. für den Blog über die Bücher schreiben, die mich 2019 am meisten beeindruckt haben.
      Meine Großeltern pflegten stets nach ihrem Winterurlaub, wo mein Großvater sich am Eisstockschießen erfreute, die Restzeit bis zum deutschen Frühsommer auf Capri zu verbringen. Ich besuchte sie dort einst als Kind, kann mich aber nur noch wenig erinnern. Auf jeden Fall Eugen und Margarethe hat es dort bestens gefallen.
      Wir haben heute einmal wieder einen megagemütlichen Tag. Wenn wir nicht zu faul sind und ich mich nicht in Macfarlanes “Underland” festlese, gehen wir etwas spazieren und Nachbarn kurz besuchen.
      Mit lieben Grüßen vom sonnigen Meer
      Klausbernd
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Anneli,
      we are happy that you like Dina’s photography 🙂 🙂 It was quite a challenge to take photographs inside Bateman’s because it was VERY dark there.
      We learned a lot as well, being confronted with Kipling. We didn’t know much about him before.
      Have a happy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  26. What a great choice for your Birthday celebrations. I loved reading Kipling as a child, especially The Jungle Book. As for his political views, I guess he was very much a man of his times, holding views which were rather common for an Englishman at the turn of the twentieth century. In this day and age, most of us are fortunately much more enlightened, but I don’t think we can be too judgmental of the beliefs which he obviously sincerely held.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Thanks a lot. You are quite right. When we think about how following generations will think about our believes, we should be less judgemental.
      Wishing you a happy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  28. Many people think of Kipling as English, which of course he was. Fewer people know that Kipling wrote some of his most famous works in American. According to the Kipling Society: “After his marriage to Caroline Balestier in January 1892, Rudyard Kipling settled in Brattleboro, Vermont. He built their house ‘Naulakha’ on a hillside, made many American friends, started a family, and wrote busily and contentedly. He came to love the Vermont landscape, the colours of the Fall, the fierce winters and the burgeoning spring. During these richly productive years he wrote the Jungle Books, Captains Courageous, many of the stories collected in The Day’s Work and Many Inventions, the poems of The Seven Seas and the first of the Just So Stories.”

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Steve,
      thanks a lot for sharing the info about Kipling in Vermont. We can well understand that he was very inspired there. We loved living several years in Vermont as well and, you wouldn’t believe it, our dear Master wrote his first book there. Vermont is inspiring, indeed, those real winters when we were mapeling with horse drawn sledges, these great quite hot summers and the mind blowing autumn colours.
      Wishing you a great weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Thanks for your post about Kipling and his house which complements our post very well.
      And tank you for liking Dina’s photos. It was not easy photographing there because it was quite dark.
      Wishing you a happy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  30. Wow, it seems like I am the last one to respond , after reading all those valuable comments, now what would be my response??? To be honest I am really bias with Kipling, He certainly has made it to the top of children’s most famous books ” The Dschungle Book” , it has evoked millions of children’s and adult’s fantasies , I suppose it had been written with good intentions in no harm. Yet to judge his other believes , if they were wrong or false believe have difficult views which may not portray Kipling in his best biography. Yet I loved Diana’s beautiful images. Have a great weekend you all Fabs.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Thank you very much, dear Cornelia 🙂 🙂
      We can tell you our dear Dina was cursing the light – nearly none – and not much space to find the right perspectives because half of the room was fenced off in Kipling’s office. Anyway, thanks for liking her pictures – well, the art of post-production.
      We find it very lovely that Kipling liked children, he had the ability to communicate easily with children.
      We wish you a great weekend as well
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  32. Regardless what his political leanings may be the poem IF is certainly wisdom even though he warns in it not to sound too wise. And book fairies he even wrote a book about you: Rewards and Fairies. If I as a fairy I would like him.
    Interesting conundrum regarding ethics and aesthetics.
    Beautiful photos.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Abrie,
      well, you see, we are modern Fairies and we just find Kipling’s writings kind of outdated – with some exceptions, of course. We have to admit we rather like reading temporary literature. That’s the difference to our dear Master who enjoys the post-modern literature as well as the Romantics.
      We are like you, we find the discussion about the reception of art here VERY interesting. We learn a lot about how to judge literature. Besides the comments here we get a lot of personal e-mails concerning our posts (as many Fairies and some other of our friends are not that computer-literate). From all these discussions about Kipling we learned that in the English-speaking world Kipling’s imperialism doesn’t matter that much, whereas in the German speaking world and Scandinavia his political ideas are much more criticised. You see, we Bookfayries learn quite a lot from blogging.
      Thanks for your comment 🙂 🙂
      Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma

      Liked by 1 person

  36. A thoroughly enjoyable read, but I think you move into dangerous territory if you judge an artist by criteria outside his/her artistic achievements. We don’t have to like the person to recognise the artistic merit of the work they produce

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Louis
      first of all thanks a lot for liking our post.
      Historically there was always a big discussion if the author and his circumstances as well as his position to the zeitgeist has to be taken into account judging his writing. The structuralist and especially the French neo-structuralist literary criticism would mostly agree with you. That was furiously criticised from Marxist and sociologically influenced literary criticism. Anyway, I don’t know if you know the Danish writer of fairy tales, Hans Christian Andersen? He was an absolutely horrible person and to all abundance he looked quite ugly as well but he wrote beautiful fairy tales. Kipling wasn’t a horrible character (and he looked quite nice) but he was praising imperialism in his work. So the question is: Should we exclude the message from his art of writing? Is it a matter of style only? It’s easier with Hamsun, he was believing in fascism until he died, we suppose, but you don’t find any hint of fascism in his writings.
      We would say together with most of his biographers, Kipling is a challenge. But we noticed, the in the English speaking literary criticism Kipling’s praise of imperialism is no blemish, not so in the Scandinavian, Durch and German speaking literary criticism.
      Anyway, we are not at all Kipling-specialists but we have now read a lot from and about him and for us he is outdated except very few works of his like the Dschungle Books, the Just so stories and some poems. From his time, we think that Wilde, Dostoyevsky, Orwell and Twain f.e. have aged much better. But we are aware that we are on dangerous territory here.
      Wishing you a happy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Dear Robert
      we came to the conclusion that there is never a yes or no answer to questions that matter. Siri 🙂 thinks the world is too complex for yes or no answers; only populists give yes or no answers “because they are stupid” as she phrases it. So we suppose you will never find a yes or no answer but looking for them is productive.
      Wishing you a great and happy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  38. Ok, gemütlich schleiche ich mich an…und fasse kurz die Gadanken der letzten Tage zusammen, in denen ich seeeehr langsam war, wegen Erkältung usw.
    Wenn ich als Kind krank war, alle durchgestanden Kinderkrankheiten waren ein Fest, weil Entschleunigung, gab es immer drei Bücher zur Heilung: 1. Das Dschungelbuch, 2. Dr. Doolittle, 3. Das kleine Mädchen Madita, wenn die gelesen waren, war ich wieder gesund.
    Vielleicht hat er ja Größenwahn entwickelt der liebe Kipling, ungute Menschen getroffen, mit einer Agenda, die er nicht durchschaute?…soll jetzt keine Entschuldigung sein…entschuldigt sind wir ja schon, den perfekten Menschen scheint es ja nicht zu geben, deshalb bin ich mal nicht so streng…(was rede ich da?)
    Also, der Verlust, den er erfuhr…
    Kunst ohne “seelische Reibung”?
    In Mannheim wird das Dschungelbuch gerade so gezeigt, dass Mogli wie eine Art Avatar zu den Menschen geschickt wird, angeblich aus dem Dschungel “gerettet”, also irgendwie ist dort der “Dschungel” eher die Sammlung irgendwelcher Sternenkonstellationen. Ganz ehrlich, als krankes Kind stellte ich mir vor, wie ich auf Balus Bauch auf dem Fluss durch den Dschungel schlafend, träumend und beschützt, reiste. Das war klasse!
    Astrid Lindgren aus “Madita”:
    “Mama, was wünschst du dir am allermeisten von allem?” “Zwei ganz brave und liebe Mädchen”, sagt Mama. Da werden Madias Augen ganz blank und ihre Stimme zittert ein wenig. ” Und wo sollen Lisabet und ich dann hin?”

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    Reply

    • Liebe Pia,
      danke für deinen ausführlichen Kommentar. Nee, der gute Kipling war bestens vernetzt und sehr gut über die politischen Situationen informiert. Kipling war alles andere als naiv.
      Wir zogen stets Astrid Lindgrens Bücher selbst Kiplings “Dschungelbuch” vor. Diese Dschungelbuchgeschichten sind ja so viel bearbeitet worden u.a. von Walt Disney, dass Kipling wahrscheinlich geschockt wäre, hätte er das noch erlebt.
      Habe herzlichen Dank für dieses köstliche Astrid Lindgren Zitat. Wir waren und sind es noch große Fans von Pipi Langstrumpf. Es gibt in Skandinavien sogar einen Pipi Langstrumpftag. Pippilotta Viktualia Rullgardina Krusmynta Efraimsdotter Långstrump, wie sie im Original heißt war auch die große Heldin von Siri 🙂 und 🙂 Selma.
      Hier ist schönstes Wetter und so geht’s hinaus 🙂 🙂
      Liebe Grüße vom sonnigen Meer
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Antworte mal mit: Ooooouuu (frei nach meinem Großcousin Justin, der nicht sprechen wollte und in den ersten Jahren nur “ooooouu” von sich gab, immer anders betont, man verstand ihn) und füge noch ein “phhh” hinzu. Es ist ein phhh mit viel Raum, Kiefer locker lassen und Schultern entspannen. Sauna-Zeit! Schönen Sonntag euch!!!

      Liked by 1 person

  39. One of my most enduring childhood memories is receiving Kipling’s, ‘Illustrated Classics’ from my father. I went far away with this book. His house seems like him, wonderful, as are the photos, which do him justice.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Thank you very much, dear Cindy 🙂 🙂
      we noticed that our English speaking visitors used to read Kipling in their childhood. Whereas we were brought up with Astrid Lindgren’s “Pippi Longstockings” and her other stories. Most of our friends didn’t read the Dschungle Book and other stories before they were grown up. We didn’t read any of Kipling’s texts until 5 years ago when we found some of his books in an old edition from the 19th c.
      Thanks for liking Dina’s way to photograph Kipling’s home.
      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Sorry, dear Jacqui, we don’t agree with you that they are all great. We rather agree with most of his biographers that the literary quality of his texts is very different. And we find reading him today quite boring. Even the Dschungle Book stories are nowadays presented in quite an edited way. He has big problems with plot design and the rhythm of his words varies from excellent to boring. For us his contemporaries like Mark Twain, Bram Stoker, R.L. Stevenson and even Dickens are aged much better.
      Thank you very much for your commentary, enjoy reading Kipling 😉
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  41. These are lovely photos, and I agree, it would be quite cozy to stay here for a while! As for the “burning question”, I think conundrums like this might best be reconciled by holding a both/and attitude. People are complicated. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Good morning, dear Bluebrightly,
      indeed, people are complicated and writers and artists are especially complicated. We agree, this both/and attitude is – like in most cases – the most appropriate.
      Thank you very much for liking Dina’s photography.
      Wishing you a happy week
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  42. ‘The Cat Who Walked by Himself’ was the first story I read as a child. I grew up with his animal stories, with Mowgli and Kim. I recall reading ‘Stalky and Co’ at about thirteen, I think. For much of an older generation in UK, who tire of political correctness and ‘hate speak’ and all the other sententious cant that disguises certain necessary truths, Kipling might be something of a standard-bearer for a more honest age. His strength was in honouring the individual – regardless of creed or colour – whilst acknowledging differences it was, and is, pointless to deny. One of which, I suggest, we might still learn from: ‘East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet’. I am sorry, that is all I can write on this: to see Kipling so regarded grieves me greatly.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Good afternoon Frederick,
      well, you have to be British to be grown up with Kipling’s stories. On the continent and in Scandinavia, where we were brought up, Kipling was more or less unknown. For us it was Astrid Lindgren, Selma Lagerlöf or later Michael Ende. Some knew Kipling’s “Dschungel Book” stories in the Disney version. First of all, it seems typically that in comparison to other comments you are not open for discussion and what is even more astonishing that you speak in a populistic way about `hate speak´. We find the discussion interesting here and our dear Master is especially interested in the discussion with other authors. He taught the theory of reception of literature at the McGill University and although retired he is still interested in it.
      Anyway, as we wrote in quite some answers to the comments here we are not fans of Kipling’s because of his literary quality. You only need to look at his plot design f.e. in “Kim” .
      And last not least, we are interested which publishing houses published your work. Our dear Master is mostly published by Random House and it’s imprints.
      Thanks and cheers
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  43. I have a quite deeply rooted intolerance of elitism in all its forms, and equally find it astonishing that you have joined those who employ the word ‘populist’ as something undesirable. I was angered because I found your treatment of a great journalist and author disparaging – perhaps his greatest offence was his success in selling books?
    Yes, I am British (whatever that means – I used to declare myself European until I learned better) and no, I am not a published author, or ever tried to be. I am content with the love of writing. I am sure you would define me as a ‘hobbyist’. So, clearly I have no place here. Would ‘thank you and goodnight’ be appropriate?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  44. lit e ra ture, li tera ture, lit era tu re, oooouuu…
    Meine Musikempfehlung für das Wochenende:
    Dalai Lama – Silvan – Silk Momentz
    Silvan war jahrelang der Trommler bei der “Sommernacht” am Carl-Bosch-Gymnasium, erst 13 Aufrufe bei youtube, was ist da los?!
    ERUTARETIL, kommt man auch nicht weiter, phhhh.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Liebe Pia,
      wir wünschen dir ein höchst angenehmes Wochenende.
      Wir gaben es auf, Kipling zu lesen. Nun wenden wir uns wieder der zeitgenössischen Literatur zu: Erik Axl Sund “The Crow Girl”. Das sind die zwei schwedischen Autoren Jerker Eriksson und Håkan Axlander Sundquist , die gemeinsam erfolgreich Romane schreiben, was wir interessant finden.
      Liebe Grüße vom heute ruhigen Meer
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Danke lieber Klausbernd, das ist ja gruselig…
      Gibt es eigentlich weiße Crows? Werde nachher beim Bügeln den Nurejew Film streamen, oder etwas anderes “Schönes”, ein gutes Hörbuch vielleicht…
      Versta(e)ndniss… mega witziges Wort.
      Danke für eure Reise in die literarische Vergangenheit und die tollen Bilder dazu!!!
      Mir hat das alles sehr geholfen und Danke!

      Liked by 1 person

    • Liebe Pia,
      ja, es gibt weiße Krähen. Das sind Albinos, die jedoch ziemlich selten sind.
      Findest du den Krimi “The Crow Girl” gruselig? Ist er, aber gut geschrieben. Der ist auch ins Deutsche übersetzt und heißt “Krähenmädchen”.
      Liebe Grüße
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Ja, Krimis finde ich gruselig, aber vor allem die im echten Leben…
      Gut geschrieben? Dann lese ich den mal…
      Bin seit Jahren völlig uninformiert; seit mein Vater verstorben ist. Der wünschte sich zu Weihnachten einen guten Krimi, immer…
      Happy Weekend!!!

      Liked by 1 person

    • Nee, liebe Pia, wenn du einen echt guten Krimi lesen möchte, toller Plot und feiner Stil, dann solltest du “The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair” des Schweizer Autors Jeöl Dicker lesen. Der Krimi ist klug und längst nicht so grausam wie die skandinavischen Krimis. Er ist eigentlich gar nicht grausam, dazu kommt noch, dass er die absolute Vorherrschaft der bestselligen skandinavischen Krimis gebrochen hat. Dieser Krimi ist einer der besten Romane, die wir in diesem Jahr lasen.
      Dann mach’s ‘mal gut und habe eine gemütliches Adventswochenende
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  46. Pingback: On Display | FabFourBlog

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