Dayspring Mishandled - weird. A revenge on a man for crimes against a woman, which gets derailed by illness and then diverted into revenge on a woman for crimes against the man. The method is elegant, the complexities fascinating; I wish we got the whole story, though I don't know much of Chaucer. 4. The Woman in His Life - I like the poems, particularly Dinah. The story is so simple and straightforward that it almost disappears - there's not much to it, aside from his man manipulating him to a fare-thee-well. 3. The Tie - eh. The point of the story is very much the English public school culture, and that's completely foreign to me. It's mildly amusing, mostly for side-comments - 'the indurated intestines of the mess-caterer' and the narrator's final error on the drillfield. 3. The Church That Was At Antioch - this is the story I was looking for, but it's not possible to read _one_ Kipling. It reminds me of Sutcliff - the rich color and perfectly normal human faces put on historical characters. Peter and Paul are fascinating - the rivalry between them illuminates a lot of the early Church's decisions. And the poem The Disciple is magnificent. 4.5. Aunt Ellen - mmm, not much. It's occasionally very funny, when I hit it in the right mood, but mostly the story gets mild interest and the climax merits a chuckle. And there's nothing to it but the joke. 3. Fairy-Kist - a great story. A very neat murder-mystery, with a seriously weird twist - I won't tell. And the gardener is fascinating. I need to find and read that story. 3.5. A Naval Mutiny - the story itself is kind of pointless (and how long has it been? His hand is still bandaged) but the characters are both great. And I love the bit when the officer comes looking for him - shows how they think of him, and he's already shown what he thinks of Vergil. 3.5. The Debt - Cute - a pretty little story of the British in India and of a boychild there. I wonder if it's Kipling's own story (a memory, I mean) or only similar to his life. I also wonder whether the King died - whether Kipling wrote this while he was ill of his final illness or that came later. I don't know the history of the period well - just glimpses, mostly from fiction. Again, not much to the story, but enjoyable. And I love the poem - Akbar's Bridge. 3.5. The Manner of Men - another Bible story, but less interesting than Antioch to me. Paul again, but not in person - a retelling of an old adventure. I don't find the characters all that interesting (and in one spot can't figure out who's talking); I more-or-less like the setting, but it doesn't add up to enough to interest me much. 3. Unprofessional - An odd concept, tying science (or Science) into what astrology's talking about. The science is highly suspect; the characters are what makes this story. Her physical tics matching the mouse are interesting. 3. Beauty Spots - this and Antioch are the only two I remembered before I read them (plus several of the poems). It's an odd tone - the father is _so_ oblivious (and aren't the trippers messing up his plants?), the son so dismissive until the end. Then - it could have been a joke, but somehow.... 3. The Miracle of Saint Jubanus - Again - the story is 90% one joke, what makes it worth reading and remembering are the characters. As Kipling says in the poem '(I) pray(s) you read - and love him!'. 3.5. The Tender Achilles - Very weird. Psychology and obsession and PTSD; a very nasty look at the life of an Army doctor in wartime...not nearly as funny as MASH made it look. Wilks is such a whiner (yes, he had reason for stressing out, but still) I really don't care what happens to him. 2.5. Uncovenanted Mercies - I like this. When Kipling writes about the angels and the Eternal Bureaucracy, it's always interesting and usually fun. This one makes me cry - the two who may not meet and do, twice. I like Azrael too - and Gabriel and Satan, but particularly Azrael. 4.5. ( )