The nice people at Ampersand Publishing got in touch recently, and asked if I’d like to review any of the Ampersand Classics series. Well, you know I can’t resist reprinted classics – so I took a look through their catalogue, and decided upon Rudyard Kipling’s The Village that Voted the Earth was Flat, first published in 1917.
Before I talk about it – do go and see the sort of things Ampersand do. They’re really beautifully produced – square paperbacks, affordable, and would make great little gifts alongside a birthday card. And the selection is really interesting. It’s a bit disheartening when yet another publisher reprints the Dickens, Austen, Hardy etc that we all know are classics, but don’t need new editions of. Ampersand have dug around in the archives, and come up with lesser-known works by famous writers (Mary Shelley, Robert Louis Stevenson, F Scott Fitzgerald etc) as well as international authors I hadn’t heard of (Henri Barbusse, Pu Songling). They’re ‘short works’ – straddling the line between short story and novella, I think. The Village that Voted the Earth was Flat is about 100 small pages.
And, going through the catalogue, how could I resist a title like that? The story is a side to Kipling that I haven’t seen before (I’ve read The Jungle Book, The Just So Stories, Kim, and one short story, ‘They’, but that’s it) – it’s extremely funny.
It’s actually a revenge tale. A group of friends are caught speeding by a mercenary local MP, who has set up a speed trap on the long, straight road into his village, Huckley. He glories in their misfortune – and is anti-Semitic to one of the group. They vow that he won’t get away with it. What they have to hand is ingenuity, and a handful of newspapers under their control… subtly, step by step, they manage to turn Huckley into a national laughing stock…
I shan’t say much more, because it’s fun to see how Kipling progresses the story – but it’s done with excellent logic and structure, and we manage to stay on the side of the revengers. It’s all rather silly, but in the best possible way. And there is something very 21st century about trying to avenge speeding tickets (of which, I hasten to add, I have never had any). It certainly makes me want to see what else Kipling has written in this line…
These books sound great. I wonder if I’ll be able to find them in the States.
I hope my favourite Aussie bookshops stock these…
This sounds hilarious, I love the idea of revenging the MP (especially if he’s anti-Semitic). I’ve done a quick google search and this is available online for free, so I’ll try to read it! The only other Kipling I’ve read is Among the Janeites (practically required reading for Jane Austen society members!) which I enjoyed, and Kim, which didn’t do much for me. I’ve never actually even read The Jungle Books.
Yes, the anti-Semitism was what made me not much care whether or not he was upset by the revenge!
And I didn’t like Kim much, but it’s also the only book I’ve ever read on an ereader, so that might be why.
Well, you had me at Robert Louis Stevenson – I shall have to check them out! And this sounds great fun too. I love rediscovered lost classics!
I think you’d enjoy their selection!