I just finished reading The Jungle Book - by Rudyard Kipling. I guess "I finished" is not quite the right term. One of my students with dyslexia read it out loud to me. This is a student with a mild cognitive disorder and he enjoyed reading this book (reading and comprehension at about a 4th grade level.) The book is in the Christian Reading Challenge under the "read a classic novel" category. (more book reviews here)

I had never read the book, so I wasn't relying on memory.

 The Jungle Book is told in 3rd person narration, but reads as if it was somebody who was very close to the action, or a folk story that might have been told by a parent to a child.

The story is set in the jungles of India, the book tells of a "man cub" (Mowgli) who was targeted and hunted by a tiger - a tension that lasts throughout the book.

Mowgli was adopted into a wolf family. His best friends and mentors, the bear Baloo and panther Bagheera - his closest friends and mentors follow his adventures.  When Mowgli is supposed to be listening and learning, he's off on another adventure.  

This book can be a sort of gospel story.

Mowgli is not like the animals in the jungle, but he is adopted into a wolf family.  He is close to this family, but he is not really accepted into the larger community, even though he provides a service to them.

Shere Khan, the enemy knows who Mowgli is and the enemy is determined to destroy him.

This enemy is death personified.  He is the only one in the jungle to openly hunt and kill man.  All cower when he comes...Except Mowgli

The enemy comes into the camp, and persuades the wolf pack to reject him, put him out and banish him. 

The wolf pack suffers with Mowgli's absence (both for lack of his leadership and because they followed Shere Khan where they should not have followed). The wolves are hungry with the enemy leading them, and the enemy is still determined to hunt Mowgli.

Mowgli arranges a great battle and *good* wins, and the family is reunited.

About Deacon King Kong

James McBride wrote “Deacon King Kong” in third-person narration, hopping back and forth between characters.  Set in 1960’s New York City, the story begins with an act that makes so sense. The story ends about the same...making no sense.

As the book goes on, you do get the feel of the back story – living in Black New York City. You see the business of dealing or using drugs, getting “stuck” in this life with no way out. 

When I reached the halfway point in the book, I realized that I kept picking it up for no other reason other than I had committed to read it in a “reading challenge.”  After finishing the story, I still cannot discern the main message.  I can pick out several possibilities, but only one that has any sort of closure.

About the story

The basic story begins as the main character (Sportcoat) shoots a drug dealer and sets off a comical series of mishaps that ricochet throughout the book.  From undercover cops, to mob bosses, to drug distributors, to preacher’s wives…they all interact in some interesting and improbably ways.

This book received an astonishing number of outstanding reviews – including Oprah and Barack Obama. This does not leave me with much confidence in their tastes in books.  But so many recommendations leave me wondering if I wandered off into the twilight zone.

I read enough fiction books that keep me reading to find out where the characters end up and what their lives look like.  “Deacon King Kong” had so little character development that I had little or no interest in them.  What does Sportcoat like?  Other than King Kong (homemade adult beverage) I’m not sure what he wants.

Not Recommended

I did find that they book requires so little brain energy that if a reader wants “cotton candy for the brain” (not very filling with no nutritional value) – Deacon King Kong might fit those taste buds.

James McBride has written a number of other books (I have not read any of them so I can’t compare) and I don’t think I will read more of his works. 

Nor would I recommend Deacon King Kong. There’s just not enough character or plot development, no closure on the big story lines and too few interesting plots.