Kim by Rudyard Kipling

Kim is Rudyard Kipling's story of an orphan born in colonial India and torn between love for his native India and the demands of Imperial loyalty to his Irish-English heritage and to the British Secret Service. Long recognized as Kipling's finest work, Kim was a key factor in his winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907.

Hell is full of books like these.

Colonialism! It's a shame about it, because there was a lot more to like in this book than I'd necessarily expected. Kim himself is a winning character, smart and savvy and loyal and very easy to get and stay engaged with. The depiction of his travels through the subcontinent is vibrant and detailed, making Kipling's affection for India clear. It was the first time I'd learned about the time period the book is set in, against the backdrop of “The Great Game” between Britain and Russia for control of India and central Asia, and it definitely spurred some interesting Wikipedia deep dives. And while I wouldn't say Kipling's portrayals of Indian characters are hugely problematic, the casual racism and imperialism and colonialism is pervasive throughout and it kept me from regarding this more highly.