The Greatest Game by Stephen Alter

Stephen Alter's "The Greatest Game: Being the Further Adventures of Kimball O'Hara" is an ambitious literary sequel to Rudyard Kipling's classic Kim, reimagining the beloved protagonist's journey against the turbulent backdrop of India's Partition in 1947.

- Stephen Alter

The novel opens with Kimball O’Hara, now an adult, navigating the chaotic streets of Lahore as communal tensions simmer and violence erupts. Alter’s evocative prose immediately immerses the reader in the sensory richness of the city, from the aroma of roasting kebabs to the tense quiet of curfew-bound roads, while deftly capturing the uncertainty and danger that pervaded that historical moment. Alter’s respect for Kipling’s original is evident in his careful attention to character and setting. He acknowledges the problematic aspects of Kipling’s colonial gaze, yet chooses to engage with them thoughtfully rather than ignore or excuse them. Th