The story in one page
Kimball O'Hara is a 'poor white' orphan living by his wits in Lahore, darker than the locals and fluent in their tongues. When he encounters a Tibetan lama searching for a mystical river that washes away sin, Kim joins him as a travel assistant. Their pilgrimage across the Grand Trunk Road is interrupted when Kim's father's old regiment discovers his Irish identity. The British military sends him to school to become a 'Sahib,' but his true education happens in the shadows. Recruited by the secret service, Kim learns to balance the demands of colonial intelligence with his genuine devotion to his master’s spiritual quest.
Who's who
- Kim
An Irish orphan raised in Lahore who becomes a secret agent.
- Teshoo Lama
A Tibetan monk seeking the River of the Arrow for salvation.
- Mahbub Ali
A horse trader and British spy who mentors Kim.
- Hurree Chunder Mookerjee
A Bengali intelligence officer known as the Babu.
- The Sahiba of Kulu
A sharp-tongued, wealthy old woman who hosts the pilgrims.
What it's really about
- Identity
- A boy moving between Irish heritage and Indian cultural immersion.
- The Great Game
- The 19th-century geopolitical struggle for control over Central Asia.
Why it's memorable
- Kim sitting atop the great Zam-Zammah gun outside the Lahore Museum.
- The lama's soul detaching from his body during a two-day fast.
The ending, explained
Spoilers — show the ending
The lama falls into a canal, believing it to be the sacred River of the Arrow, and declares that both he and Kim have reached spiritual liberation.
For your book club
- The tension between the lama’s search for peace and the British search for power.
- Kim’s ability to manipulate social codes through disguise and language.