Having achieved literary success at 22 by the time he was 30 Kipling

Having achieved literary success at 22, by the time he was 30 Kipling had to his credit Plain Tales from the Hills, Soldiers Three, The Light that Failed, Barrack Room Ballads, The Seven Seas, Many Inventions and the two Jungle Books. Apart from Kim and Puck of Pook’s Hill, all the best Kipling was written in his twenties. To extrapolate imperial propaganda from early Kipling is inadmissible. What there is in abundance is a love of the esoteric and the paranormal, a conviction that all life is governed by a mysterious “law”, a love of India and an ambivalence towards the Raj. The young Kipling was a genius of staggering technical talent and genuine originality, hailed by Robert Louis Stevenson as his natural successor. Meanwhile, will Monty Python’s revival include the Drury Lane character Mrs Niggerbaiter? “I don’t like darkies!” shrieks John Cleese “She doesn’t like darkies who does?”. TO THE long list of those whose early and late careers are strikingly dissimilar – Henry James, Wittgenstein, Jung, Cobbett – we should add the name of Rudyard Kipling.

Whatever, it is surely ill-advised in politically correct America to use a word which must anger informed African-Americans and feminists. THE WHITE House lawyer who denounced the House prosecutors’ “legal mumbo jumbo” did not know what he was saying. The expression for meaningless talk probably derives from Mama Dyumbo, protective spirit of the Khassonkee tribe in Senegal, found in the 19th century: the chanting of its apparent powers is used to keep wives in order, hence something foolishly worshipped, which mutated into its current meaning. This smacks of prejudice to me, but how can I help him? He’s just been knocked back yet again, and I can see the beginnings of the onset of another depressive episode.Yours sincerely, PeterAnyone who has advice quoted will be sent a bouquet from Interflora. Send letters and dilemmas to Virginia Ironside, `The Independent’, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5DL, fax 0171-293 2182, or e-mail dilemmas independent.co.uk – giving a postal address for the bouquet..

The problem is that though he applies for jobs and is often successful at interview, he’s turned down by employers when they discover his medical history. He’s been clear of disabling bouts of depression for six years now, and happy with family and small children. He’s had years of psychotherapy, and takes daily medication which has been successful. He’s been sectioned under the Mental Health Act four times, but has successfully appealed against ECT which rightly terrifies him.

but when both individuals work consistently on their own selves.” If he uses this to raise his self-esteem, he’ll be better equi-pped, in time, to face the future.ANTHONY ROSELondon SW4Next Week’s DilemmaDear Virginia,My friend Philip is a highly intelligent man of 40, with two brilliant degrees He’s a member of Mensa and has a wonderful personality The problem is, he suffers from depression. In The Dance of Intimacy, Harriet Lerner says: “real closeness occurs .. not when it is pursued or demanded … His urge to cling is a symptom of his dependency and the probable reason why things aren’t working Brian is stuck and his partner is moving on Hard as it may be, he must let go. If it doesn’t, it was not meant for you.”IAIN COWANSevenoaks, KentBrian’s partner is moving onNo one wants a painful separation But Brian can’t hang on, even if he wants to.