Kim is Rudyard Kipling's tremendous insider's knowledge of India as it was in Victorian times, and his love and admiration for the country and its people. The novel embodies a panoramic celebration of the then India, presenting a magnificent picture of its landscapes, both urban and rural, and a fascinating array of native characters who, for the most part, are warm, generous and tolerant. Beyond that, Kim is an adventure story probably aimed primarily at adolescent boys, in which Kim Kimball O'Hara is seeking to find his place in the country in which he was born, while at the same time struggling to find, or create, an identity for himself. 'Who is Kim?' 'What is Kim?' Kim asks himself at several points in the novel. The theme of Kim's need to find himself seems to be the backbone of the story. Kim is Kipling's most successful and famed novel.