in predictable and thoroughly deserved disaster." Additional critical responses are collected in Bloom's Rudyard Kipling. Adaptations and cultural references Literature In H. G. Wells' The Sleeper Awakes (1910), the Sleeper identifies a cylinder ("a modern substitute for books") with "The Man Who Would Be King" written on the side in mutilated English as "oi Man huwdbi Kin". The Sleeper recalls the story as "one of the best stories in the world". The two main characters appear in Ian Edginton's graphic novel Scarlet Traces (2002). The 1975 film version figures in the plot of Jimmy Buffett's book A Salty Piece of Land (2004). Garth Nix's short story "Losing Her Divinity", in the book Rags & Bones (2013), is based on the story. Radio A CBS Radio adaption of the story by Les Crutchfield was broadcast on the anthology series Escape on 7 July 1947. It was rebroadcast on 1 August 1948. An adaptation by Mike Walker was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 22 July 2018 as part of the To The Ends of the Earth series. Films The Man Who Would Be King (1975), adapted and directed by John Huston and starring Sean Connery as Dravot and Michael Caine as Carnehan, with Christopher Plummer as Kipling. (As early as 1954, Humphrey Bogart expressed the desire to star in The Man Who Would Be King and was in talks with Huston.) The DreamWorks 2D hand-drawn animated movie The Road to El Dorado (2000) is loosely based on the story. Games Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado (2000) (the video game tie-in to The Road to El Dorado) was developed by Revolution Software and released on PlayStation, Game Boy Color, and Microsoft Windows. Music The Libertines have a song called "The Man Who Would Be King" on their self-titled second album (2004). It reflects on the story, as two friends—who seem to be at the top—drift away from each other and begin to despise each other, mirroring the bandmates' turbulent relationship and eventual splitting of the band shortly after the album's release. Songwriters Pete Doherty and Carl Barât are known fans of Kipling and his work. Iron Maiden has a song "The Man Who Would Be King" in the album "The Final Frontier" 2010. References Further reading External links Full text at Project Gutenberg 1888 books 1888 short stories Short stories by Rudyard Kipling British adventure novels Lost world novels