![]() ![]() Keen to test the young man’s astonishing memories, the narrator casually introduces the subject of reincarnation and is satisfied that Charlie, at least, is unaware that his scenes of historical life are factual. Believing that he is sketching out fictional ideas and images for the benefit of the story’s narrator, Charlie recounts the incidents of two previous incarnations. As the tale unfolds, Charlie’s dreams of literary success–unmatched by his actual capabilities–assume a secondary significance. ![]() ![]() “The Finest Story in the World” tells the story of Charlie Mears, a young man employed in a London bank who is, the narrator informs us, “full of aspirations” (90). This article will consider the connections between Mortimer Collins’s novel Transmigration (1874) and Rudyard Kipling’s short story “The Finest Story in the World” (1891) and argue for a stronger relationship between the two texts than is generally understood to show that Kipling’s short story adapted and reworked elements of Collins’s novel to create a different yet respectful literary representation of reincarnation. ![]()
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