Stalky & Co. is a novel by Rudyard Kipling, about adolescent boys at a British boarding school. It was first published in 1899 (following serialisation in the Windsor Magazine). Reflecting its origins, the novel is episodic in nature, with self-contained chapters. It is set at an unnamed school referred to as the College or the Coll., which is based on the United Services College in Devon, which Kipling attended. The character Beetle, one of the main trio, is partly based on Kipling himself, while the charismatic character Stalky is based on Lionel Dunsterville, M'Turk is based on George Charles Beresford and Mr King is based on William Carr Crofts.
The stories have elements of revenge, the macabre, bullying and violence, and hints about sex, making them far from childish or idealised. For example, Beetle pokes fun at an earlier, more earnest, boys' book, Eric, or, Little by Little, thus flaunting his more worldly outlook. There is also some information about Stalky in later life.
Sitting in the lazy chair,
the channels look the same
I realize that the roof is stable
and start to feel ashamed
it's cold outside but dont ask me
the weather's fine in here
ask the man around the corner
who lives his life in fear
Two hundred pennies,
forty ounces later he's okay
he doesn't have the pressure
to think about the next day
but I bet it's something cold
and hard and grey
Complaining and whining all the time
I never seem to quit
always lying to myself,
A shoe that always fits
never is a long time and
it seems like I'm a clock
ticking like a time bomb,
someday soon his life will stop
I listen to the radio but
nothing good is on
my friends are calling up but I'm
pretending I'm gone
we're all pieces in a chess game
he's a pawn
I wonder how it turned out like this
no one seems to care
the scale has tipped me fortunate
is this what we call fair?
but I've never had the mind to know it
never had the guts to show it