The Raj Quartet: The Jewel in the Crown/the Day of the Scorpion/the Towers of Silence/a Division of the Spoils [Hardcover]

Paul Scott (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; Reissue edition (November 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688042120
• ISBN-13: 978-0688042127
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 2.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #784,630 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Art of the Novel, January 16, 2003

By 

"noumea3" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Raj Quartet: The Jewel in the Crown/the Day of the Scorpion/the Towers of Silence/a Division of the Spoils (Hardcover)

The Raj Quartet (comprised of four novels) is in my ultimate top ten of great novels and my favourite work of fiction for the twentieth century. Paul Scott is up there up with Tolstoy and Jane Austen. The Raj Quartet is exquisite to read, every word and every sentence appears to have the perfection that Jane Austen bestowed on her works but on the majestic scale of Tolstoy's War and Peace.

The Raj Quartet is multi-layered, complex, beyond the apparent. Is it about a country? Or is it about two countries? Paul Scott deals with the years of the "great divorce" as it were, but now at the beginning of a new century the continuing implications of the historic British occupation are as fresh as ever, both in India and the UK, one example being the the unforseen post war immigration and lifting of racial barriers between two peoples (I myself am a product of a post war marriage between an Indian father and British mother).

The question of identity is explored. What makes an Indian? (still a relevant question in a subcontinent of such diverse cultures, religions, languages, outlooks, etc). What happens to a group (the Raj British) who are no longer needed in either India or Britain? (I recommend Staying On by Paul Scott which deals with a minor character who does stay on in India.)

Beyond the themes of history, colonialism and imperialism, there is the theme of the universal human experience. Who are we all really? Should we let our nationality and culture define who we are? Or as one character, Sarah Layton, finally have the courage to break free and define our own identity. Sarah at first is apart from "the other", then in one revealing scene (the ride with Ahmed) she subconsciously turns to face "the other" though unsuccessfully and finally in the beautifully written and incredibly sensual scene where she decides to dive into the forbidden (the seduction by Clark, who I see myself as Eros or the Hindu God of Love, Kama) she breaks through into her individuality, her "grace".

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece Literature, December 1, 2006

By 

David Zimmerman (Baton Rouge, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Raj Quartet: The Jewel in the Crown/the Day of the Scorpion/the Towers of Silence/a Division of the Spoils (Hardcover)

About 25 years ago I got a list of the best 100 books of all time, and found "The Raj Quartet" by Paul Scott listed. I started at the beginning with "The Jewel in the Crown" and got bogged down. Coincidentally, PBS started its Masterpiece Theatre version. I watched a few of the episodes (actually all of them, eventually) and got back to reading. What I discovered was the best set of novels I've ever read, and each one an individual "jewel" as well. A pebble thrown, the towers of silence, and many other images stay with me, as well as the memory of Scott's beautiful writing and well-developed, complex characters, and the scope and importance of the story. If there wasn't so much else to read, I'd reread the whole set--sounds like a good retirement project some day.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The "War and Peace" of the twilight days of the British Raj, January 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Raj Quartet: The Jewel in the Crown/the Day of the Scorpion/the Towers of Silence/a Division of the Spoils (Hardcover)

"The Jewel in the Crown" (1966), "The Day of the Scorpion" (1968), "The Towers of Silence" (1971) and "A Division of the Spoils" (1975). These novels are interwoven narratives, set in India during and immediately after World War 2. The story revolves round the alleged rape of a young Englishwoman, Daphne Manners and an English-reared, British public school-educated Indian named Hari Kumar who is accused of it. He is brutally interrogated by the district superintendent of police, Ronald Merrick. The consequences and reprecussions of the affair examine the political, class, personal, racial and religious conflicts within both British and Indian communities during the period leading up to Independence and Partition in 1947. The story covers a vast panoramic canvas telling the tale through the princpal characters as well as the minor characters Lady Chatterjee, friend of Lady Manners, Daphne's aunt, Barbara Batchelor a missionary school teacher who dies insane, Miss Crane also a missionary who burns herself to death after her Indian colleague, Mr Chaudhuri is killed. The heavy drinking Mildred Layton, wife of Colonel Layton who is a Prisoner of War. Their daughters, Sarah Layton the sensible one who becomes the lover of Guy Perron, a Cambridge educated NCO in the British Army intelligence corps. Susan Layton a vain and feckless woman who marries Merick after he attempts to saves her first husband (Teddie Bingham)from a blazing vehicle in Burma. Mohammed Ali Kasim a muslim leader, imprisoned by the British, his son Ahmed, one of the first vicitims of the massacres attending Partition. Count Bronowsky a Russian emigre and adviser to the Nawab of Mirat. The saga gives a remarkable insight into the social and political machination of end of empire and is recommended to anyone who wishes to understand the last days of British India.