I quite liked The Day of the Scorpion, although I preferred The Jewel in the Crown, the first book in the Raj Quartet. The Jewel in the Crown concentrates on the events surrounding a single incident, a rape, as they are perceived by various characters with different viewpoints and levels of involvement. This gives it a sense of continuity which The Day of the Scorpion lacks: although the original rape has consequences in The Day of the Scorpion as well, and several characters from The Jewel in the Crown make appearances, in some cases quite length ones, the incidents in the second book lack a central focus and as a result the book feels somewhat disconnected (though perhaps the third and fourth books will tie things together better). In fact, I could go further and say that this book feels unnecessary: it doesn't really seem to add all that much to what you got from the first book, which was a nice, self-contained story. New characters are introduced, and Scott explores additional aspects of WWII India -- the imprisonment of Congress Party leaders, the Indian National Army, the semi-autonomous princely states -- and goes into more detail on the Anglo-Indian experience, but there's not really a new storyline to tie all these elements together. However, the characters are mostly interesting and well-drawn and the writing is good (even if you don't ever feel quite as invested in any of them as you do in Blanche Manners in the first book), so you don't feel that you're wasting your time by reading it.The extent to which The Day of the Scorpion doesn't quite hang together is perhaps best seen in the main parallels that Scott sets up between the two books. Both climax (no double-entendre intended on my part, though it may well have been on Scott's) with sex and then conclude with a birth that destroys the mother, in the first book physically and in the second mentally. In the first book, these two events are connected in the usual way: in the second, however, they happen to two different women, and this lack of connection between the two central events underlines the lack of connectivity that the book suffers from. (It's also a bit unfortunate that Scott chooses to act out the fall of the Raj on the bodies of its young women.)While I would certainly recommend this book and the half of the Raj Quartet that I've read, I would also recommend pairing it with something like Amitav Ghosh's The Glass Palace, another good book that covers some of the same ground with a fairly different perspective. Scott is certainly no diehard imperialist, and he makes a strong effort to include Indian perspectives in the books, which is precisely why the differences between Scott's and Ghosh's portrayals are so interesting.
After I finished The Jewel in the Crown, my mother, who adores the Raj Quartet, was amazed that I didn’t immediately ask to borrow the next in the series. “Aren’t you curious about the characters?” she asked. She doesn’t understand the allure of a group read. I was perfectly content to postpone the pleasure of the next book until I’d get the even greater pleasure of dozens if not hundreds of Goodreaders to read and discuss the book with me. But aside from that, The Jewel in the Crown works very well as a stand-alone novel. By the end, Daphne’s story has been completely told. What more was there to say? As it turns out, plenty. Hari gets his say in this book, as does Captain Merrick. There’s also a brand new character in this book: Sarah Layton. Her quiet strength and integrity remind me of my mother. She’s not beautiful, she’s not vivacious, but she’s the rock who holds her family together. I think part of why my mother loves the series so much is that Sarah is the kind of protagonist she can relate to. But if you would ask her, she would say it’s the subtle, unpredictable way that the lives of the diverse cast of characters come together. That’s even more true for this book than the last because all those characters lived in the town of Mayapore. This book is set in different parts of India, yet by the end, all the threads come together.The most brilliant characterization by far is that of Captain Merrick. Hari’s story comes smack dab in the middle of the book, but surrounding it like book ends is Captain Merrick’s account for himself as he gets to know Sarah many miles away from Mayapore. The contrast is incredible. Hari paints him as a brutal villain, and as readers, we believe him, yet on his own, Captain Merrick shows that he can act like a gentleman and even a hero. I’ve come across some morally ambiguous characters in literature before – Gwendolen in Daniel Deronda, M. Paul in Villette, Snape in the Harry Potter series – but none of them hold a candle to Captain Merrick. He’s a genuine villain with detestable racial prejudices, yet at some level, he’s a decent human being, too.Though I’m looking forward to more of Sarah’s story and rooting for resolution in Hari’s, once again, though I’ve finished the book, I’m not rushing to the next in the series. What an ending, though. Pow! What an ending.
What do You think about The Day Of The Scorpion (1998)?
The fact that I finished this book within a week shows that Paul Scott is a brilliant, gripping writer if you're willing to wade through loads of context first. I just can't put it down. Raj fiction CAN be interesting and inspiring! In this novel, his eye for characterisation came into full form. I imagine this would be a wonderful series to examine the interpersonal relations between the British and the Indians - rubbing shoulders as comrades and colleagues, friends and lovers. In addition to that, it can be counted as some of the finest war fiction.
—Deepti
WOW! An intense book. Had to scrape myself off the floor at the ending. Really looking forward to Part III. Fascinating to see how much effort was made by the Brits and some of the Indians to keep the decaying system in place. Also, never realized that there were Indians who fought alongside the Japanese against the Brits and Burmese! Great descriptions of a truly incredible country! All this interwoven against the story of the rape of Miss Manners in the Bibighar Gardens that was the central story in Part I.
—Annmbray
The second book of the Raj Quartet, which I am getting round to reading much more slowly than I had expected. But then these are not books to read quickly. The Day Of The Scorpion is not a direct sequel to The Jewel In The Crown, although it story does follow on from the first book of the quartet – but with a different cast. This book is set in the garrison town of Pankot and the independent satrapy of Mirat. It opens with a link to The Jewel In The Crown when Sarah Layton meets Lady Manners, mother of Daphne Manners – whose alleged rape catalysed the plot of The Jewel In The Crown - while staying on a houseboat with her family in Kashmir. Hari Kumar, Daphne’s lover and the man charged with the rape, makes a brief appearance, but this is no longer his story. Superintendent Ronald Merrick, now a captain in the army, enters the Laytons’ social circle through being billetted with the fiancé of Sarah’s sister, Susan. It is, in fact, almost impossible to summarise the plot of The Day Of The Scorpion – it’s clearly a part of a bigger narrative, and those narrative threads which do appear in the book cleverly interlock and influence each other. None of the cast is admirable, and the British understandably come out of it all quite badly. The writing is excellent, Scott draws proper three-dimensional characters and he draws them deeply, and he evokes sense of place beautifully. My admiration of Scott’s prose remains undimmed. The rather naff cover art above is the first edition; and yes, that’s the edition I own (plus a paperback reading copy too, of course).
—Ian
