Scan barcode
margo666's review against another edition
I don't usually rate DNF books but this time I'm making an exception as the book wasn't that that bad that I couldn't read it, I just ran out of time with the library. On the other hand, the book wasn't that good that I'll be re borrowing it to finish!
The story is set in India in the 1940's and the author pokes gentle fun at the British colonials, but I personally felt that their attitudes and behaviors warranted more reproof than the mockery that was offered. On the positive note; if you have ever wondered why the cow is sacred in India - this book reveals all!
The story is set in India in the 1940's and the author pokes gentle fun at the British colonials, but I personally felt that their attitudes and behaviors warranted more reproof than the mockery that was offered. On the positive note; if you have ever wondered why the cow is sacred in India - this book reveals all!
kathleenitpdx's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting story well-told. Set in India during WWII, the book tells the story of a few days in a small town from the point of view of a number of the actors and observers--Indians and English. It puts you in a pivotal time and place and lets the characters express the attitudes, thoughts and feelings that were reflective of many of people who were there. It explores colonial attitudes and racism as India reaches for its independence.
lnatal's review against another edition
5.0
From BBC radio 4 Extra:
Episode 1 of 3
Daphne Manners arrives in Mayapore and meets two men who are to change her life: Hari Kumar and Ronald Merrick.
Episode 2 of 3
Daphne's friendship with Hari Kumar deepens as the relationship between Britain and India grows more volatile.
Episode 3 of 3
Daphne and Hari's relationship is brought to a painful conclusion.
The last days of the British Raj in India as the Second World War leads inevitably towards independence.
Paul Scott's classic series of novels dramatised by John Harvey.
Daphne Manners - Anna Maxwell Martin
Ronald Merrick - Mark Bazeley
Hari Kumar - Prasanna Puwanarajah
Lily Chatterji - Josephine Welcome
Sister Ludmilla - Susan Engel
Dr De Souza - Kulvinder Ghir
Miss Edwina Crane - Phyllida Law
Dr Anna Klaus - Susan Jameson
Poulson - John Rowe
Sergeant Singh/Gupta Sen - Ravin J Ganatra
Other parts played by Helen Longworth, Robert Hastie, Emily Wachter and Stephen Hogan.
Music by Raiomond Mirza.
Director: Sally Avens.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09v676w
Episode 1 of 3
Daphne Manners arrives in Mayapore and meets two men who are to change her life: Hari Kumar and Ronald Merrick.
Episode 2 of 3
Daphne's friendship with Hari Kumar deepens as the relationship between Britain and India grows more volatile.
Episode 3 of 3
Daphne and Hari's relationship is brought to a painful conclusion.
The last days of the British Raj in India as the Second World War leads inevitably towards independence.
Paul Scott's classic series of novels dramatised by John Harvey.
Daphne Manners - Anna Maxwell Martin
Ronald Merrick - Mark Bazeley
Hari Kumar - Prasanna Puwanarajah
Lily Chatterji - Josephine Welcome
Sister Ludmilla - Susan Engel
Dr De Souza - Kulvinder Ghir
Miss Edwina Crane - Phyllida Law
Dr Anna Klaus - Susan Jameson
Poulson - John Rowe
Sergeant Singh/Gupta Sen - Ravin J Ganatra
Other parts played by Helen Longworth, Robert Hastie, Emily Wachter and Stephen Hogan.
Music by Raiomond Mirza.
Director: Sally Avens.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09v676w
booklover81's review against another edition
3.0
I am now reading The Jewel In The Crown by Paul Scott. It is the first book in the The Raj Quartet series.
The Jewel In The Crown
Paul Scott
Historical Fictin
470 pages
No set of novels so richly recreates the last days of India under British rule—"two nations locked in an imperial embrace"—as Paul Scott's historical tour de force, The Raj Quartet. The Jewel in the Crown opens in 1942 as the British fear both Japanese invasion and Indian demands for independence. On the night after the Indian Congress Party votes to support Ghandi, riots break out and an ambitious police sargeant arrests a young Indian for the alleged rape of the woman they both love.
The Jewel In The Crown
Paul Scott
Historical Fictin
470 pages
No set of novels so richly recreates the last days of India under British rule—"two nations locked in an imperial embrace"—as Paul Scott's historical tour de force, The Raj Quartet. The Jewel in the Crown opens in 1942 as the British fear both Japanese invasion and Indian demands for independence. On the night after the Indian Congress Party votes to support Ghandi, riots break out and an ambitious police sargeant arrests a young Indian for the alleged rape of the woman they both love.
suebarsby's review against another edition
2.0
Somewhere among all the words is a gripping story. But I struggled, too many voice changes, too many superflous detail. I just got too bogged down & struggled to care.
sookieskipper's review against another edition
4.0
Unlike [b: Wide Saargasso Sea|481558|Wide Sargasso Sea|Jean Rhys|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348923924s/481558.jpg|142647], Paul scott casts a wider net to encompass not only social aspect of British reign in India but also explores class warfare within British Indians and the slowly brewing times of revolution.Set in a country on the brink of war and weary of colonial rule, gang rape of a young British woman associated with a young Indian man shakes the apparent stillness that seemed to have covered the vast lands. It stops being a case about a British and an Indian; the investigation takes a different turn when the British woman, Daphne, mentions possibility of a Muslim to be present during the heinous act. The case takes a completely different turn when he
mentions her attackers could very well be British. Using this very publicized case, Paul Scott ruthlessly tears down class structure within British living in India, the communal tension that had always been on back burner in many Indian states, non-sympathetic British rules for educated Indians and the general apathy that many characters have - irrespective of their race or color, towards another.
The event acts as a trigger to already engaging elements in the novel. It brings forth Ronald Merrick, the investigating police officer with internalized homophobia into the mix. A low ranking, lower middle class born Merrick finds at odds with British educated Indian Hari Kumar (who identifies as a British irrespective of his race) and sees him as his prime suspect. Though its a well known fact amidst many British women that Daphene and Hari were lovers, no one speaks out about it. Merrick sees Hari as an antagonist and an object of attraction which he takes out sadistically during Hari's interrogation. Merrick is representative of a tired class that wants nothing but to go home and live their life. This conflict doesn't exist in all the characters which is interesting because some of them - like Lady Crane, loves India in their own way. It's the only life they have known and its a way of life that's still untouched by changes that is happening in the rest of the world and England itself. [Hari isn't allowed in British Indian establishment in India while in England he was free to do so.]
Having several people tell the story gives an interesting dimension to the narration. Each character touches upon subjects they think are vital to explore and some times even digress from the subject at hand. This technique has given Scott to maintain vagueness about things that would otherwise difficult to do so. Thus the narration spends less time in tedious investigation and more on the characters themselves.
Its not a very easy book to read and nor its a book where I can say "I enjoyed it" as there is nothing entertaining about the story. It was a great read for the literature that it is and what it has carried in those pages.
My favorite quote from this book remains - Our so called independence was rather like a shot-gun wedding.
mentions her attackers could very well be British. Using this very publicized case, Paul Scott ruthlessly tears down class structure within British living in India, the communal tension that had always been on back burner in many Indian states, non-sympathetic British rules for educated Indians and the general apathy that many characters have - irrespective of their race or color, towards another.
The event acts as a trigger to already engaging elements in the novel. It brings forth Ronald Merrick, the investigating police officer with internalized homophobia into the mix. A low ranking, lower middle class born Merrick finds at odds with British educated Indian Hari Kumar (who identifies as a British irrespective of his race) and sees him as his prime suspect. Though its a well known fact amidst many British women that Daphene and Hari were lovers, no one speaks out about it. Merrick sees Hari as an antagonist and an object of attraction which he takes out sadistically during Hari's interrogation. Merrick is representative of a tired class that wants nothing but to go home and live their life. This conflict doesn't exist in all the characters which is interesting because some of them - like Lady Crane, loves India in their own way. It's the only life they have known and its a way of life that's still untouched by changes that is happening in the rest of the world and England itself. [Hari isn't allowed in British Indian establishment in India while in England he was free to do so.]
Having several people tell the story gives an interesting dimension to the narration. Each character touches upon subjects they think are vital to explore and some times even digress from the subject at hand. This technique has given Scott to maintain vagueness about things that would otherwise difficult to do so. Thus the narration spends less time in tedious investigation and more on the characters themselves.
Its not a very easy book to read and nor its a book where I can say "I enjoyed it" as there is nothing entertaining about the story. It was a great read for the literature that it is and what it has carried in those pages.
My favorite quote from this book remains - Our so called independence was rather like a shot-gun wedding.
athenalindia's review against another edition
4.0
This book took a long time to get going. And it was not a quick read by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it was taking long enough that I had to adjust how much I was trying to read in a day, so I didn't keep getting frustrated by never getting near my goal. Despite that, I kept reading, and it was never that I wasn't enjoying it. Just that it was slow, and incredibly looping, moving around and around the crux of the novel without ever quite getting close to it until the end.
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook