- Paperback
- Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0226743446
- ISBN-13: 978-0226743448
- Product Dimensions: 21.5 x 14.4 x 4.4 cm
- Shipping Weight: 726 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,402,977 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Coming full circle.....,
By
This review is from: A Division of Spoils (Repr of 1975 Ed) (Raj Quartet/Paul Scott 4) (Phoenix Fiction) (Paperback)
A DIVISION OF THE SPOILS by Paul Scott is the last book in his series known as the Raj Quartet. The four books are classics, that have been read and will continue to be read centuries from now as readers attempt to understand what happened during the last days of the British Raj in India. I read history but I am also a great fan of well written historical fiction and these books are extremely well written historical fiction. Having read them, I am much more enlightened about the struggles which continue today betweem Hindu and Muslim.Many of the characters from the earlier books converge in DIVISION, and the book introduces a new character, Guy Perron, who is a Chillingborough-Cambridge educated historian whose "period" and place are mid-19th Century India. Guy's character is used to tie up all the loose ends. After arriving in India as a British army sergeant (he has elected not become an officer although his education and class clearly warrent it), Guy has the misfortune to be "chosen" by the recently-promoted-to-LtCol. and very wicked Ronald Merrick as his aide-de-camp. Merrick is still riddled with class envy, and sees in Guy an excellent opportunity to abuse someone he despises. Fortunately, Guy is able to escape from Merrick through the graces of his Aunt Charlotte who pulls strings to have him released from the army. Fortunately for Guy, he doesn't escape Merrick before he meets Sarah Layton. Their story is told in this fourth volume and certain elements of the tale bring to mind the earlier story of Hari Kumar and Daphne Manners. In fact, it is through Guy's meeting of Merrick, Sarah, and another Chillingburrian, Nigel Rowan (who interviewed Hari Kumar in prison) that he becomes interested in the events at Mayapore in 1942 and the subsequent consequences for all involved. As with other great classics, in DIVISION things do not always evolve as the reader would have wished. This book is very realistic -- sorrow and joy are mixed. In JEWEL IN THE CROWN, the first book in the series, Lady Chatterjee says she does not want to go to a heaven that excludes joy and sorrow because being human requires one to feel joy and sorrow. Perhaps it is because humans can experience sorrow they are capable of experiencing joy. In the end, the reader discovers Hari Kumar's fate and the identity of Philoctetes as well as the difference between Dharma and Karma. This is a powerful series and a fabulous ending to the tale.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Impressive last volume,
By Andreas Kloevekorn (Hamburg Germany) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Division of Spoils (Repr of 1975 Ed) (Raj Quartet/Paul Scott 4) (Phoenix Fiction) (Paperback)
This book is just as impressive as the three others of the Raj Quartet. Once again, the cast of interesting characters is huge; the atmosphere of the time is brilliantly captured and the variety of scenes/plots is well mastered. The book is instructive and yet enormously entertaining. The Raj Quartet is one of the most rewarding pieces of literature I have ever read.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hard to see it all end...,
This review is from: A Division of Spoils (Repr of 1975 Ed) (Raj Quartet/Paul Scott 4) (Phoenix Fiction) (Paperback)
I hated to see this lush, vast series come to an end. However, as the Raj ends, so does the Raj Quartet. We see some of the natural conclusions of colonial rule, and of the love/hate relationships between the rulers and the ruled ... madness, depravity, love, denial... and the future, both of India and of the characters in the series.
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