From Library Journal
Scott, the author of the acclaimed Raj Quartet , on which the PBS series The Jewel in the Crown was based, was also a percipient critic of the arts, particularly the novel. In his essay "The Architecture of the Arts: The Novel," Scott discusses the "imprisoning" form of the novel, but he recoils from the experimentalist writings of such innovators as Cortazar amd B. S. Johnson. One of the finest in this collection of 11 essays, "After Marabar: Britain and India, a Post-Forsterian View," reveals Scott's reasons for writing about the twilight of the raj and suggests that Forster's view of Anglo-Indian relations needs reassessment. These are fine essays by a novelist whose reputation is on the rise, though one might quibble at the inclusion of notes for a talk given at an English grammar school. Laurence Hull, Cannon Memorial Lib., Concord, N.C.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
