Staying On (1977)
Who wrote it?
Paul Scott (1920-1978, active from 1952), born Palmers Green, London. Conscripted to the army in 1940, he was posted to India in 1943 and commissioned as an officer. Despite returning to England after the war, his experiences in India strongly informed his subsequent writing career.
Most famously, following a brief return to India in the early 60s, Scott published the four novels that became known as The Raj Quartet between 1964 and 1975. Little recognised in his short lifetime (he died of colon cancer only a year after his Booker success), adaptions of his work in the 1980s brought greater acclaim, most notable the epic prestige 14-part adaptation of the Quartet, named on TV after the sequence’s first novel, The Jewel in the Crown.
What's it about
Staying On is a kind of coda to Scott’s Raj Quartet, set in the same small town of Pankot, but some decades later. It focuses primarily on two minor characters from that series, Tusker and Lucy Smalley. They are among the few colonial Brits who “stayed on” after Independence, and the novel covers a sort of twilight period - of their lives, of Empire - and touches significantly on themes of nostalgia and regret, particularly through the character of Lucy.
The other primary characters in the novel are representatives of the “new India”, the Bhoolabhoy’s - who act as the main (and occasionally dubious) comic focus of the novel. The nuances of, and continuation of, class divide in the postcolonial era are also touched on, both with humour and seriousness, often through the character of Ibrahim, the Smalleys’ long-suffering servant.
What I liked
The most “comic” of the Booker winners so far. I’ve seen it compared elsewhere to the work of contemporaneous comic novelists like Tom Sharpe, and from my limited experience this seems accurate (for better and worse). Regardless, it’s good to see a novel that is deliberately “funny” recognised.
It also succeeds in raising smiles now and then. Occasionally a little uncomfortably (see below) but when it’s punching in the right direction (as with the depiction of the foibles of both Tusker and Mr Boolabhoy) it hits the spot.
The novel builds to a quietly moving conclusion, with Lucy contemplating a life alone and far removed from her glory days.
Another easy, breezy read. Never a chore, with an enjoyably brisk momentum to it.
What I didn't like
I felt like this was a bit of a disappointing winner in a number of ways. First up, not yet 10 years in, it already feels like we’re retreading ground that has been covered better elsewhere in Booker winning history. By this point, I’m getting a little tired of the nostalgic gazing back on Empire, and for the theme to draw me in further it’s going to need to get much more incisive in any future winners. This all just feels a bit… tame?
You can’t help feeling that it’s rewarding Scott for the conclusion of an epic series, rather than specifically the novel itself. I can’t fully speak to this as I haven’t read The Raj Quartet, but this does feel like a slight work on its own.
The balance of the comic and the serious doesn’t work anywhere nearly as effectively here as in (say) J.G. Farrell’s two winners. It sort of hops between the two modes, with some great (and some not so great) comic passages, a really rather affecting serious ending, but not much consistency.
I suppose we have to talk about Mrs. Boolabhoy. I’m loathe to criticize grotesque comic creations, especially when the humour is fairly balanced across the board, but here it feels like while most characters in the novel are given nuance and feel believably human, Lila is presented as a ludicrous grotesque, with far too much attention given to her size, and precious little to… anything else. Much as she’s a powerful, dominant woman, it still feels like Scott is playing her almost entirely for laughs, especially when contrasted directly with the rich inner life given to Lucy.
Overall, while it wasn’t hard work reading it, writing about it is proving to be (for the first time in this series) - I’m struggling to summon up the energy to care too much either way about this one, points above aside.
Food & drink pairings
Eggs. Lots and lots of eggs. Poached, ideally.
A wide variety of alcohol, dependent on time of day. Cocktails, gins, brandies. All par for the course when dealing with the twilight of Empire, of course…
Fun facts
Beryl Bainbridge, a judge on this year’s panel, seems to reflect my own indifference to Scott’s win in this magnificent summary of the judging process:
“All I can remember of the final meeting is that I got terribly tired, I literally sank lower and lower under the table. Brendan Gill, who I thought was American, went towards the balcony saying he was going to throw himself off, he was so fed up. Philip Larkin was completely silent most of the time. Nobody dared say a word to him and he never said a word back. The only one who was in total control of everything was Robin Ray. He was so clever that we all went along with whatever he said, and he wanted Staying On by Paul Scott to win.”
Prior to Granada’s grandiose Jewel in the Crown adaptation, they produced a TV film of Staying On in 1980, which seems to have been sold largely on the basis of reuniting Celia Johnson and Trever Howard - stars of Brief Encounter - as Lucy and Tusker.
Vanquished Foes
Paul Bailey (Peter Smart’s Confessions)
Caroline Blackwood (Great Granny Webster)
Jennifer Johnston (Shadows on our Skin)
Penelope Lively (The Road to Lichfield)
Barbara Pym (Quartet in Autumn)
Oh dear, once more I’ve read none of these? Any I should add to the post winners reading list?
Context
In 1977 :
Indian elections see Indira Ghandi’s Congress party defeated; state of emergency withdrawn
Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II in the UK
New York City blackout in July leads to looting and disorder
Significant Red Army Faction activity in Germany
Launch of the NASA Space Shuttle
Commodore PET and Apple II personal computers launch
Elvis Presley dies aged 42
Sex Pistols, Never Mind the Bollocks (released on Virgin after the band were dropped by EMI in January)
Fleetwood Mac, Rumours
Roots shown on ABC in the US for the first time
Star Wars (“A New Hope”)
Saturday Night Fever
Life Lessons
Hanging around somewhere once your time is up won’t end well
The Empire is over, we get it (but let’s not let that stop us indulging in just a little more picturesque nostalgia for it…)
Score
5
In some ways this feels harsh, and I certainly wouldn’t rule out reading more of Scott’s work, but I struggled to get excited about this one. It also felt rude to some of the more experimental winners I’ve thusfar scored relatively poorly to rank it above them.
Ranking to date:
Troubles - J.G. Farrell (1970, "Lost Booker") - 8.5
Saville - David Storey (1976) - 8
The Siege of Krishnapur - J.G. Farrell (1973) - 8
The Elected Member - Bernice Rubens (1970) - 7
The Conservationist - Nadine Gordimer (1974) - 7
Holiday - Stanley Middleton (1974) - 7 .
Heat & Dust - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1975) - 6.5
In a Free State* - V.S. Naipaul (1971) - 6.5
G. - John Berger (1972) - 6
Something to Answer For - P. H. Newby (1969) - 5.5
Staying On - Paul Scott (1977) - 5
*Read in later condensed edition.
Next up
The first winner I was already really excited to read - Iris Murdoch’s 1978 winner The Sea, The Sea.
