Paul Scott

Contrary to popular belief, Paul
Scott was not a historical novelist in the realist tradition but a
post-modernist who engaged with his readers in narrative of increasing
self-consciousness and complexity. Having exposed the identity crisis of
the twentieth-century male under army and post-war conditions, he moved
on after the 1950's to explore the need for commitment memorably and
often brilliantly against various backdrops. This phase culminated in
his most frankly experimental novel, The Corrida at San Feliu (1964).
However, India, where Scott had served during the war, still exerted a
strong pull on his imagination. And in his tour de force The Raj Quartet
(1966-1975), and its coda, Staying On (1977; Booker Prize, 1978), Scott
found in one of the great upheavals of recent times what he had long
been seeking - evidence of human being's capacity for moral integrity
and love, even in the face of extraordinary challenges.