Staying On by Paul Scott If not marvelous, at least a very good read

 Staying On by Paul Scott

If not marvelous, at least a very good read

After a trip to Central America, in the company of Holliwell and his buddies from A Flag for sunrise, by the fabulous Robert Stone, here I am, taking another ride, into post imperial India, with Lilly, Tusker and a few more charming characters.

Staying On does not have an exciting plot to keep me hooked and at times I did wonder why I am reading this.

But the author is an excellent writer and kept this reader going in spite of his idiosyncrasies, laziness and penchant for penchant for pleasurable reads.

On the face of it, this novel looks like the opposite of pleasurable, with a shot at being downright depressing.

You learn of the death of Tusker early on and the fact that those Staying On in the title are a couple of old English people.

-          What fun can one have with that?

If I were to tell it, none at all.

But you have the superb Paul Scott writing the story and it is exhilarating, if not all the time-impossible and probably annoying it would be-in many chapters.

Even obnoxious, cruel and loathsome people like” Ownership” alias Mrs. Lila Bhoolabhoy turns out to be hilarious, in spite and because of her airs, imperial attitude, “mountain of Flesh”, greediness and rudeness.

On the other hand, the main personages are not altogether likeable and Tusker can be unpleasant enough to make one, if not indifferent to his death, at least less compassionate.

“Memsahib”, that is Mrs. Lilly Smalley herself is not exactly what I want in the heroines that I read about.

-          Again, Luce is the opposite of the type of person that I like to meet in person and in fiction, but that only goes to prove the mastery of the author

Where I would normally abandon the book, he makes me read on…Staying On

-          The plot is nearly nonexistent and yet the themes of love, fidelity, the British in India and more are treated with humor and insight

-          The characters are not very attractive, in fact they seem to dislike each other, even when they are also passionate for one another- like Mr. Bhoolabhoy and his Lila

-          We start off with a death

The atmosphere is exotique and intriguing and whenever there are sad recollections and feelings of remorse and regret, we still turn around and enjoy a laugh with Ibrahim, say.

Ibrahim is the servant of the English couple who Stayed On and he is perhaps the most pleasant of the personages.

 A Muslim who does not drink, he has to put up with grave and comical situations, like the one where the memsahib wants him to get into the bazaar and buy lots of goods for a special evening and the sahib is of a very different opinion

-          Ibrahim can cope with all of these, but not all at the same time

-          A soldier would know that the Last Order counts

-          I cannot walk the dog, take a tonga, buy the food all at once

-          You are fired!

Apart from the comedy of various scenes, there is a serious subtext, with the important issue of the British, their departure, the legacy left in India, success or failure of individuals and the whole nation, race relations, the caste and more.

At times, I felt like this is not what I like and in normal circumstances I would not go through with similar subjects and characters.

In fact, whenever I decided to go through it quickly, come to the end and be done with it, I found that I slowed down to see what Lila does to her husband, what Tusker is up to, Ibrahim, Bhoolabhoy and the rest.

If not an absolute favorite, this book has entertained and rewarded me for…Staying On.