May Group Read - The Raj Quartet 2 - The Day of The Scorpion

The Day of the Scorpion - Paul Scott



According to Wikipedia: The Day of the Scorpion takes place over the years of 1942 - 1944.

Continuing on from the first book, many familar characters make an appearance, along with the introduction of new ones. Unrest is mounting and the British are struggling to maintain their control. Meanwhile the war against Japan continues ...

We'll be reading the rest of the quartet on this schedule:

Book 3: The Towers of Silence: JULY
Book 4: A Division of the Spoils: SEPTEMBER

I have completed by read of The Day of the Scorpion. While I didn't find it quite as mesmerizing as The Jewel in the Crown, it certainly held my interest. Don't want to say too much until others have completed it as well.

I'm a little over halfway through. What amazes me, is now polite everyone is. Such a difference. Even when interrogating suspects, (other than for Merrick) everyone is quiet and self-contained with no screaming or threats. Such a difference given how we treat suspects today.

No one else reading Day of the Scorpion?

I've finished it and what struck me most forcibly is how bloody polite everyone is. Even to a prisoner who is being interrogated. Can't you just see Jack from 24 treating someone like this?

I'm reading it, but it's going a bit slowly because I also discovered the Matthew Shardlake series some 10 days ago now and am completely addicted and having a hard time concentration on my other reading (am on book 3 now!).

I started Part II: A Christening last night. I thought the interview with Hari Kumar in the previous part was really interesting, and liked getting the story from his lips, but couldn't understand why he still refused to reveal what happened during the fateful evening when Miss Manners was raped, especially after he'd been told she was dead. Is it because he thinks the facts will be damning for him, or just for the sake of keeping a promise to her? It doesn't seem to make sense to me, considering what a smart man he is in so many other ways and that given the right audience, he might actually be let off.

Just finished it (a reread after nearly thirty years) and am delighted that the Suck Fairy has gotten nowhere near this series. I had forgotten the gorgeousness of the writing, sometimes slow-going but always so evocative of time and place and atmosphere. I've already jumped in to The Towers of Silence and am looking forward to re-meeting one of my favorite characters in the series.

>5 Smiler69: It didn't surprise me that he didn't tell: what else was left for him and Daphne but to keep his promise to her and thereby his honor? It was made clear that the interview was unofficial and could have no official bearing on his case.

I have started The Day of the Scorpion, reading a tiny print paperback. I hope my eyes hold up! I read The Jewel in The Crown a few years ago and was surprised how well I remember it. That says a lot for the author and subject matter. The sequel sucked me right back into the story with no 'Suck Fairy' in sight. ;-)

In the main review, whoever wrote it wrote "Quite India" when he/she meant " Quit India" the movement to get Britian out of India.

The first Description, not review has that typo. The descriptions are brought in from various sources. You could try to vote that description down. You could make a bug report. Mentioning it in a 6 year old thread about the book won't do anything.