3/7/01: the lesson of John Masters, novelist.(Literature)

IT IS TOLD HOW, following his service with the 4th Prince of Wales Gurkha Regiment, JM went to New York to offer his expertise as a tour guide for trekkers in the Himalayas. In addition, he had volunteered to be the agent for a newly designed, capacious bra, invented by one of his female friends. Despite his best efforts, these projects came to naught, but one morning the ex-regimental adjutant met a literary agent who casually enquired whether he had ever considered writing novels about his Indian experience.

No, he hadn't. But by the afternoon he was sitting at the desk of his hotel room, his pen flickering, and a few hours later, when he rose, he had jotted down on a large chart the motivating ideas for thirty-five possible novels, titles for the first six, and the name of the family (Savage) whose fortunes he would track through the centuries of British India. He had also made a start on the first title, Nightrunners of Bengal. Fifteen months later, with this novel complete, he began the second title on his original list, a year or so later the third, and so on through the first six titles.

Phew! Were ever the skills and qualities of character required by an efficient regimental and staff officer (as JM had been), translated so comprehensively into the basic qualities required by a novelist? Both in his evident work practices, and in the resulting Indian novels, he did not so much create personnel as manage them, moving their persons and their luggage to the right place at the right time, dealing with their emergencies, catering ...