FRASER, Sir Ronald (Arthur)

(1888-1974)

   UK writer and civil servant. Most of his work, like his first novel, The Flying Draper (1924; rev 1931), utilizes fantasy or sf devices - in the initial case self-levitation - to create allegorical orphilosophical arguments; the unmistakably Wellsian draper, for instance, finds that the ability to fly enforces "higher" thoughts. In Flower Phantoms (1926) an orchid responds to the protagonist's nubility byshowing her the secrets of sex. In Beetle's Career (1951), which is sf, a super-weapon is shown to have beneficial side-effects. In the Venus quartet - A Visit from Venus (1958), Jupiter in the Chair (1958), Trout's Testament (1960) and City of the Sun (1961) - various inhabitants of theSolar System confer about a number of mildly pressing topics. In an elegant, generally painless manner, RF concentrated throughout his career on novels of controlled wit, mild SATIRE and admissible sentiment; only occasionally would these entertainments move into the darker regions.

   JC

   Other works: Landscape with Figures (1925), an oriental fantasy; Miss Lucifer (1939); The Fiery Gate (1943); Sun in Scorpio (1949); A Work of Imagination: (The Pen - the Brush - the Well) (1974), a novel of occultism.

   See also: PSYCHOLOGY.