Publication
University of Chicago Press (1995), 732 p.
Original publication date
1962
Collections
Genres
Subjects
Description
A QUESTION OF UPBRINGING A BUYER'S MARKET THE ACCEPTANCE WORLD Anthony Powell's brilliant twelve-novel sequence chronicles the lives of over three hundred characters, and is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England. It is unrivalled for its scope, its humour and the enormous pleasure it has given to generations. These first three novels in the sequence follow Nicholas Jenkins, Kenneth Widmerpool and others, as they negotiate the intellectual, cultural and social hurdles which stand between them and the 'Acceptance World'.
User reviews
LibraryThing member baswood
The next book on my 1951 reading list was [A question of Upbringing]; this is the first part of Anthony Powell's 12 volume series A Dance to the Music of Time. It was much better value to buy the first three volumes in one book rather than just the first volume and as they were there in front of me
Readers seem to have a love-hate relationship with this series of books and I can understand just why that is. Powell writes, as one might not be too surprised from his background, with a plum in his mouth and sometimes that plum becomes so large that the reader losses much of what is said. His long sentences with their many sub-clauses can become indistinct at best and completely obfuscate any meaning at worst. I lost count of the number of times I got to the end of one of these epics with only a vague impression of what I had just read. This style of writing is particularly evident in the second volume, and although it does occurs in volume three; The Acceptance World this book is a little more focused. One might give credit to Powell for imitating the confused thoughts of a 20 year old just making his way in the world, but I think this would be generous. Much Of volume 2 is focused on two events a debutants ball and a rather more bohemian party that some stragglers get to afterwards. Our protagonist Nick while spending much time describing the details of the guests dress and manners, their opulent surroundings and some of the events he witnesses, seems at a loss to understand their behaviour and even incidents in which he becomes involved remain a bit of a mystery.
Powell looks at everything through his protagonist Nick from an establishment point of view. This is a novel that reinforces the rigid class system that existed for wealthy people in the 1920's-30's and one could argue that Powell has his finger on the pulse of this era, however I sense an admiration of the social milieu in which he places his characters, it is though he is saying how wonderful it all was. One of the characters Widmerpool (we hardly ever learn their Christian names) who is less wealthy than most and realises he must work twice as hard as his contemporaries to get on says "brains and hard work are of very little avail unless you know the right people". This proves to be over optimistic because it is not the connections you might be able to forge, but the connections that your father or grandfather were able to make. It was all down to the position of your family in society. Widmerpool like other characters who were not from the right families are figures of fun in Powells hands, all the jokes are on them because they do not know how to behave correctly. It is all very well to have an accurate description of the young wealthy class in the period in which they lived, but not perhaps at the expense of all else. Reading the novels made me feel that they were outdated, but then thinking about the public school boys that currently run the British government in 2021; perhaps nothing much has changed.
Powells characterisations of his female characters are depressingly familiar; judged on their attractiveness to the male gaze and their propensity to conform to their partners wishes. Independently minded women are seen as either a threat or something to be managed and forever remain a mystery to their male counterparts. Nick himself who is very much a cypher in that he is a witness to events that happen around him, rather than instigating any of them, becomes in the third volume active in pursuing a love affair, but he is like a blind man stumbling towards an urge that needs satisfying.
There is much in these novels that were not to my taste, but they can have a dream like quality enhanced by Powells writing style. Characters did not elicit my care or sympathy for their predicaments, but I did enjoy the slow pace of the events and the insight of a world that I know existed and perhaps still exists. I will not be tempted to read any more of the books in this series; three were enough and I rate them as follows:
A Question of Upbringing - 3 stars
A Buyers Market - 2.5 stars
The Acceptance World - 4 stars.
Show More
I read all three volumes: I am just grateful that I did not buy all 12. Powells immense saga follows the lives of a number of individuals who meet as students at their Public School in the early 1920's. We follow the story in the first person through the eyes and many thoughts of Nick Jenkins, who like most of his school friends comes from a well-to-do family and these three books take us up to 1933. Anthony Powell was educated at Eton and Balliol college Oxford and his series of novels has the feel of an autobiography, certainly the milieu of Public school and debutante balls and then sliding into well paid positions of employment either in the city or through contacts made at University has a ring of authenticity. The social milieu could be described as upper middle class with plenty of Lords and Ladies hovering around the upper echelons. Readers seem to have a love-hate relationship with this series of books and I can understand just why that is. Powell writes, as one might not be too surprised from his background, with a plum in his mouth and sometimes that plum becomes so large that the reader losses much of what is said. His long sentences with their many sub-clauses can become indistinct at best and completely obfuscate any meaning at worst. I lost count of the number of times I got to the end of one of these epics with only a vague impression of what I had just read. This style of writing is particularly evident in the second volume, and although it does occurs in volume three; The Acceptance World this book is a little more focused. One might give credit to Powell for imitating the confused thoughts of a 20 year old just making his way in the world, but I think this would be generous. Much Of volume 2 is focused on two events a debutants ball and a rather more bohemian party that some stragglers get to afterwards. Our protagonist Nick while spending much time describing the details of the guests dress and manners, their opulent surroundings and some of the events he witnesses, seems at a loss to understand their behaviour and even incidents in which he becomes involved remain a bit of a mystery.
Powell looks at everything through his protagonist Nick from an establishment point of view. This is a novel that reinforces the rigid class system that existed for wealthy people in the 1920's-30's and one could argue that Powell has his finger on the pulse of this era, however I sense an admiration of the social milieu in which he places his characters, it is though he is saying how wonderful it all was. One of the characters Widmerpool (we hardly ever learn their Christian names) who is less wealthy than most and realises he must work twice as hard as his contemporaries to get on says "brains and hard work are of very little avail unless you know the right people". This proves to be over optimistic because it is not the connections you might be able to forge, but the connections that your father or grandfather were able to make. It was all down to the position of your family in society. Widmerpool like other characters who were not from the right families are figures of fun in Powells hands, all the jokes are on them because they do not know how to behave correctly. It is all very well to have an accurate description of the young wealthy class in the period in which they lived, but not perhaps at the expense of all else. Reading the novels made me feel that they were outdated, but then thinking about the public school boys that currently run the British government in 2021; perhaps nothing much has changed.
Powells characterisations of his female characters are depressingly familiar; judged on their attractiveness to the male gaze and their propensity to conform to their partners wishes. Independently minded women are seen as either a threat or something to be managed and forever remain a mystery to their male counterparts. Nick himself who is very much a cypher in that he is a witness to events that happen around him, rather than instigating any of them, becomes in the third volume active in pursuing a love affair, but he is like a blind man stumbling towards an urge that needs satisfying.
There is much in these novels that were not to my taste, but they can have a dream like quality enhanced by Powells writing style. Characters did not elicit my care or sympathy for their predicaments, but I did enjoy the slow pace of the events and the insight of a world that I know existed and perhaps still exists. I will not be tempted to read any more of the books in this series; three were enough and I rate them as follows:
A Question of Upbringing - 3 stars
A Buyers Market - 2.5 stars
The Acceptance World - 4 stars.
Show Less
LibraryThing member puddleshark
'A Dance to the Music of Time' follows the lives of a group of young men through public school, university, and careers in politics or the arts, as they fall in and out of love. The narrative is episodic in nature, sometimes jumping forwards through the years, structured like a formal dance, with
This is not a book that reaches out to the reader. You have to fight your way through a cloud of reserve and understatement and nuance. At the beginning, there is almost a vacuum where the first person narrator should be. He describes the people around him and their actions, but we learn next to nothing of the narrator himself.
But it is a book worth persevering with. The complexity of the dance is compelling, and the characters if lacking in warmth, altruism, or any sort of commitment (other than to surface appearances and to the struggle for power) are fascinating. And by the end we come to see an intriguing hint of depths behind the icy reserve of the narrator.
Show More
characters coming together and parting at intervals, a little changed each time. This is not a book that reaches out to the reader. You have to fight your way through a cloud of reserve and understatement and nuance. At the beginning, there is almost a vacuum where the first person narrator should be. He describes the people around him and their actions, but we learn next to nothing of the narrator himself.
But it is a book worth persevering with. The complexity of the dance is compelling, and the characters if lacking in warmth, altruism, or any sort of commitment (other than to surface appearances and to the struggle for power) are fascinating. And by the end we come to see an intriguing hint of depths behind the icy reserve of the narrator.
Show Less
LibraryThing member GarySeverance
Anthony Powell published twelve volumes of a wonderful novel from 1951 to 1975. He divided this continuing series into four musical movements depicted in a Nicolas Poussin 1639-40 painting. The painting and the novel are entitled, A Dance to the Music of Time. The first movement includes three
The first three parts of the story take place in the post World War I era of the 1920s and early 1930s. The characters are associated with British socioeconomic levels that include very wealthy (Templeton), wealthy (Stringham), upper middle class (Jenkins) and middle class (Widmerpool). After university, the characters go their separate ways determined by their economic classes but end up meeting in London while pursuing different individual goals.
Nicolas Jenkins, the narrator of the novel, gets a job at a firm that publishes "art books" and uses free time offered by his relatively unstructured job to write novels. Like Robert Musil's character in A Man Without Qualities, Nick is a keen observer who seems to be continually on the edge of the social dance, jumping in on occasion but content to ruminate about the motives and behaviors of others. As he focuses on his three school acquaintances, Nick's commentary becomes increasingly reliable as he compares current incidents to reinterpret collective experiences of the past. He learns to abandon simplistic rules for understanding of the choices of his friends and others. He also learns his station in life and the limits of his ability as observer to discover immutable standards of acceptable social actions. Life is just too complex and changeable to maintain superficial and immature interpretations of the dance of life.
Each volume of the first movement is self-contained as Powell gives readers descriptive reminders of characters and events that preceded the current action. The writing style is simple and direct and the pace is slow and deliberate. Powell presents many allusions to art, philosophy, and history like James Joyce in Ulysses with much less tangential writing. Using the Kindle dictionary and an iPhone, I enjoyed looking up each reference.
The tone of the first three works is humorous and satirical without being overly cynical (except for the spoof of John Galsworthy). Readers can visualize Poussin's painting and observe the dance of the four main characters. Economic, political and social parallels can be seen with our own turn of the century culture.
I highly recommend the first movement of Powell's omnibus work to readers who love to observe the dance of life. I have not encountered a contemporary writer who is such a good chronicler and analyst of the unfolding and interacting lives of realistic rather than stereotyped characters. I feel fortunate to have 9 more volumes in 3 more movements to read in the 4 paperback edition published by the University of Chicago press (1995). Though life is beautiful and upsetting, comical and tragic, expected and catastrophic, Powell shows readers the worst action they can take is to drop out of the dance. As in Proust's In Search of Lost Time, the social isolate is irrevocably self-centered forever missing the chances of a lifetime to listen to the music of time and in Powell's words move "hand in hand in intricate measure" with others.
Show More
volumes: A Question of Upbringing, A Buyer's Market, and The Acceptance World. These volumes introduce and describe four male characters as they progress through British schools and university, enter the professional world of work, and accept a loss of illusions as they interact with others in the real world. The first three parts of the story take place in the post World War I era of the 1920s and early 1930s. The characters are associated with British socioeconomic levels that include very wealthy (Templeton), wealthy (Stringham), upper middle class (Jenkins) and middle class (Widmerpool). After university, the characters go their separate ways determined by their economic classes but end up meeting in London while pursuing different individual goals.
Nicolas Jenkins, the narrator of the novel, gets a job at a firm that publishes "art books" and uses free time offered by his relatively unstructured job to write novels. Like Robert Musil's character in A Man Without Qualities, Nick is a keen observer who seems to be continually on the edge of the social dance, jumping in on occasion but content to ruminate about the motives and behaviors of others. As he focuses on his three school acquaintances, Nick's commentary becomes increasingly reliable as he compares current incidents to reinterpret collective experiences of the past. He learns to abandon simplistic rules for understanding of the choices of his friends and others. He also learns his station in life and the limits of his ability as observer to discover immutable standards of acceptable social actions. Life is just too complex and changeable to maintain superficial and immature interpretations of the dance of life.
Each volume of the first movement is self-contained as Powell gives readers descriptive reminders of characters and events that preceded the current action. The writing style is simple and direct and the pace is slow and deliberate. Powell presents many allusions to art, philosophy, and history like James Joyce in Ulysses with much less tangential writing. Using the Kindle dictionary and an iPhone, I enjoyed looking up each reference.
The tone of the first three works is humorous and satirical without being overly cynical (except for the spoof of John Galsworthy). Readers can visualize Poussin's painting and observe the dance of the four main characters. Economic, political and social parallels can be seen with our own turn of the century culture.
I highly recommend the first movement of Powell's omnibus work to readers who love to observe the dance of life. I have not encountered a contemporary writer who is such a good chronicler and analyst of the unfolding and interacting lives of realistic rather than stereotyped characters. I feel fortunate to have 9 more volumes in 3 more movements to read in the 4 paperback edition published by the University of Chicago press (1995). Though life is beautiful and upsetting, comical and tragic, expected and catastrophic, Powell shows readers the worst action they can take is to drop out of the dance. As in Proust's In Search of Lost Time, the social isolate is irrevocably self-centered forever missing the chances of a lifetime to listen to the music of time and in Powell's words move "hand in hand in intricate measure" with others.
Show Less
LibraryThing member isabelx
A Question of Upbringing 4 stars
Sillery showed interest in this remark, in spite of his evident dissatisfaction at the manner in which Miss Weedon treated him. He seemed unable to decide upon her precise status in the household: which was, indeed, one not easy to assess. It was equally hard to
I am starting a year-long re-read of A Dance to the Music of Time, having originally read them in the late 1990s, shortly after the BBC series aired. A Question of Upbringing is one of the books I remember best, as it covers the narrator's time at public school (unnamed, but obviously Eton) and University. Later in the series the books merged together in my memory, and I couldn't tell you which events happens in each book.
The first time I read this book, I don't think I noticed the resemblance to Brideshead Revisited, probably because events are spread out over more than one book. but Stringham's story is story is very similar to Sebastian Flyte's, and characters talk about his mother's estate much in the same ways as people talked about Brideshead. There is a similar car crash while the characters are at university. and although Jean is Templer's sister and not Stringham's, Nicholas's relationship with her over the years reminds me of Charles Ryder's with Julia Flyte.
It's a good start to the series, telling an interesting story while it introduces many of the characters who will drift in and out of the narrator's life over the years. I just wish Nicholas Jenkins wasn't such a colourless presence in the books. The way he tells us about the lives of his friends and acquaintances but leaves us guessing about important events in his own life becomes ever more irritating over the course of the series.
A Buyer's Market 4 stars
However, Gypsy Jones' comment, when thought of later, brought home the impossibility of explaining Widmerpool's personality at all briefly, even to an sympathetic audience. His case was not, of course, unique. He was merely one single instance, among many. of the fact that certain acquaintances remain firmly fixed within this or that person's particular orbit; a law which seems to lead inexorably to the conclusion that the often repeated saying that people can 'choose their friends' is true only in a most strictly limited degree.
This book is set around 1928, by which time Nicholas Jenkins is aged about 24 and has a job in publishing. It revolves around a series of social events, starting with the day he attends a dinner party at the Walpole-Wilsons, whose niece Barbara he has been in love with for the past year, and goes on to a ball. While walking homewards with Widmerpool, he meets an old friend of his parents, the artist Mr. Deacon and his young friend Gypsy Jones, and they then come across Stringham, and they all end up at a party held by Mrs Andriadis, the former mistress of a Balkan royal and current lover of Stringham.
During the course of the book, Nicholas keeps meeting the same people at house parties, birthday parties and funerals as the dance of life continues. I have never liked Nicholas, as he is too passive and for all his interest in the interactions of his circle of friends and acquaintances and what drives them, he is a bystander rather than a participant in their lives. I know he doesn't care for Widmerpool, but he has known him for a long time and it is really bad that he doesn't tell him that Gypsy was already 'in trouble' before Widmerpool met her, and just lets him go ahead with paying for her abortion.
The Acceptance World 4 stars
Umfraville returned to the room. He watched the completion of the game in silence. It was won by Barnby. Then he spoke. 'I have a proposition to make,' he said. 'I got on to Milly Andriadis just now on the telephone and told her we were all coming round to see her.'My first thought was that I must not make a habit of arriving with a gang of friends at Mrs. Andriadis's house as an uninvited guest; even at intervals of three or four years. A moment later I saw the absurdity of such diffidence, because, apart from any other consideration, she would not have the faintest remembrance of ever having met me before.
The story starts in 1931, so the depression has begun, but Nick isn't really affected, although there are casual mentions of people he knows having lost money due to 'the slump'. The dance metaphonr is not only relevant to the way people come in and out of each other's life over the years, but also to the way the story flits from social event to social event, with hardly a mention of Nick's work or home life. The one time he does go to a business meeting (at the Ritz of all places) he ditches the meeting in favour of going to dinner with his old school friend Templer. Nothing ever seems to happen to Nick, and we usually find out about events in the other characters' lives at second hand, when Nick catches up with the gossip at yet another social gathering.
The way Nick portrays things, his circle flit about in their upper middle class world with hardly any interaction with the lower classes, so it comes as a surprise with Dick Umfraville chats to Mrs Andriadis's maid Ethel as if she is a real person. I have also noticed that Nick's descriptions of the people around him can be quite extreme and unrealistic, describing Mona as being 'like some savage creature, anxious to keep up appearances before members of a more highly civilised society' which doesn't really sync with anything she actually does, but provides a big contrast to Nick's own colourless personality.
Sillery showed interest in this remark, in spite of his evident dissatisfaction at the manner in which Miss Weedon treated him. He seemed unable to decide upon her precise status in the household: which was, indeed, one not easy to assess. It was equally hard to
Show More
guess what she knew, or thought, of Sillery; whether she appreciated the extent of his experience in such situations as that which had arisen in regard to Stringham. Sitting opposite him, she seemed to have become firmer and more masculine; while Sillery himself, more than ever, took the shape of a wizard or shaman, equipped to resist either man or woman from a bisexual vantage.I am starting a year-long re-read of A Dance to the Music of Time, having originally read them in the late 1990s, shortly after the BBC series aired. A Question of Upbringing is one of the books I remember best, as it covers the narrator's time at public school (unnamed, but obviously Eton) and University. Later in the series the books merged together in my memory, and I couldn't tell you which events happens in each book.
The first time I read this book, I don't think I noticed the resemblance to Brideshead Revisited, probably because events are spread out over more than one book. but Stringham's story is story is very similar to Sebastian Flyte's, and characters talk about his mother's estate much in the same ways as people talked about Brideshead. There is a similar car crash while the characters are at university. and although Jean is Templer's sister and not Stringham's, Nicholas's relationship with her over the years reminds me of Charles Ryder's with Julia Flyte.
It's a good start to the series, telling an interesting story while it introduces many of the characters who will drift in and out of the narrator's life over the years. I just wish Nicholas Jenkins wasn't such a colourless presence in the books. The way he tells us about the lives of his friends and acquaintances but leaves us guessing about important events in his own life becomes ever more irritating over the course of the series.
A Buyer's Market 4 stars
However, Gypsy Jones' comment, when thought of later, brought home the impossibility of explaining Widmerpool's personality at all briefly, even to an sympathetic audience. His case was not, of course, unique. He was merely one single instance, among many. of the fact that certain acquaintances remain firmly fixed within this or that person's particular orbit; a law which seems to lead inexorably to the conclusion that the often repeated saying that people can 'choose their friends' is true only in a most strictly limited degree.
This book is set around 1928, by which time Nicholas Jenkins is aged about 24 and has a job in publishing. It revolves around a series of social events, starting with the day he attends a dinner party at the Walpole-Wilsons, whose niece Barbara he has been in love with for the past year, and goes on to a ball. While walking homewards with Widmerpool, he meets an old friend of his parents, the artist Mr. Deacon and his young friend Gypsy Jones, and they then come across Stringham, and they all end up at a party held by Mrs Andriadis, the former mistress of a Balkan royal and current lover of Stringham.
During the course of the book, Nicholas keeps meeting the same people at house parties, birthday parties and funerals as the dance of life continues. I have never liked Nicholas, as he is too passive and for all his interest in the interactions of his circle of friends and acquaintances and what drives them, he is a bystander rather than a participant in their lives. I know he doesn't care for Widmerpool, but he has known him for a long time and it is really bad that he doesn't tell him that Gypsy was already 'in trouble' before Widmerpool met her, and just lets him go ahead with paying for her abortion.
The Acceptance World 4 stars
Umfraville returned to the room. He watched the completion of the game in silence. It was won by Barnby. Then he spoke. 'I have a proposition to make,' he said. 'I got on to Milly Andriadis just now on the telephone and told her we were all coming round to see her.'My first thought was that I must not make a habit of arriving with a gang of friends at Mrs. Andriadis's house as an uninvited guest; even at intervals of three or four years. A moment later I saw the absurdity of such diffidence, because, apart from any other consideration, she would not have the faintest remembrance of ever having met me before.
The story starts in 1931, so the depression has begun, but Nick isn't really affected, although there are casual mentions of people he knows having lost money due to 'the slump'. The dance metaphonr is not only relevant to the way people come in and out of each other's life over the years, but also to the way the story flits from social event to social event, with hardly a mention of Nick's work or home life. The one time he does go to a business meeting (at the Ritz of all places) he ditches the meeting in favour of going to dinner with his old school friend Templer. Nothing ever seems to happen to Nick, and we usually find out about events in the other characters' lives at second hand, when Nick catches up with the gossip at yet another social gathering.
The way Nick portrays things, his circle flit about in their upper middle class world with hardly any interaction with the lower classes, so it comes as a surprise with Dick Umfraville chats to Mrs Andriadis's maid Ethel as if she is a real person. I have also noticed that Nick's descriptions of the people around him can be quite extreme and unrealistic, describing Mona as being 'like some savage creature, anxious to keep up appearances before members of a more highly civilised society' which doesn't really sync with anything she actually does, but provides a big contrast to Nick's own colourless personality.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jwhenderson
Powell takes you back to a time and place, Britain and France in the 1920s, that no longer exists. He also describes a class culture that is unfamiliar to this reader who grew up in the Midwest. He does this with a prose style and a structure that, through episodes in the lives of four boys on the
Show More
verge of adulthood, slowly builds a story that seems very true to life. You gradually learn about the relationships through the eys of the narrator, Jenkins, and by the time he says goodbye to his Uncle Giles at the end of the first volume, A Question of Upbringing, you have become engaged with these individuals, their loves and dreams for the future. Show Less
LibraryThing member markfinl
I finally finished the first movement. I liked the novels a lot, although I think the middle one, A Buyer's Market, is weaker than the other two. I don't know if the Dance is the English Proust, as some have claimed, but it is far easier to read. My only complaint about the first movement is that
Show More
the world is so insular. I hope that as the novels move through time its world will become wider. Show Less
LibraryThing member ltimmel
Alan Hollinghurst does it much, much better in _The Swimming Pool Library_. A pity Virginia Woolf didn't live long enough to review these novels. Powell's women are pathetic caricatures. Any woman the narrator meets who doesn't consistently reflect his image back to him at ten times his size is, in
Show More
his eyes, monstrous. Show Less
LibraryThing member leslie.98
2 1/2 stars - This volume contains 3 novels:
A Question of Upbringing: 2 stars
A Buyer's Market: 3 stars
The Acceptance World: 2 1/2 stars
I find Powell's dry humor is sometimes quite amusing but other times his prose seems a bit pretentious.
A Question of Upbringing: 2 stars
A Buyer's Market: 3 stars
The Acceptance World: 2 1/2 stars
I find Powell's dry humor is sometimes quite amusing but other times his prose seems a bit pretentious.
LibraryThing member amerynth
I'm reading Anthony Powell's "A Dance to the Music of Time" in 2014. One book a month (conveniently there are 12 in the series.) This volume contains the first three books, so I thought I'd review them as I go.
"A Question of Upbringing" was a great start to the series... its narrator is Jenkins,
I didn't enjoy the second book "A Buyer's Market" quite as much as the first installment. It started off very slowly but had some great moments once it got going. I just didn't like that it took 100 pages to get there. In this book, Jenkins is in his 20's... and doing the things that 20-year-old men did in that era, partying, drinking and starting to pair off. 3/5 stars.
The third installment "The Acceptance World" was definitely the best so far. In this book, Jenkins is now firmly ensconced in the 1930's and offering glimpses of the upper crust of society and the more downtrodden. Marriages have already begun to crumble (with several characters already embarking on their second, third or fourth.) This book really was a very fascinating look at an era and makes me look forward to to the next installment. 5/5 stars
"A Question of Upbringing" was a great start to the series... its narrator is Jenkins,
Show More
who is finishing up prep school and moving on to university. It introduces quite a few characters, giving great glimpses of their attributes in an entertaining way. There isn't a ton of plot... it's more of an introduction so it wouldn't stand up as a read on its own. That said, I'm excited to see where Powell takes this group of characters in his future books. 4/5 stars.I didn't enjoy the second book "A Buyer's Market" quite as much as the first installment. It started off very slowly but had some great moments once it got going. I just didn't like that it took 100 pages to get there. In this book, Jenkins is in his 20's... and doing the things that 20-year-old men did in that era, partying, drinking and starting to pair off. 3/5 stars.
The third installment "The Acceptance World" was definitely the best so far. In this book, Jenkins is now firmly ensconced in the 1930's and offering glimpses of the upper crust of society and the more downtrodden. Marriages have already begun to crumble (with several characters already embarking on their second, third or fourth.) This book really was a very fascinating look at an era and makes me look forward to to the next installment. 5/5 stars
Show Less
LibraryThing member Kristelh
This volume; winter, just like the season, my least favorite but what I did enjoy was looking at the aging process of Jenkins and his generation and over all, in spite of the weirdness of Scorpio Murlock, it does reflect the changes that occurred in the years after the war; the changes in sex,
Show More
culture and hippies. We have Jenkins generation starting to age, die and the new generation coming to their careers and marriages. We have come full circle. Show Less
LibraryThing member hemlokgang
Imagine if you will.......you.....settled into a cozy chair, inside the mind of the protagonist of a novel, with nothing better to do than be a silent observer of his every thought and feeling. Weird? Boring? Fascinating? All of these feelings were part of my experience reading this first volume of
Show More
"A Dance To The Music of Time:First Movement". I am thoroughly impressed with Powell's ability to communicate the impressions, feelings and thoughts of a character to the degree he has done so in this novel. Set in the early 1900s in London, the story moves through the development of a prep school coy as he matures and moves out into London society, dipping his toes in several different social groups. As the volume ends, he may or may not have found love, and the reader is left heaving a sigh of relief at finishing this somewhat strenuous read, and also looking forward to the second volume. Reading this novel is not for the reader who requires action. It is more for the lover of the psychological. It would be a five star read if not for the occasional long tedious stretches. Show Less
LibraryThing member farrhon
Who knew that youth was so couth?
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
Well, two of the three are, "A Buyer's Market" and "the Acceptance World". This is a long novel in twelve volumes presenting a picture of upper middle class, somewhat artistic, British Life, from the 1920's into the 1960's. There is gentle fun, and an insightful mind at work. The two most
Show More
remembered characters are Nicholas Jenkins, the narrator, and Kenneth Widmerpool, a perpetual outsider. The twelve sections were not an instant classic, but are well thought of, by their generation. the characters become gradually part of one's mental life, which was of course, the point. Powell became a long time pillar of the literary world and ended his epic in 1974. Show Less
LibraryThing member therebelprince
"This is perhaps an image of how we live."
The first three novels in this 12-volume series: A Question of Upbringing, A Buyer's Market and The Acceptance World, tracing the lives of the young male protagonists from their final year in school in the early 1920s to their years after university,
Consistently enjoyable in its recreation of a world that for Powell was already his long-lost youth, and for my generation seems impossibly distant.
These first three volumes are the least exciting in the series, for my money, although the moments of high comedy often shine. But they gain much from the resonances they will leave for the remainder of the series. Perhaps now that I'm so abysmally old (gosh, nearing my mid-30s), I understand all the more how crucial, how seminal, how heartbreakingly eternal are the loves and joys of our youth.
The first three novels in this 12-volume series: A Question of Upbringing, A Buyer's Market and The Acceptance World, tracing the lives of the young male protagonists from their final year in school in the early 1920s to their years after university,
Show More
discovering love, career, hope, loss, jealousy, society, and art. Consistently enjoyable in its recreation of a world that for Powell was already his long-lost youth, and for my generation seems impossibly distant.
These first three volumes are the least exciting in the series, for my money, although the moments of high comedy often shine. But they gain much from the resonances they will leave for the remainder of the series. Perhaps now that I'm so abysmally old (gosh, nearing my mid-30s), I understand all the more how crucial, how seminal, how heartbreakingly eternal are the loves and joys of our youth.
Show Less
Media reviews
I first began to read Dance when it was incomplete and there was something to look forward to. The pleasure then afforded was rather greater than that which is offered by a long look back.
Language
Original language
English
ISBN
9780226677149
Physical description
732 p.; 5.25 inches
Pages
732