A Question Of Upbringing (Dance to the Music of Time 01)
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"I think it is now becoming clear that A Dance to the Music of Time is going to become the greatest modern novel since Ulysses."
--Clive James
"I would rather read Mr Powell than any English novelist now writing."
--Kingsley Amis
--Clive James
"I would rather read Mr Powell than any English novelist now writing."
--Kingsley Amis
Book Description
The opening novel in Anthony Powell's brilliant twelve-novel sequence, A Dance to the Music of Time
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
When you've finished A Question of Upbringing, you've hardly started A Dance to the Music of Time, which is good news - there's a lot more literary nourishment ahead.
A Dance to the Music of Time is an account of the life of the fictional Nicholas Jenkins, written by Jenkins himself, in the first person. A Question of Upbringing describes Eton, which Jenkins attends, and introduces his schoolfellows Templar, Stringham and Widmerpool. Le Bas, a schoolmaster, makes several comic appearances. The story moves on to Oxford, where Jenkins completes his formal education and encounters Sillery, a don, who is also a comic figure.
A Dance to the Music of Time is a literary masterpiece which contains much comedy, although mild sadness and unhappiness run through the story. Nicholas has a profound appreciation of the arts, especially painting, and he often thinks about particular works of art. He tends to describe his life, and analyse it, in a highly artistic and literary way. Anthony Powell is able to convey the essence of paintings using words only, something he achieves again and again throughout A Dance to the Music of Time, in a great display of literary genius. The story also contains a certain amount of superstition, a few of the characters being highly superstitious (although sometimes this theme is not returned to for hundreds of pages). A long, long way after A Question of Upbringing, when Jenkins is in his thirties and the Second World War is raging, a wild night in the London Blitz is described, and Mrs Erdleigh analyses what is happening in highly superstitious terms, calling it a "demonic night." In Jenkins' young boyhood (not described in A Question of Upbringing, which covers somewhat later years), in a happy, innocent, now unreachable, pre-First World War existence in the English countryside, a cult leader is described, he and his followers running through the fields dressed in robes, behaving eccentrically but harmlessly. Right at the end of A Dance to the Music of Time, in the final book Hearing Secret Harmonies, when we seem to have reached the 1970s, another, younger, cult leader is described, but this man is much more sinister and disturbing, twisting his followers' minds.
Throughout his life, Jenkins observes other people with interest, not interfering with them much, and not apparently saying much to them, but being interesting enough to stimulate them into speaking to him, often at length. Jenkins' profession is literary writing, although we learn little about this work. Jenkins gets married and has children, but we do not hear much about his family. A Dance to the Music of Time concentrates on Jenkins' friends and acquaintances, who are often not encountered for years, then reappear, still the same souls but older and in different circumstances, with different things to talk about and an older Jenkins to talk to. The finest character description is of Stringham, likeable and effervescent, but on a downward path.
When you finish A Dance to the Music of Time, you have a huge amount of literary material to think about. For some reason, the first thing that comes into my head is a description of the extremely dimmed lighting in a wartime railway carriage at night; the light bulbs are described as being like "phosphorescent molluscs."
If you love literature, then A Dance to the Music of Time is compulsory.
A Dance to the Music of Time is an account of the life of the fictional Nicholas Jenkins, written by Jenkins himself, in the first person. A Question of Upbringing describes Eton, which Jenkins attends, and introduces his schoolfellows Templar, Stringham and Widmerpool. Le Bas, a schoolmaster, makes several comic appearances. The story moves on to Oxford, where Jenkins completes his formal education and encounters Sillery, a don, who is also a comic figure.
A Dance to the Music of Time is a literary masterpiece which contains much comedy, although mild sadness and unhappiness run through the story. Nicholas has a profound appreciation of the arts, especially painting, and he often thinks about particular works of art. He tends to describe his life, and analyse it, in a highly artistic and literary way. Anthony Powell is able to convey the essence of paintings using words only, something he achieves again and again throughout A Dance to the Music of Time, in a great display of literary genius. The story also contains a certain amount of superstition, a few of the characters being highly superstitious (although sometimes this theme is not returned to for hundreds of pages). A long, long way after A Question of Upbringing, when Jenkins is in his thirties and the Second World War is raging, a wild night in the London Blitz is described, and Mrs Erdleigh analyses what is happening in highly superstitious terms, calling it a "demonic night." In Jenkins' young boyhood (not described in A Question of Upbringing, which covers somewhat later years), in a happy, innocent, now unreachable, pre-First World War existence in the English countryside, a cult leader is described, he and his followers running through the fields dressed in robes, behaving eccentrically but harmlessly. Right at the end of A Dance to the Music of Time, in the final book Hearing Secret Harmonies, when we seem to have reached the 1970s, another, younger, cult leader is described, but this man is much more sinister and disturbing, twisting his followers' minds.
Throughout his life, Jenkins observes other people with interest, not interfering with them much, and not apparently saying much to them, but being interesting enough to stimulate them into speaking to him, often at length. Jenkins' profession is literary writing, although we learn little about this work. Jenkins gets married and has children, but we do not hear much about his family. A Dance to the Music of Time concentrates on Jenkins' friends and acquaintances, who are often not encountered for years, then reappear, still the same souls but older and in different circumstances, with different things to talk about and an older Jenkins to talk to. The finest character description is of Stringham, likeable and effervescent, but on a downward path.
When you finish A Dance to the Music of Time, you have a huge amount of literary material to think about. For some reason, the first thing that comes into my head is a description of the extremely dimmed lighting in a wartime railway carriage at night; the light bulbs are described as being like "phosphorescent molluscs."
If you love literature, then A Dance to the Music of Time is compulsory.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
If you're reading this on Kindle, be aware that the second volume in the series, "A Buyer's Market" is not available, for some reason, although all the others are. Grrrrrr....
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is the first volume of the 12-volume series *A Dance to the Music of Time*. In some respects it is a relatively low-key beginning focusing, as it does, on schooldays and the immediate aftermath of them. We get introduced to our narrator, Jenkins, and a few of the characters we will meet in various guises in subsequent volumes. One of the most memorable early scenes is the arrival of Uncle Giles in the school where his smoking causes something of a commotion. Powell's novels are often described as an English version of Proust and there is something to this comparison. Like in Proust the narrator is some sense a kind of absorbent centre who, whilst giving us cues to everything, doesn't emerge that clearly himself. By contrast to Proust, the centre of action is here focused directly on the end period of boyhood, the emergence of early manhood. There is no immersion in young childhood, little presence of girls and no homo-eroticism. There is, however, more than a touch of Jamesian introspection and a writing style that conveys detail in a way that manages to awake interest without generally being absorbed in action. As an opening to the series it is intriguing and whets the appetite for more!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Magnum opus made easy to read
I have long wanted to read "A dance to the music of time", but could never find a good edition with all twelve volumes. Read more
Published 4 days ago by Goff
An understated masterpiece
I reached the end of the first book a little baffled but intrigued - and then read the rest in fairly short order! (And have read then all again..twice! Read more
Published 3 months ago by A. Mackintosh
first in 12 series that some people compare to Proust
first in 12 series that some people compare to Proust. This is one of the best in the series and sets the whole tapestry up. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Philippa Green
A Question of Upbringing
First in the 12 book series "Dance to t he Music of Time". Exceptionally well written by one of the 20th centuries finest writers. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Aphra Benn
An excellent start
This is the first of a splendid series of novels, dealing with the youth of what are to become the central characters; Jenkins, Templar, Quiggin, Members, Stringham and Widmerpool. Read more
Published on 4 Oct 2008 by Junius
A little something to whet the appetite...
As the first of a 12-book sequence Powell can be forgiven for not packing this book with action. Instead we meander pleasurably through Jenkins' years of education and are given... Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2008 by herladyship
Persevere, enter its world, the rewards are great
A Question of Upbringing by Anthony Powell
Anthony Powell's "A Question of Upbringing" is the first part of his mammoth twelve novel epic "A Dance to the Music of Time". Read more
Anthony Powell's "A Question of Upbringing" is the first part of his mammoth twelve novel epic "A Dance to the Music of Time". Read more
Published on 5 Nov 2007 by Philip Spires
The most overrated series of novels ever?
Young fogey Jenkins (the worlds most aged teenager) narrates his uneventful life in Eton and Oxford. Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2007 by Edward Matthews
Slow introduction to a literary wonderland
"A Question of Upbringing" is the first volume in Anthony Powell's 12-volume "A Dance to the Music of Time". Read more
Published on 3 April 2007 by 100wordreviewer
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