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bookpossum's review against another edition
4.0
Great stuff once again. The Dance continues as peace returns following World War II. Many of the same players appear once again, and a few new ones are introduced to keep things lively. The formidable Pamela makes a number of appearances, and I treasured a wonderful phrase that summed her up, when Nick referred to "Pamela's gladiatorial sex life during the war."
Sadly, only two more books remain to be read, but they must wait for a couple of weeks.
Sadly, only two more books remain to be read, but they must wait for a couple of weeks.
astrangerhere's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
nocto's review
informative
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
So, having reached volume 10 of the 12 volume series we're plunged into 'Winter' according to the seasonal cycle of the books. Which I have issue with as by my calculations the main characters are not much into their forties, are still parents of young children etc and are hardly next in line for the nursing home. But perhaps I'm missing something and being a bit obtuse. The war is finally over having gone on for way too long in this series, in my opinion. And that's all fine because this is very much about the subjective nature of time. The second world war will likely have felt like it went on for ages and interrupted everyone's lives, and now things are dragging on rather than really getting back to normal and these characters no doubt feel like the older generation now.
This book features what I presume is the hard frozen winter of 1947, and Nick is back working as a writer and in the publishing trade. Whenever writers write about writing and publishing it seems a bit insular and it's no different here. I'm avoiding reading much about this series until I've finished but I'm presuming, perhaps wrongly, that there's a degree of slightly-disguised-autobiography at play here. I suspect there's a lot of parody in the publishing company parts of the book but that's mostly over the head of the reader eighty-ish years later. I presumed the parts of the book where the publisher worried about obscenity trials was in the manner of Lady Chatterley's Lover but I've just checked and that trial didn't happen until 1960. Oh, but further checking and this book wasn't published until 1971, so I think I was probably thinking along the right lines.
On the whole I much preferred this book to the few preceding it, it was far more relatable and entertaining and I am looking forward to the next two and reaching the end.
This book features what I presume is the hard frozen winter of 1947, and Nick is back working as a writer and in the publishing trade. Whenever writers write about writing and publishing it seems a bit insular and it's no different here. I'm avoiding reading much about this series until I've finished but I'm presuming, perhaps wrongly, that there's a degree of slightly-disguised-autobiography at play here. I suspect there's a lot of parody in the publishing company parts of the book but that's mostly over the head of the reader eighty-ish years later. I presumed the parts of the book where the publisher worried about obscenity trials was in the manner of Lady Chatterley's Lover but I've just checked and that trial didn't happen until 1960. Oh, but further checking and this book wasn't published until 1971, so I think I was probably thinking along the right lines.
On the whole I much preferred this book to the few preceding it, it was far more relatable and entertaining and I am looking forward to the next two and reaching the end.
omnibozo22's review
4.0
Nick and friends settle into life after the war, as old friends pop in and out of his current circle. Surprising pairings ensure plenty for him to contemplate. Another mention of a conjuror appears, think it's the second or third one. Troubles in the Balkans and in Greece were still going on when we lived there. Widmerpool contines to define boorishness. Two more to read, then an analysis book.
tasadion's review against another edition
2.0
Picked the book up from a church fete due to the title. It is the 10th of 12 so the feeling of coming into the middle of a well-established plot/line is inevitable, although little is done for the new reader. The plot was almost imperceptible, with the main focus being a tale of publishing in post-war
Britain. The style was a bit much for me at times, although apparently it is a perfect representation of upper-class Britain at that time. Somewhat Wodehousian, with occasional clever little vignettes, this book was easy enough to read, but did not entertain sufficiently.
Britain. The style was a bit much for me at times, although apparently it is a perfect representation of upper-class Britain at that time. Somewhat Wodehousian, with occasional clever little vignettes, this book was easy enough to read, but did not entertain sufficiently.
ampersunder's review
4.0
‰ЫПThe General, speaking one felt with authority, always insisted that, if you bring off adequate preservation of your personal myth, nothing much else in life matters. It is not what happens to people that is significant, but what they think happens to them.‰Ыќ
---
"Neat, sad, geared perfectly in outward appearance to the sombre nature of the occasion, Tolland stood, head slightly bent, gazing at the damp grass beneath his feet. He had once admitted to having travelled as far as Singapore. One wondered how he had ever managed to get there and back again."
---
"Neat, sad, geared perfectly in outward appearance to the sombre nature of the occasion, Tolland stood, head slightly bent, gazing at the damp grass beneath his feet. He had once admitted to having travelled as far as Singapore. One wondered how he had ever managed to get there and back again."
holm's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
sophronisba's review
3.0
Could not get into this one at all. Felt like one of the weaker installments in the series to me, although I do see a bunch of five-star reviews, so maybe it was just my mood.
smcleish's review against another edition
3.0
Originally published on my blog here in March 2000.
The final, postwar, trilogy of A Dance to the Music of Time opens with Books Do Furnish a Room. Nick Jenkins returns to his literary endeavours by researching a book on Richard Burton, author of [b:The Anatomy of Melancholy|557658|The Anatomy of Melancholy|Robert Burton|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320436436s/557658.jpg|4439201], at his old Cambridge college. However, he soon becomes involved in a left-wing publishing company, partly financed by Kenneth Widmerpool, now an MP in the new Labour government. He helps to run the short lived literary magazine Fission, whose editor's nickname forms the title of the novel (he once spoilt a seduction by being surprised by his surroundings into making this comment at a passionate moment).
Thw war seems to have changed relatively little in Nick Jenkins' world, though it had more effect on Widmerpool: much of the novel is taken up with the strange behaviour of his beautiful but neurotic wife Pamela, whom he married suddenly during the fighting.
Pamela Widmerpool adds a measure of interest to an otherwise rather dull group of characters, but I still find it hard to see the significance perceived in the series by so many critics of the time
The final, postwar, trilogy of A Dance to the Music of Time opens with Books Do Furnish a Room. Nick Jenkins returns to his literary endeavours by researching a book on Richard Burton, author of [b:The Anatomy of Melancholy|557658|The Anatomy of Melancholy|Robert Burton|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320436436s/557658.jpg|4439201], at his old Cambridge college. However, he soon becomes involved in a left-wing publishing company, partly financed by Kenneth Widmerpool, now an MP in the new Labour government. He helps to run the short lived literary magazine Fission, whose editor's nickname forms the title of the novel (he once spoilt a seduction by being surprised by his surroundings into making this comment at a passionate moment).
Thw war seems to have changed relatively little in Nick Jenkins' world, though it had more effect on Widmerpool: much of the novel is taken up with the strange behaviour of his beautiful but neurotic wife Pamela, whom he married suddenly during the fighting.
Pamela Widmerpool adds a measure of interest to an otherwise rather dull group of characters, but I still find it hard to see the significance perceived in the series by so many critics of the time
darwin8u's review against another edition
4.0
"Imagination must, of course, select and arrange reality, but it must be for imaginative ends: all too often the role of imagination in this sequence is to funny-up events and people whose only significance . . . is that Powell has experienced them."
- Philip Larkins, in a review of 'Books Do Furnish a Room'
Anthony Powell's 10th book in his 'Dance to the Music of Time' cycle starts with a discussion of Robert Burton's [b:The Anatomy of Melancholy|557658|The Anatomy of Melancholy|Robert Burton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320436436s/557658.jpg|4439201]* and this book (and themes of melancholy and love) reappear frequently throughout the novel.
The central plot thrust of book 10, or the first book of the final season/October (if you will) centers on X. Trapnel a novelist loosely based on Julian McLaren-Ross a writer described by his biographer as "mediocre caretaker of his own immense talent". This novel is the first of the post WWII novels. It takes place in the years immediately after WWII when England is dealing with the social and economic turmoil of the Post war years. Powell describes these changes by describing how the sea and tides will roll certain things back, lose certain things, and propel new things onto shore. I'm obviously paraphrasing because it is late and I haven't the energy right now to find the damn quote. Anyway, it was an interesting brick in this series, not my favorite, but rewarding for some of its dialogue and plot twists.
* An amazingly rich work that I'm almost done with myself (I've got two hundred pages left in the last of the three partitions. I've spent about 3 years worth of Sundays intermittently reading while sitting through church. I'm not sure of my wife is thrilled with me reading Burton in Church, but Burton's explorations of Melancholy seem to almost need an altar or some sacred space to read it near.
- Philip Larkins, in a review of 'Books Do Furnish a Room'
Anthony Powell's 10th book in his 'Dance to the Music of Time' cycle starts with a discussion of Robert Burton's [b:The Anatomy of Melancholy|557658|The Anatomy of Melancholy|Robert Burton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320436436s/557658.jpg|4439201]* and this book (and themes of melancholy and love) reappear frequently throughout the novel.
The central plot thrust of book 10, or the first book of the final season/October (if you will) centers on X. Trapnel a novelist loosely based on Julian McLaren-Ross a writer described by his biographer as "mediocre caretaker of his own immense talent". This novel is the first of the post WWII novels. It takes place in the years immediately after WWII when England is dealing with the social and economic turmoil of the Post war years. Powell describes these changes by describing how the sea and tides will roll certain things back, lose certain things, and propel new things onto shore. I'm obviously paraphrasing because it is late and I haven't the energy right now to find the damn quote. Anyway, it was an interesting brick in this series, not my favorite, but rewarding for some of its dialogue and plot twists.
* An amazingly rich work that I'm almost done with myself (I've got two hundred pages left in the last of the three partitions. I've spent about 3 years worth of Sundays intermittently reading while sitting through church. I'm not sure of my wife is thrilled with me reading Burton in Church, but Burton's explorations of Melancholy seem to almost need an altar or some sacred space to read it near.