Life during wartime

I've read a good deal about the Second World War but I've never come across an account that so gets under the skin of Britain and conveys what it must have felt like to live and serve there during the show. Most of the characters from the previous episodes have found a place to "do their bit" but not all survive. At the end Powell notes that Britain was utterly exhausted by the war and tries hard to explain why this was so, even in victory, through the preceding three books. Always the owlish figure of Widmerpool recurs (I always picture him as David Mellor in the early nineties), the ultimate "man of will", utterly dedicated to his own advancement, throwing acquaintances (he has no "friends" as such) under buses left and right to get to the top. Powell's point about the war is that it was a period almost unique in British history when men like the odious W. had the opportunity to rise on will alone, regardless of birth, wealth, connections, or background... so rise he did. Narrator Nick is so detached as to be scarcely human - he barely mentions his wife or even his only child, born during the height of the blitz; he has no religion, no family (his parents having apparently long deceased) or ties to anything, he simply drifts rootlessly through the wartime life, with only his memories for comfort. This gives him a chameleon-like quality perfect for a chronicler but does divest the story of drama... even when people close to him are killed there seems to be no effect on his outlook. Simon Vance gives what can only be termed a perfect performance - from the broad brogues of Nick's early Welsh comrades, to the flat Brummie drawl of Odo Stevens, and the upper class barks and brays of the senior officers, and even the few female characters, he never falters in variety. His ability to render the at times fiendishly complicated sentences can only make one give thanks that such a perfectly matched reader has found his way to this book, which is deserving of this most skilled treatment.

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Engrave no battle on his cheek...

BOOK SEVEN ('The Valley of Bones'): We begin the 3rd Movement with the seventh book of 12. If you prefer to think of Anthony Powell's (rhymes with pole's, not towel's) masterpiece cycle in terms of months, 'Valley of the Bones' is July.

'The Valley of Bones' is a war novel that has nothing to do with war. Well, that is not right, there are signals that the war is beginning and the Nazis are invading countries in Europe. Nick Jenkins finds himself in command of a platoon training for war with the Germans. His company is a company whose officers are all primarily bankers and whose enlisted ranks seem filled with miners. Instead of a novel about a battle, or valor, or strategy -- we get a novel about marches, stolen rifles, moldy cheese, drinks, fights, and bureaucracy.

Having two brothers and a brother-in-law, a father-in-law, and a father who have all served overseas during the 1st Gulf War, the Afghanistan War, or the War in Iraq, I can attest from their stories that the introductory quote is absolutely true. One of the biggest parts of war is the sitting, the boredom, the drudgery. It is punctuated by insanity and violence, but the violence is rare often only felt by the tip of the spear. The romance of war is both a myth and a lie.

There is a quote that stuck with me from this novel, "A company commander...needs the qualifications of a ringmaster in a first-class circus, and a nanny in a large family".

If the idea of boredom, duty and bureaucracy seems to persuade you to look elsewhere for your Sunday, literary entertainment, you must not yet understand the full appeal of Powell. He is able to examine this reality of the rearguard of war with an eye that picks up little gems about war, the military, and those engaged in war that seem to transcend time and sides. "Looked at calmly, war created a situation in which the individual -- if he wished to be on the winning side -- was of importance only in so much as he contributed to the requirements of the machine, not according to the picturesque figure he cut in the eyes of himself and others".

Anyway, Powell is able to paint a picture of the boredom of war that reminds me of the literary equivalent of the Flemish masters. This novel is not the equivalent of a soldier throwing himself on a grenade. This novel is a painting of three soldiers, hung-over, pealing potatoes in the rain. And yes, even that has its own majesty.

BOOK EIGHT ('The Soldier's Art'): It seems almost by accident my pacing of Powell's 12 volume A Dance to the Music of Time brings me to book 8 in August. I didn't plan it. I fall into Powell in fits and starts. I'll read a couple books and move on to other books. But I keep coming back.

Anyway, a couple things stood out about this novel. The beginning starts out with Jenkins buying an army coat at a theatrical costume shop in London. The bent, elderly, bearded assistant mistakes Jenkin's motives for buying the coat, believing him to be in a play. It was beautifully done. It was rich, ironic, and anticipated the themes of war as theatre, etc. In the final act/chapter of this movement Powell brings it back around to dress when he is having a discussion with Chessman and remarks "It is a tailor's war, anyway" in response to seeing Cheesman wearing a waistcoat underneath his tunic.

Like every Powell book, this one involves dinners, drawing rooms (this one bombed out), friends rotating in and out of Jenkin's life. Some of these friends, however, leave permanently in this book. It was touching and like most all of the Powell books I've read, infinitely quotable. He weaves into each of his conversations pearls of wisdom, and clever observations about people and motives. It really is an amazing series.

BOOK NINE (The Military Philosophers): This is the last book in the Fall/WWII trilogy (3rd Movement) of A Dance to the Music of Time. It was at once the saddest of the series so far and also the most Proustian, with several direct quotations from Remembrance of Things Past and also several geographies in common with that other monster of 20th Century fiction.

The book had me hooked from the first couple paragraphs. To me, at least, it resembled (in a less funky and mad way) the opening section of Europe Central? You know the part. The very beginning too. Where, STEEL IN MOTION, with a black telephone/Signal Corps octopus vibrating, ringing, somnambulating, sleepwalking, eavesdropping, gloating as Europe Central buzzes.

See, here from the first couple pages of 'The Military Philosophers':

"from the secret radio Spider, calling and testing in the small hours..."

"Endemic as ghouls in an Arabian cemetery, harassed aggressive shades lingered for ever in such cells to impose on each successive inmate their preoccupations and anxieties, crowding him from floor and bed, invading and distorting dreams. Once in a way a teleprinter would break down, suddenly ceasing to belch forth its broad paper shaft, the column instead crumpling to stop in mid-air like waters of a frozen cataract."

Without giving too much away (meetings are held, rockets scream, people die, but the Allies eventually win) this novel centers on WWII from about 1942 to the end of the war. The war, except for the bombs and the V2 rockets is largely fought elsewhere by other friends. Nick is engaged primarily as a liaison officer (first with the Poles and then with the Belgians, etc.) where he learns how to maneuver through bureaucracy and personalities. Widerpool again (and also Pamela) seem to both act as catalysts whose actions impact heavily the lives around them.

I think it is also worth posting the Nestor poem in full that I (and Powell) borrowed a verse from:

Vulcan, contrive me such a cup,
As Nestor us'd of old;
Show all thy skill to trim it up,
Damask it round with gold.

Make it so large, that, fill'd with sack,
Up to the swelling brim,
Vast toasts on the delicious lake,
Like ships at sea, may swim.

Engrave no battle on his cheek,
With war I've nought to do,
I'm none of those that took Maestrick,
Nor Yarmouth Leaguer knew.

Let it no name of planets tell,
Fix'd stars, or constellations;
For I am no Sir Sidrophel,
Nor none of his relations.

But carve thereon a spreading vine,
Then add two lovely boys;
Their limbs in amorous folds entwine,
The type of future joys.

Cupid and Bacchus my saints are,
May Drink and Love still reign!
With wine I wash away my cares,
And then to love again.

In war time it is always interesting to see the interactions between the soldiers in the field and the POGs* (persons other than grunts). Powell plays with this a bit. Jenkins and Widerpool aren't exactly "safe" but their positions during the war keep them primarily in London. The war is being fought by other men. There is also tension between the above ground and below ground (secret) elements of the war. Again, towards the end of these war trilogies we see clothing used to convey the idea of the war as a play. One costume is exchanged for another as Jenkins is demobbed.

* this was a term I was first introduced to by my little brother who served as a "foot" or a "grunt" with 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan.

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Lose Yourself in Time

What did you love best about A Dance to the Music of Time: Third Movement?

I made it through all 12 of the Powell novels, and I found myself enjoying this set of three as much as any of them. The war years put Nick's experiences against a backdrop I feel I know, and the war itself brings a casual violence to the proceedings that I missed in some of the other dinner-party and art gallery scenes of the other movements.

That said, I think you have to start with the First Movement and move forward. These ultimately aren't independent novels so much as a continuation of what's come before.

What about Simon Vance’s performance did you like?

I would not have made it through these books without his sustained excellence. He does different voices with staggering subtlety and he reads with unusual speed, a definite plus when you're talking about more than 80 hours of listening.

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Monotony and the spoils of war

Subtitled "The War Trilogy" , the Third Movement of Powell's epic 12 novel series focuses on the Second World War as our main character Nick Jenkins looks for opportunities in uniform as England suffers through six years of combat.

"The Valley of Bones" focuses on Nick, long in the tooth, joining the Army as a Second Lieutenant where he encounters many of his old friends already established in their military careers. As the war looms and a cadre of officers seek ways to be relevant in seemingly irrelevant training tasks, Nick charts his way through the inanity.

"The Soldier's Art" is centered in 1941 as the war ramps up and units mobilize for defense of England and war on the continent as families separate and losses mount and Nick and his fellow officers rise to positions of greater importance.

"The Military Philosophers" covers 1942-1945 as Nick takes a prominent role as a liaison to allied officers finding their place both in the alliance and the post war pecking order along with the rise of the the secret military and intelligence branches and the role they will play in the world post-war.

Powell's humor is sophisticated and wry and, after some 2100 pages, I have come to enjoy both the language and endless literary and historical references which makes the story so culturally rich in all of its Proustian glory.

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great dance

It is hard to imagine a better or more appropriate reading of this extraordinary timeless book.Powell's seemingly endless line of colourful people are all invested with their own voice by Vance.What a dance to share!

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Story gets better and better

You may have to stick out the beginning when so many characters are introduced and seemingly endless character points are discussed but it's worth it. Once you know the names and the backgrounds the story becomes very satisfying.

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Masterpiece of Modern Literature

A Dance to the Music of Time, inspired by the painting of the same name by Nicolas Poussin, was rated by Time magazine as one of the 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. Written by the English novelist Anthony Powell, who took almost 25 years to create the 12-volume set, provides a highly-literate and highly-amusing look into the English upper-middle class between the 1920s and the 1970s. Told through the eyes of Nick Jenkins (the author), the book covers politics, class-consciousness, society, culture, love, social graces, manners, education, power, money, snobbery, humour, and more. Students of British history will no doubt recognize the real-life persons thinly disguised as characters in these novels.

Although daunting in terms of length, the absolutely brilliant narration by the talented Simon Vance rewards the reader over thousands of pages, hundreds of characters, and twelve installments of gorgeous prose. This is a not-to-be-missed collection of novels for any serious reader of English literature.

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Hang in there

Where does A Dance to the Music of Time: Third Movement rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Well, I was trying to write a review for the first book in this series but when I clicked on it I was sent to the 3rd book, but no matter. This is one of the better audio books I have listened to. I like a lot of bang for my credit and this series has it at about 20 hours each book. Plus there are interesting characters and a great story. In fact there are a massive number of characters, but don't get overwhelmed you will be able to keep track of them by the end. This story starts out a little slow but after you get into it a little you become addicted, so hang in there through the beginning.

What did you like best about this story?

This story is different than most books in that it is more of a chronicle of a subsection of upper middle class England in the mid 20th century. Don't expect a lot of action or suspense, that is not to say it is not interesting, just different. The reader becomes entwined in the lives of the characters so that one wants to know what is going on in their lives with the same curiosity as if a friend was telling a story. To finally answer the question asked, character development is what I consider the best part of this story.

What about Simon Vance’s performance did you like?

He does a marvelous job with all the accents, and with keeping characters voices separate.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This is not a book of extremes, but of subtleties.

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Woops!

My review for this, is with the Second Movement, my error.
Great reader in Simon Vance and very good story.

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Each book is a gem.

They keep getting better. I appreciate new characters and old friends. Nick is a wonderful narrator and observer. An ode to the passage of time. Looking forward to the next book.

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