A Question of Upbringing is the first book in the twelve volume sequence Dance to the Music of time – which I have challenged myself to read this year. I know there are other people joining in with me and I look forward to hearing how they got on.
As this novel opens Nick Jenkins – the narrator of A Question of Upbringing and the entire sequence is an old man. One day in the street as he watches a group of work men he is reminded of Poussin’s famous painting Dance to the music of time.
“For some reason, the sight of snow descending on fire always makes me think of the ancient world – legionaries in sheepskin warming themselves at a brazier: mountain altars where offerings glow between wintry pillars; centaurs with torches cantering beside a frozen sea – scattered, unco-ordinated shapes from a fabulous past, infinitely removed from life; and yet bringing with them memories of things real and imagined. These classical projections, and something in the physical attitudes of the men themselves as they turned from the fire, suddenly suggested Poussin’s scene in which the Seasons, hand in hand and facing outward, tread in rhythm to the notes of the lyre that the winged and naked greybeard plays. The image of Time brought thoughts of mortality: of human beings, facing outwards like the Seasons, moving hand in hand in intricate measure: stepping slowly, methodically, sometimes a trifle awkwardly, in evolutions that take recognisable shape: or breaking into seemingly meaningless gyrations, while partners disappear only to reappear again, once more giving pattern to the spectacle: unable to control the melody, unable, perhaps, to control the steps of the dance.”
The scene causes Jenkins to start reflecting upon his life – his mind going back to his youth to the last year at an unnamed public school, and the time he caught sight of fellow student Widmerpool through the fog, an odd bumbling, unpopular figure. At this time, on the brink of going out into the world, Jenkins spends much of his time with slightly older and worldlier boys Stringham and Templer. Widermerpool, very much on the outside, is a year ahead will leave the school before them. The concerns of Jenkins and his friends are those of many a public school schoolboy, finding ways to subvert the rules and get away with it – with a continuing a feud with the housemaster La Bas leading to an amusing hoax.
The novel is divided into four long chapters – the first chronicling the final year or so of Jenkins schooldays, alongside Stringham, Templer and Widmerpool – who I presume, will continue to turn up in Jenkins’s life – in the later novels of this sequence. Following Stringham’s departure from school Jenkins pays a visit to Stringham’s London home, where his mother and stepfather Buster appear to live with a stereotypically 1920’s upper class ease. With these characters Powell sets the events firmly within the context of the 1920’s – a scandalously divorced mother and a young step-father. Stringham’s father who Stringham will be travelling to spend time with after the London visit lives in Kenya there is even mention of the Happy Valley set. Thrown more together with Peter Templer – Jenkins later visits his home, where he meets Sunny Farebrother a business man and Jean, Peter’s sister with whom Jenkins imagines himself to have fallen in love. There is certainly a sense that each of these people will continue to re-appear in Jenkins’s life – but I suppose I will need to read the rest of the sequence to find that out.
A summer in France to improve his French brings Jenkins together with Widmerpool again – and he is forced to reassess his opinion of the young man who had been something of a ridiculous figure at school. Following this French spent summer, Jenkins begins University life – where he is brought together with still more figures including another misfit Quiggins – who I expect and hope to see again, one of the best creations for me though is the manipulative and slightly sinister don Professor Sillery. At this point we see the friendship between Templer and Stringham come to an end as the paths of each of the young men diverge. Jenkins has certainly started to grow up and begins to get drawn into a London based social life. However Jenkins remains at something of a distance from the reader – although we see everything through his eyes – he is much more of a chronicler than a central character – for instance the only member of Jenkins’s family we meet his Uncle Giles. I like this rather tantalising element – I wonder whether I will gradually get to know Jenkins much better as the sequence continues. I thoroughly enjoyed this first book and now can look forward to the next one A Buyers Market. My only fear with reading Dance to the music of time is whether on earth I will be able to remember who is who.
I guess it’s time to take this down off of the shelf and get started! 😉
Yippee! 🙂 I really hope you do.
Oh, your review *has* reminded me of what the start of the series was like! The characters are so wonderful (Quiggin is one of my favourites) and I think you won’t get too tangled as you tend to live alongside them as you’re reading. But there is always the Anthony Powell Society’s online site for guidance if you get stuck (I found it a very useful resource!) Uncle Giles is fun, isn’t he?
I really did like Uncle Giles.
I read this recently too….although I have never progressed to the others . I loved it…..Widmerepool is a fantastically odious character !
Why not join us for the rest of the sequence 😉
I may well try ….although my tbr pile now joined by all my Xmas books is looking like Everest !!!!
Join the club 🙂
Yes, it never gets any smaller does it ?? No matter how much you read!
I’m still hesitating about this. I know these are characters I really ought to know and the one a month idea is really well paced it’s just that there’s so much else 🙂
🙂 the dilemma of every reader.
Powell does really well at reminding you who everyone is, popping in little descriptions and memories when they reappear. So it’s easier than you think. I also let myself float in the whirl of the minor characters; it does become clear who’s important and who will recur a lot. Glad you enjoyed the first one!
Thanks Liz that all sounds reassuring 🙂
Oh my gosh! I loved this book! I am so glad of your “invitation” to read it. It has been sitting on my shelf (the first volume) for a few years. I look forward to reading the next part next month. I’m not sure yet who I like or dislike other than Jenkins who I like very much, at least as a narrator. This is exactly my kind of book and the setting of England between the wars is my favorite.
🙂 excellent so glad you enjoyed it so much.
Perhaps some of these can count for my century of books. I had them recommended to me by the father of friend the other day and he was happily surprised that I’d heard of them… but bemused when I explained that bloggers had told me about them… 🙂
I am sure some of them would count – there is a page on my blog for 2014 reading challenges and the books are all listed with year of publication.
Good luck with your century of books Alex – so many people are doing it I may have to – in 2015.
I tried this several times, and never got along with it all, which is a shame, because everyone else seems to enjoy Dance to the Music of Time, and it was one of those series of books I wanted to like. Happy Reading in the year ahead!
Thank you. We can’t all like the same things 🙂
[…] in Anthony Powell’s epic twelve novel sequence Dance to the music of time. The first book – A Question of Upbringing – had a rather more conventional narrative style than this novel. This is not a novel where a […]