From the Lists: #43: Dance to the Music of Time (Volumes 7-9)

The life of Nick and his friends goes on and on and on....

Since I started reading the 12 books in this series (#43 on the list of 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century), I have met a new partner, paid off my car, traveled to the Greek Isles and returned to the Caribbean. Learned about Buddhism, Meditation, and Karma and celebrated my first year anniversary at my current job.

It seems that I have lived an entire lifetime while reading about Nick's.

#7 The Valley of Bones (1964)

World War II has finally broken out, and finds Nick Jenkins learning the military arts. A stint at a training academy in Wales introduces him to the many unusual characters the army has thrown together, from the ambitious bank clerk-turned-martinet, Gwatkin, to the hopelessly slovenly yet endearing washout, Bithel. Even during wartime, however, domestic life proceeds, as a pregnant Isobel nears her term and her siblings’ romantic lives take unexpected turns—their affairs of the heart lent additional urgency by the ever-darkening shadow of war.

#8 The Soldier's Art (1966)

The eighth volume, finds Nick in the thankless position of assistant to a rapidly rising Major Widmerpool. The disruptions of war throw up other familiar faces as well: Charles Stringham, heroically emerging from alcoholism but a mere shadow of his former self; Hugh Moreland, his marriage broken, himself nearly so. As the Blitz intensifies, the war’s toll mounts; the fates are claiming their own, and many friends will not be seen again.

#9 The Military Philosophers (1968)

The ninth volume, takes the series through the end of the war. Nick has found a place, reasonably tolerable by army standards, as an assistant liaison with foreign governments in exile. But like the rest of his countrymen, he is weary of life in uniform and looking ahead to peacetime. Until then, however, the fortunes of war continue to be unpredictable: more names are cruelly added to the bill of mortality, while other old friends and foes prosper. Widmerpool becomes dangerously entranced by the beautiful, fascinating, and vicious Pamela Flitton; and Nick’s old flame Jean Duport makes a surprising reappearance. Elegiac and moving, but never without wit and perception, this volume wraps up Powell’s unsurpassed treatment of England’s finest yet most costly hour.

Comments

These three books have been my least favorite to date. Mainly due to the war focus. While I realize this is a major event in Nick's life, he serves as an administrator and the experiences he relates are more in the line of tedious dealings with bureaucrats, incompetent commanding officers, and foreign ambassadors.