Hundred Book Challenge #9: "A Dance to the Music of time" by Anthony Powell

I really don't know how to start this. Reading through Anthony Powell's 12 book series “A Dance to the Music of Time” is the most rewarding literary experience I've ever experienced.

The painting that inspired the book

According to the list from whence my Hundred Book Challenge comes from, Time Magazine's list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923, “A Dance” counts only as one novel- I listened to the audio books and it clocked in at around 84 hours and I loved every minute of it. So much so that I am blindsided by how much I miss it now that I'm done.

These books got me through some tough times. When I started writing it I was working in a job I wasn't crazy about for very little money. We had no idea we were going to have a baby. My wife worked in a job that was forged from the depths of hell and we just weren't sure what we were going to do.

I didn't sit and read this through all at once. I spread it around, inserting other books throughout the series. I savored it and that is probably the best way to describe the experience. It was savory.

I listened to this book as I walked my dog around the streets of Cedar City. I listened to it as I tried to tame the yard of my old house. I listened to it after Beth told me she was pregnant. I listened to it as I drove to Provo for the interview for my current awesome job. I listened to it as I drove back and forth between Provo and Cedar City when I was living on my brother's couch. I listened to it as I moved my stuff up here. I listened to it on the night my son was born. I listened to it as I painted the garage on what will become my new house.

In a way that is far more literal than any other story, I feel as if these characters are part of my life. Not only did I take them with me through one of the most transformative sections of my life, the very nature of the book allowed me to see the complete lives of the characters within.

It is a VERY literary, VERY British book. It acts as the memoirs of Nicolas Jenkins from his days as a school boy through to the brink of his death. It also chronicles, in a very personal way, the history of England from the early 1920s to the mid 1970s. Of Jenkins we don't learn much, other than how he interacts with those he comes across.

I suppose I should go real deep into this story, and I'm sure there are plenty of places where that can be found. I just want to make a few observations.

1. The characterization in this book is amazing. There are literally hundreds of characters, some of them showing up only once or twice, but when I go over a character list I remember who each one is and something interesting about them. In a story where almost every character is a middle-class, white, British person the depth of characterization needed to make them all unique is, frankly, mind boggling.
2. It's funny. It made me laugh out loud more than a few times. I thought I'd go into some of the jokes, but I realize it would be impossible without reams of paper worth of backstory. Suffice to say there is a scene where a butler is attacked by a monkey and another where a high-ranking military official bemoans the fact that a specific battalion doesn't have porridge.
3. Kenneth Widmerpool. Widmerpool is my new favorite literary character. He is just so slimy and awful in a wonderful way. Literally everything the man says makes me smile at the clueless, smallness of it all. Widmerpool is the type of guy who would, if invited to a dinner party, would insist on giving a speech about whatever is on his mind at the time and expect everyone to not only listen, but to thank him for it afterwards. I've started calling people Widmerpool from time to time because it's a great way to insult people and you know they have no clue what you are referencing. Widmerpool is the best reason to read these books.

One more thing. I remember listening to a bunch of small-time authors at a writing conference talking about how books are categorized. They were genera fiction writers and they were bashing on literary fiction, saying literary fiction is “uppity” and other obviously sour-grape complaints. They said it was only an excuse to have sex scenes and that “nothing happens so why would I care.”

I wish I could bludgeon these “writers” with the entirety of “A Dance to the Music of Time.” It hurts the universe that these people have been published. OK, that may be sour grapes on my side but still. You shouldn't have to tell a writer to read a book.

Because here's the deal, I wouldn't have read these books if not for this challenge I gave myself. There is a real value in exposing yourself to stories you normally wouldn't come in contact with. It changes you for the better and, speaking as a writer, it can only make you better. So, you know, read something you normally wouldn't. Push yourself a little and the rewards will be amazing.