A Dance to the Music of Time, by Anthony Powell
A one-liner cannot do justice to this long work of a lifetime, but it's damned fine reading and the most nuanced, character-focused epic you've ever read.
Published from 1951 to 1975, approximately 3000 pages in total
This twelve-volume sequence [A Dance to the Music of Time] traces a colorful group of English acquaintances across a span of many years from 1914 to 1971. The slowly developing narrative centers around life's poignant encounters between friends and lovers who later drift apart and yet keep reencountering each other over numerous unfolding decades as they move through the vicissitudes of marriage, work, aging, and ultimately death. Until the last three volumes, the next standard excitements of old-fashioned plots (What will happen next? Will x marry y? Will y murder z?) seem far less important than time's slow reshuffling of friends, acquaintances, and lovers in intricate human arabesques."
[Robert L Selig; Time and Anthony Powell, A Critical Study]
This assignment took me all year, and my review ended up being too long for a single LJ post.
Normally, while cross-posting is fine, I want reviews to be posted here to books1001 in their entirety. However, having to break my review into two parts, keeping track of multiple pairs of links becomes even more of a chore, so I am breaking my own rule and leaving this entry here with links to the actual review on my own LJ.
Please read and comment! I read the whole THREE THOUSAND PAGES!
Review: A Dance to the Music of Time (Part I).
Review: A Dance to the Music of Time (Part II).
Published from 1951 to 1975, approximately 3000 pages in total
This twelve-volume sequence [A Dance to the Music of Time] traces a colorful group of English acquaintances across a span of many years from 1914 to 1971. The slowly developing narrative centers around life's poignant encounters between friends and lovers who later drift apart and yet keep reencountering each other over numerous unfolding decades as they move through the vicissitudes of marriage, work, aging, and ultimately death. Until the last three volumes, the next standard excitements of old-fashioned plots (What will happen next? Will x marry y? Will y murder z?) seem far less important than time's slow reshuffling of friends, acquaintances, and lovers in intricate human arabesques."
[Robert L Selig; Time and Anthony Powell, A Critical Study]
This assignment took me all year, and my review ended up being too long for a single LJ post.
Normally, while cross-posting is fine, I want reviews to be posted here to books1001 in their entirety. However, having to break my review into two parts, keeping track of multiple pairs of links becomes even more of a chore, so I am breaking my own rule and leaving this entry here with links to the actual review on my own LJ.
Please read and comment! I read the whole THREE THOUSAND PAGES!
Review: A Dance to the Music of Time (Part I).
Review: A Dance to the Music of Time (Part II).