As many of you know I’m a devotee of Anthony Powell‘s 12 volume novel sequence A Dance to the Music of Time (thanks, Jilly, for the total restructuring of my life almost 30 years ago!) and you may also recall that Audible have recently released a complete audiobook of Dance.
Recently therefore I have been listening, here and there, to the audiobooks and it was yesterday I spent some time on The Military Philosophers (book nine of the sequence) which covers the second half of WWII. As well as longer sections of beautiful prose it is full of entertaining little snippets, for example:
‘Hullo, Nicholas. I hope my dear old Finn is not still cross with me about Szymanski ?’
‘There may still be some disgruntlement, sir.’
‘Disgruntlement’, one was told, was a word that could be used of all ranks without loss of discipline.Our billet was a VIP one, a requisitioned hotel presided over by a brisk little cock-sparrow of a captain, who evidently knew his job.
‘We had the hell of a party here the other night,’ he said. ‘A crowd of senior officers as drunk as monkeys, brigadiers rooting the palms out of the pots.’Finn pushed back his chair. He spoke slowly.
‘Borrit told me when he was serving on the Gold Coast, one of the Africans said to him: “What is it white men write at their desks all day?”‘‘ Look at this,’ he said.
He spoke indignantly. I leant forward to examine the exhibit, which was in Pennistone’s handwriting. Blackhead had written, in all, three and a half pages on the theory and practice of soap issues for military personnel, with especial reference to the Polish Women’s Corps. Turning from his spidery scrawl to Pennistone’s neat hand, two words only were inscribed. They stood out on the file:
Please amplify. D. Pennistone. Maj. GS.Our billet was a VIP one, a requisitioned hotel presided over by a brisk little cock-sparrow of a captain […]
‘We had the hell of a party here the other night,’ he said. ‘A crowd of senior officers as drunk as monkeys, brigadiers rooting the palms out of the pots.’Not long before the Victory Service […] Prasad’s Embassy gave a party on their National Day […] Gauthier de Graef, ethnically confused, had been anxious to know whether there were eunuchs in the ladies’ apartments above the rooms where we were being entertained.
‘Not all the fruits of Victory are appetising to the palate,’ said Pennistone. ‘An issue of gall and wormwood has been laid on.’
It is these small amusements, just as much as the excellent prose, which makes Powell so wonderful to read.
It's amazing how small things, such as me recommending Dance to you, can change people's lives. Equally amazing that I have never – yet – got around to reading it myself. I think I'd read the first book when I recommended it. I do have the first 3 books on my to read pile – now if they were to release them as e-books . . . .
Yes, indeed, Jilly. It always seems to be the small things which make the big differences. I've noticed this before where someone makes a throw-away remark which hits home and changes the way you think about something.I have an idea an ebook of Dance may be on the way; it's certainly on various peoples' agendas including the Society's. But don't forget the Audible audiobooks, which are excellent – I'm getting more from listening to them than from reading the books.
Oh, and if you need to be captured, then book one (A Question of Upbringing) is not the place to start as it is probably the slowest of the twelve. Try At Lady Molly's or The Military Philosophers. But if like me you prefer things in sequence then obviously start at the beginning. I've been jumping around listening to the audiobooks and got thoroughly confused last night as I went from the end of MP to the start of LM!
I will try one of the later ones then. I'm not averse to reading in the wrong order especially when deciding if I like a series.I would be seriously tempted by an e-book version as I'm finding myself reading things I've never looked at before – maybe something to do with the smaller page size perhaps