A Dance to the Music of Time GR 2013 - November: Temporary Kings
Talk 75 Books Challenge for 2013
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1Deern
Our discussion thread for the November volume of "A Dance to the Music of Time": Temporary Kings
Main thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/147074
Main thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/147074
4katiekrug
I was poking around random threads this evening and came across one titled "Who is your favorite literary villain?" in the Writers-Readers group. One poster named Widmerpool as his favorite!
http://www.librarything.com/topic/140942
http://www.librarything.com/topic/140942
5Deern
I finished the book last night. I much enjoyed it, but don't know yet what to make of some of the stories around the Widmerpools. Maybe later in the month someone could explain
- what exactly Kenneth did (politically)
- what exactly Pamela did between chapters 5 and 6 (the outcome is clear, but although I reread chapter 6 I am not sure how it came to that).
Sigh... the series really comes to a close now. Such a time jump. Nick is now older than me!! And then 3 chapters abroad! Was this really the first time Nick took us abroad since la Grenadière?
I found it hard getting through the first chapter - again too many new characters and you don't know yet who might be important. His narration style has changed in the same way our own way of telling stories changes over the years. When it used to be just observing and commenting, it is now first recalling older events and only then starting commenting the actual ones.
Powell has become much more sexually explicit. When in book 3 I had to reread a certain section several times and was still unsure whether Nick and Gypsy had done it, now he lets others, mainly women, be quite frank about it. Isn't it still the 1950s?
The penultimate chapter was wonderfully bittersweet. Moreland's bout of nostalgia was such a true and honest moment. All that reminiscing when you're meeting old friends, it's wonderful, but sometimes also very sad.
Widmerpool spoiler coming:
I can't say I am happy about the development. He had it coming in a way, and he's still standing, but he always was a character who with a great instinct simply made his way without looking left or right. I don't really want to see him where he is by the end of chapter 5, reduced to a sad little man with "unusual interests".
- what exactly Kenneth did (politically)
- what exactly Pamela did between chapters 5 and 6 (the outcome is clear, but although I reread chapter 6 I am not sure how it came to that).
Sigh... the series really comes to a close now. Such a time jump. Nick is now older than me!! And then 3 chapters abroad! Was this really the first time Nick took us abroad since la Grenadière?
I found it hard getting through the first chapter - again too many new characters and you don't know yet who might be important. His narration style has changed in the same way our own way of telling stories changes over the years. When it used to be just observing and commenting, it is now first recalling older events and only then starting commenting the actual ones.
Powell has become much more sexually explicit. When in book 3 I had to reread a certain section several times and was still unsure whether Nick and Gypsy had done it, now he lets others, mainly women, be quite frank about it. Isn't it still the 1950s?
The penultimate chapter was wonderfully bittersweet. Moreland's bout of nostalgia was such a true and honest moment. All that reminiscing when you're meeting old friends, it's wonderful, but sometimes also very sad.
Widmerpool spoiler coming:
I can't say I am happy about the development. He had it coming in a way, and he's still standing, but he always was a character who with a great instinct simply made his way without looking left or right. I don't really want to see him where he is by the end of chapter 5, reduced to a sad little man with "unusual interests".
6brenzi
Spoilers Galore
>5 Deern: Nick and Gypsy slept together on the day of Mr. Deacon's funeral in the back of the shop. I don't recall any other times. Widmerpool was going to be charged with espionage but the powers that be were afraid it would expose a lot of other secrets that they didn't want revealed so he wasn't charged. Yet. I don't think we know exactly what he did.
I finished the book yesterday and really enjoyed it even with the obvious turn toward sexual undertones to just about everything. I had to Google Candaules and Gyges to understand what sort of voyeurism Widmerpool engaged in. And the part with Nick visiting his friend Morland, knowing he might not live much longer was just so touching and sad. And Mrs. Erdleigh is still kicking?? Good lord, she must be in her 90s and still doling out people's fortunes, in Pamela Widerpool's case, very accurately.
MY QUESTIONS: Does anyone else have trouble figuring out Pamela? She cannot be satisfied with one man, that's for sure. But when the end comes for her we are left as mystified as ever.
Why did Widmerpool show up at Tokenhouse's flat while Nick, Ada and Glober were there viewing his paintings?
I think this book had me asking more questions than any of the previous ones. This book seemed to leave me feeling particularly isolated and lonely. I can't believe we only have one left to read. I'm really going to miss the Dance come January.
>5 Deern: Nick and Gypsy slept together on the day of Mr. Deacon's funeral in the back of the shop. I don't recall any other times. Widmerpool was going to be charged with espionage but the powers that be were afraid it would expose a lot of other secrets that they didn't want revealed so he wasn't charged. Yet. I don't think we know exactly what he did.
I finished the book yesterday and really enjoyed it even with the obvious turn toward sexual undertones to just about everything. I had to Google Candaules and Gyges to understand what sort of voyeurism Widmerpool engaged in. And the part with Nick visiting his friend Morland, knowing he might not live much longer was just so touching and sad. And Mrs. Erdleigh is still kicking?? Good lord, she must be in her 90s and still doling out people's fortunes, in Pamela Widerpool's case, very accurately.
MY QUESTIONS: Does anyone else have trouble figuring out Pamela? She cannot be satisfied with one man, that's for sure. But when the end comes for her we are left as mystified as ever.
Why did Widmerpool show up at Tokenhouse's flat while Nick, Ada and Glober were there viewing his paintings?
I think this book had me asking more questions than any of the previous ones. This book seemed to leave me feeling particularly isolated and lonely. I can't believe we only have one left to read. I'm really going to miss the Dance come January.
7JonnySaunders
I was a bit slow with this one this month, but have just finished. My thoughts I posted on my 50 book challenge are below.
I'm definitely agreed on the ambiguity of this volume. I still don't have any idea of why Widmerpool was so keen to meet with Dr Belkin? Pretty sure I missed something there!
I'm definitely agreed on the ambiguity of this volume. I still don't have any idea of why Widmerpool was so keen to meet with Dr Belkin? Pretty sure I missed something there!
Somthing very strange happened to me when reading this penultimate volume of Dance to the Music of Time. Until now I had a fairly well formed, though vaguely faceless, image in my mind of what Nicholas "looked" like. However, something to do with realising that he was now in his 50s and the emphasis on looking back on the past made me suddenly picture Jenkins as Powell himself (as picture on Wikipedia!)). It was slightly disconcerting!
On it's own this volume wouldn't have been one of my favourites, but the theme of nostalgia emphasised how great the whole series really is! I had a genuine pang of my own nostalgia at the reference to the banana to the face. I think this is partly down to the method of reading this in monthly installments, since it was almost a year ago that I first read the reference.
It took a little longer than usual to get into this one, I wasn't so bothered by the scenes at the conference in Vienna, but this certainly picked up and the Widmerpool revelations were some of the best! That Pam Flitton!
It was also quite nice to see a reference to the title of the final volume, and the implication of the meaning gave me a quite a jolt of sadness that the series will soon be over.
8LizzieD
I have finally finished this one, and it's not my favorite. I think Powell does England better than Venice, and I couldn't wait to get everybody home.
Picturing Nick as Powell is an interesting idea. And do you notice? Nobody complains about knowing nothing about Isobel any longer.
Pamela! What an inpenetrable, fascinating character! I continue to wish that somebody would write a story or even a novel in which Pamela meets Ronald Merrick of Paul Scott's *Raj Quartet*. Now there would be two who would be a match for each other! (And I plan to read the Scott as my big series reread next year.)
Picturing Nick as Powell is an interesting idea. And do you notice? Nobody complains about knowing nothing about Isobel any longer.
Pamela! What an inpenetrable, fascinating character! I continue to wish that somebody would write a story or even a novel in which Pamela meets Ronald Merrick of Paul Scott's *Raj Quartet*. Now there would be two who would be a match for each other! (And I plan to read the Scott as my big series reread next year.)
9kaggsy
Finally finished and my review here:
http://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2013/12/20/recent-reads-temporary-k...
6: Yes, I find myself pretty unable to fathom Pamela and it surprises me a little, as she's one of the major characters - but I have no idea what makes her tick!
http://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2013/12/20/recent-reads-temporary-k...
6: Yes, I find myself pretty unable to fathom Pamela and it surprises me a little, as she's one of the major characters - but I have no idea what makes her tick!
