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Written from a vantage point both high and deliberately narrow, the
early novels of the late British master Anthony Powell nevertheless
deal in the universal themes that would become a substantial part
of his oeuvre: pride, greed, and the strange drivers of human
behavior. More explorations of relationships and vanity than
plot-driven narratives, Powell's early works reveal the stirrings
of the unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony that
would reach their caustic peak in his epic, A Dance to the Music of
Time. Powell's sophomore novel, Venusberg, follows journalist
Lushington as he leaves behind his unrequited love in England and
travels by boat to an unnamed Baltic state. Awash in a marvelously
odd assortment of counts and ladies navigating a multicultural,
elegant, and politically precarious social scene, Lushington
becomes infatuated with his very own, very foreign Venus. An
action-packed literary precursor to Wes Anderson's The Grand
Budapest Hotel, Venusberg is replete with assassins and Nazis,
loose countesses and misunderstandings, fatal accidents and social
comedy. But beyond its humor, this early installment in Powell's
literary canon will offer readers a welcome window onto the mind of
a great artist learning his craft.
The first novel Anthony Powell published following the completion
of his epic A Dance to the Music of Time, O, How the Wheel Becomes
It! fulfills perhaps every author's fantasy as it skewers a
conceited, lazy, and dishonest critic. A writer who avoids serving
in World War II and veers in and out of marriage, G. F. H. Shadbold
ultimately falls victim to the title's spinning--and
righteous--emblem of chance. Sophisticated and a bit cruel, Wheel's
tale of posthumous vengeance is, nonetheless, irresistible. Written
at the peak of the late British master's extraordinary literary
career, this novel offers profound insight into the mind of a great
artist whose unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony
will delight devotees and new readers alike.
Unsavory artists, titled boobs, and charlatans with an affinity for
Freud-such are the oddballs whose antics animate these early novels
from the late British master Anthony Powell. A genius of social
satire delivered with a very dry wit, Powell builds his comedies on
the foibles of British high society between the wars, delving into
subjects as various as psychoanalysis, the film industry,
publishing, and (of course) sex. More explorations of relationships
and vanity than plot-driven narratives, these slim novels reveal
the early stirrings of the unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and
eye for irony that would reach their caustic peak in Powell's epic.
A Dance to the Music of Time. From a View to a Death takes us to a
dilapidated country estate where an ambitious artist of
questionable talent, a family of landed aristocrats wondering where
the money has gone, and a secretly cross-dressing squire all
commingle among the ruins. In Agents and Patients, we return to
London with the newly wealthy Blore-Smith: an innocent, decent
enough chap...and a drip who falls victim to two con artists. In
What's Become of Waring, Powell lampoons a world with which he was
intimately acquainted: the inner workings of a small London
publisher. Filled with eccentric characters and piercing insights,
Powell's work is achingly hilarious, human, and true.
Written from a vantage point both high and deliberately narrow, the
early novels of the late British master Anthony Powell nevertheless
deal in the universal themes that would become a substantial part
of his oeuvre: pride, greed, and the strange drivers of human
behavior.
More explorations of relationships and vanity than plot-driven
narratives, Powell's early works reveal the stirrings of the
unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony that would
reach their caustic peak in his epic, "A Dance to the Music of
Time."
In "Afternoon Men," the earliest and perhaps most acid of Powell's
novels, we meet the museum clerk William Atwater, a young man
stymied in both his professional and romantic endeavors. Immersed
in Atwater's coterie of acquaintances--a similarly unsatisfied cast
of rootless, cocktail-swilling London sophisticates--we learn of
the conflict between his humdrum work life and louche social scene,
of his unrequited love, and, during a trip to the country, of the
absurd contrivances of proper manners.
A satire that verges on nihilism and a story touched with sexism
and equal doses self-loathing and self-medication, "Afternoon""Men"
has a grim edge to it. But its dialogue sparks and its scenes grip,
and for aficionados of Powell, this first installment in his
literary canon will be a welcome window onto the mind of a great
artist learning his craft.
Unsavory artists, titled boobs, and charlatans with an affinity for
Freud - such are the oddballs whose antics animate these early
novels from the late British master Anthony Powell. A genius of
social satire delivered with a very dry wit, Powell builds his
comedies on the foibles of British high society between the wars,
delving into subjects as various as psychoanalysis, the film
industry, publishing, and (of course) sex. More explorations of
relationships and vanity than plot-driven narratives, these slim
novels reveal the early stirrings of the unequalled style, ear for
dialogue, and eye for irony that would reach their caustic peak in
Powell's epic A Dance to the Music of Time. From a View to a Death
takes us to a dilapidated country estate where an ambitious artist
of questionable talent, a family of landed aristocrats wondering
where the money has gone, and a secretly cross-dressing squire all
commingle among the ruins. In Agents and Patients, we return to
London with the newly wealthy Blore-Smith: an innocent, decent
enough chap...and a drip who falls victim to two con artists. In
What's Become of Waring, Powell lampoons a world with which he was
intimately acquainted: the inner workings of a small London
publisher. Filled with eccentric characters and piercing insights,
Powell's work is achingly hilarious, human, and true.
'He is, as Proust was before him, the great literary chronicler of
his culture in his time.' GUARDIAN 'A Dance to the Music of Time'
is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English
literature. Reissued now in this definitive edition, it stands
ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers. In this
fourth volume, Nick Jenkins has settled comfortably into the world
of art, culture and society as a London scriptwriter. When invited
by a friend to spend the weekend in the country, he becomes
acquainted with Isobel Tolland, the youngest sister of a large
aristocratic family, and immediately decides they are destined to
marry. Meanwhile, rumours are circulating around Nick's old friend
Widmerpool's engagement during a gathering at Lady Molly's. As the
roaring twenties fade into the austerity of the thirties, Nick and
his friends face love and heartbreak as life's dance continues to
play out.
'I think it now becoming clear that A Dance to the Music of Time is going to become the greatest modern novel since Ulysses' Clive James Anthony Powell's famous sequence of books deftly choreographs the lives of more than three hundred characters over a period of seventy years and chronicles the whole century. Summer is the second volume of the quartet.
OUR CAT HOGAN - COULD HE BE PART DOG? is the amusing story of a
real-life Kansas Cat who seems a bit confused. After adopting him,
Hogan's family noticed he was MUCH FRIENDLIER than any other cat
they had ever been around. Other people noticed too. Some would
even say: "This cat is more like a dog " Come read along And by the
end of the book, you and your children will likely understand why
Hogan's family is always asking: "Our Cat Hogan, Could He Be Part
Dog?"
'He is, as Proust was before him, the great literary chronicler of
his culture in his time.' GUARDIAN 'A Dance to the Music of Time'
is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English
literature. Reissued now in this definitive edition, it stands
ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers. In this
final volume of Anthony Powell's 'A Dance to the Music of Time',
the sixties are in full swing and Nick Jenkins and his wife Isobel
are living out their later years in the countryside. Not content
with a quiet retirement, Nick's old school friend Widmerpool is on
the rise again and is appointed chancellor of a new university. But
while Nick and his contemporaries are settling in to a slower pace
of life, the rise of sixties counterculture signals a new
generation pushing its way to the front. And as the Dance draws to
a close, a wedding brings together old faces one last time.
Anthony Powell's brilliant twelve novel sequence chronicles the
lives of over three hundred characters, and is a unique evocation
of life in twentieth-century England. It is unrivalled for its
scope, its humour and the enormous pleasure it has given to
generations. Volume 4 contains the last three novels in the
sequence: Books do Furnish a Room; Temporary Kings; Hearing Secret
Harmonies.
_________________________ The first three volumes of Anthony
Powell's remarkable A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME sequence: A
QUESTION OF UPBRINGING; A BUYER'S MARKET; THE ACCEPTANCE WORLD 'One
of the greatest pleasures of my reading life. The cool elegance of
the prose, the deliciously dry humour, the confident choreography
of his characters make for an incomparable treat.' - Michael Palin
Anthony Powell's brilliant twelve-novel sequence chronicles the
lives of over three hundred characters, and is a unique evocation
of life in twentieth-century England. It is unrivalled for its
scope, its humour and the enormous pleasure it has given to
generations. These first three novels in the sequence follow
Nicholas Jenkins, Kenneth Widmerpool and others, as they negotiate
the intellectual, cultural and social hurdles which stand between
them and the 'Acceptance World'.
'He is, as Proust was before him, the great literary chronicler of
his culture in his time.' GUARDIAN 'A Dance to the Music of Time'
is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English
literature. Reissued now in this definitive edition, it stands
ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers. In the
eleventh volume in the series, Nick Jenkins, persuaded by his old
friend Mark Members, attends a literary conference in Venice.
Meanwhile, old school pal Widmerpool continues to climb the ranks,
this time as a Life Peer. But his position in power is under threat
when he becomes the subject of whispered accusations of espionage,
and wife Pamela, former lover of the dead writer X. Trapnel, also
finds herself the centre of attention, as the mystery around the
writer continues to draw ghoulish interest from readers and
academics alike. Even in Venice, surrounded by the beautiful vistas
of the city, Nick cannot escape his friends' turbulent lives.
'He is, as Proust was before him, the great literary chronicler of
his culture in his time.' GUARDIAN 'A Dance to the Music of Time'
is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English
literature. Reissued now in this definitive edition, it stands
ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers. In this
eighth volume, Nick Jenkins has been posted to Divisional
Headquarters as the assistant to his old friend, the rapidly rising
Major Widmerpool. Having to work alongside the rather obnoxious
Captain Biggs, Nick is pleased when his old school pal Charles
Stringham becomes the latest recruit to the armed forces. However,
the cruelties of war are not far behind. As the Blitz intensifies,
tragedy and despair befall Nick and his friends.
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