Book description
Anthony Powell's universally acclaimed epic encompasses a four-volume panorama of twentieth century London. Hailed by "Time" as "brilliant literary comedy as well as a brilliant sketch of the times," "A Dance to the Music of Time" opens just after World War I. Amid the fever of the 1920s and the…
Why read it?
1 author picked A Dance to the Music of Time as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This distinction between doing and suffering may be traced back at least as far as Homer. What I love most about Anthony Powell’s epic 12-volume about such agents and patients is how it satirizes so-called ‘men of action’. Seemingly in control of their life and imposing their will upon the world, these ‘history makers’ ultimately prove to be marionettes who have been dancing to the music of their time all along.
The plot largely consists of people bumping into one another and life is accordingly portrayed as a series of accidents, rather than of good or bad decisions. One of…
From Constantine's list on human action.
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