false 5 0 false false Tue Nov 24 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 06 15:52:37 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 25 06:27:31 -0800 2009
In many ways, this particular novel seems to be a kind of summing up, a bringing of the reader up to date with characters from the entire series, characters that had become lost during the books dealing with Nick’s involvement in the war. Now we are learning the toll that the passing years have taken on relationships, the variety of paths that familiar friends and relatives have taken, and how the years have altered the aspirations and perspectives of them all. In many cases, we are now dealing with children and grandchildren of some of the characters in the earlier novels, each having a unique history and familial legacy to carry forward.

The series as a whole deals with artistic creativity, and this particular novel delves deeply into the field of publishing, Nick for a time having a role in a group attempting to establish a new literary magazine; it was interesting to experience the roles of different personalities on the decisions made. Finally, however, one is most captivated by the continuing story of human interactions and psychological motivations, the vagaries of chance and intention, the rise and fall of individual destinies. Widmerpool remains as enigmatic as ever, a unique and strange character, while Nick himself is always the acute observer, the view of this fascinating world being through his eyes alone.
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