{January} A Question of Upbringing

[Kalliope]

To continue with the paintings and painters mentioned... There is a reference to the female portraits by Romney, George Romney (1734-1802). And here are a few:

[Kalliope]

And later, Claude Lorraine (1600-1682), with specific paintings mentioned.

The Queen of Sheba (her Embarkation)



St Ursula (another Embarkation)



The Enchanted Castle

[Ruth]

Kalliope wrote: "And later, Claude Lorraine (1600-1682), with specific paintings mentioned...."

I'm finding the paintings and references really useful - thank-you Kaliope.

[Teresa]

Nigeyb wrote: "What I wrote in May 2014 once I'd finished "A Question of Upbringing".....

I finished AQoU last night and agree with your assessment, Nigeyb. I'm choosing not to write a separate review for it, not only because I'm reading it in a volume of three, but also because it did not read as a standalone to me.

[Teresa]

Nigeyb wrote: "Although Nick Jenkins narrates the story, to what extent is A Question of Upbringing the story of Jenkins' life? And, to what extent is it how he sees other people's lives?"

So far, I'd say it's almost 100% the latter. We don't hear much at all about his own 'upbringing'.

[Algernon (Darth Anyan)]

Teresa wrote: "Nigeyb wrote: "Although Nick Jenkins narrates the story, to what extent is A Question of Upbringing the story of Jenkins' life? And, to what extent is it how he sees other people's lives?"

So far,..."

Upbringing comes up a lot in the way Jenkins' friends at school view the world around them, the way they judges people by their position in the rigid British cast system.
There's a passage about who could be invited to what house that I'm not sure I bookmarked, but I wish I did.

[Connie]

Algernon, I also noticed a passage on page 57 of the paper book:

"I am devoted to Peter, " Stringham said, "but really I'm not sure one could have him in the house, could one?"
"Oh?"
"Well, I don't really mean that," said Stringham. "Not literally, of course. But you must admit that Peter doesn't exactly fit in with home life."

[Anna]

@ Kalliope, thanks for posting pictures. * goes back to lurking*

[Cheryl]

Kalliope wrote: "Looking for the images I found this link to a blog... but I don't mind posting the images I catch in the text..... Those who know me from before this group know I enjoy doing it (was very busy with this activity in the 2013 Proust group).
http://picturesinpowell.com ..."
I've just started. Your pictures and the link already add rich depths to the reading, Kalliope, thanks

[Sunny]

Kalliope - I see others have already mentioned it, but thank you again for posting pictures of the art that is mentioned. It's really bringing that aspect of the story to life for me. :)

[Kalliope]

I am glad the posting of the paintings or painters mentioned enriches the reading.

[Janet]

Another interesting link with synopsis, list of characters and several essays.

http://www.anthonypowell.org/andoverd...

[Manny]

Kalliope wrote: "I am glad the posting of the paintings or painters mentioned enriches the reading."

Now that you're doing it, I'm almost surprised that there isn't already a Visual Accompaniment to the Dance. He refers so often to paintings! Maybe you should mention the idea to the Anthony Powell Society...

[Kalliope]

The novel The Green Hat is mentioned.. It was published in 1924.

I had not heard about it before...

The author, Michael Alden on the cover of Time in 1927.

[Kalliope]

Mark Members mentions Monet, the painter Claude Monet....'What very Monet weather it has been lately'.

Although the famous Monet paintings date from the mid 1870s onwards, Monet was probably still alive when the sentence above was supposedly uttered. Monet died in 1926.

Here is one of his London skies.. from 1900.

[Manny]

BTW, Kalliope, concerning your comment higher up about the style being reminiscent of The Forsyte Saga: I recently noticed that the character St. John Clarke, a novelist who turns up in one of the early books and is quite important in the story, is supposed to be based on Galsworthy. So there is perhaps a rather complicated self-referential joke going on here, though it will take a while for it to become fully worked out...

[Kalliope]

Manny wrote: "Kalliope wrote: "I am glad the posting of the paintings or painters mentioned enriches the reading."

Now that you're doing it, I'm almost surprised that there isn't already a Visual Accompaniment ..."

There probably is one... We'll see whether the pictorial references maintains... In Proust it diminished considerably in the later volumes.

[Nigeyb]

Manny wrote: "Now that you're doing it, I'm almost surprised that there isn't already a Visual Accompaniment ..."

There is...

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

^ The Album Of Anthony Powell's Dance To The Music Of Time

A hardcover book with 224 illustrations. Some reasonably priced second hand copies knocking about.

[Manny]

Kalliope wrote: "There probably is one... We'll see whether the pictorial references maintains... In Proust it diminished considerably in the later volumes."

As I recall, Powell continues with unabated enthusiasm :)

[Kalliope]

Manny wrote: "BTW, Kalliope, concerning your comment higher up about the style being reminiscent of The Forsyte Saga: I recently noticed that the character St. John Clarke, a novelist who turns up in one of the ..."

Oh, interesting. Thank you, Manny... I may reread the Forsyte.....

[Manny]

There are so many clever cross-references. I really think I need to read this again...

[Kalliope]

Manny wrote: "Kalliope wrote: "There probably is one... We'll see whether the pictorial references maintains... In Proust it diminished considerably in the later volumes."

As I recall, Powell continues with una..."

Well, it seems he was very interested in art.... Most of the paintings posted above are in London galleries and museums..

[Kalliope]

Manny wrote: "There are so many clever cross-references. I really think I need to read this again..."

These sagas tend to require a second reading.. I am very aware that I am missing many details that will probably matter later on... The narrator himself notes on how some aspects did not acquire a meaning (or a different one) until later...

[Manny]

I have read it four times, and I'm still spotting a lot of important things :) I had completely missed the Clarke/Galsworthy connection...

[Kalliope]

Manny wrote: "I have read it four times, and I'm still spotting a lot of important things :)"

!!!!

[Kalliope]

Nigeyb wrote: "Manny wrote: "Now that you're doing it, I'm almost surprised that there isn't already a Visual Accompaniment ..."

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/......"

Thank you, Nigeyb.. now that you have posted this I do recall having seen it... But it looks like a mix of visual material.... paintings and photos of places...

Different from the one on Proust's paintings. Paintings in Proust: A Visual Companion to In Search of Lost Time

[Kalliope]

Manny wrote: "I have read it four times, and I'm still spotting a lot of important things :)"

The literary references are also fascinating... the one above on the Green Hat... it seems it was adapted for the screen with Greta Garbo...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019591/

[Manny]

I'm not sure The Green Hat is important (don't recall further references), but now I'm curious...

[Kalliope]

Janet wrote: "Another interesting link with synopsis, list of characters and several essays.

http://www.anthonypowell.org/andoverd..."

Thank you Janet... To keep the reference for later.. I am afraid of spoilers...

[Teresa]

Manny wrote: "I'm not sure The Green Hat is important (don't recall further references), but now I'm curious..."

The synopsis of TGH on GR states: "A perfect synecdoche, in fact: as the hat is to the woman, so the words of the title are to an entire literary style." Which made me wonder about Kalliope's earlier question about Widmerpool's overcoat.

[Diane]

Kalliope has posted some wonderful pictures which are valuable in fixing certain images for me of the surroundings, but Powell himself is a very visual writer. I am with Jenkins in France at this point, and the gardens and tennis court are described so well I know them like the back of my hand. I just finished the scene with the altercation between Monsieur Orn and Monsieur Lundquist during the tennis game. That was comedic genius. I'm still laughing. And this great line: "I was not yet old enough to be aware of the immense rage that can be secreted in the human heart by cumulative minor irritation."

[Kalliope]

Diane wrote: "Kalliope has posted some wonderful pictures which are valuable in fixing certain images for me of the surroundings, but Powell himself is a very visual writer. I am with Jenkins in France at this p..."

Diane, I also noticed and highlighted that sentence. So true...!!!.

[Janet]

Diane wrote: "I loved the Forsyte Saga and would love to read it again. Maybe next year this group can move on to that series."

I like that idea.

[Sunny]

Janet wrote: "Diane wrote: "I loved the Forsyte Saga and would love to read it again. Maybe next year this group can move on to that series."

I like that idea."

Me too! That's one that is also on my to be read list.

[Janet]

I looked up "apaches" which was used to describe Monsieur Dubuisson's cap and found this article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apaches...

I would have posted the picture illustrating the cap in Le Petit Journal only but I do not know how to do that.

[Kalliope]

I have just received Invitation To the Dance: A Handbook to Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time, and it is not at all what I expected.

It has the format of a Dictionary and most entries are the characters.

This is unmanageable...

While one is reading the novel referring to this dictionary, full of abbreviations and page numbers under each entry, can only interrupt the reading and it probably contains many spoilers. So, of no interest while at the beginning.

May be as the novel advances and one forgets some characters who may reappear, this could help.

Otherwise I think this is a waste. Not recommended.

[Sunny]

How disappointing!

[Renato]

Thank you for letting us know, Kall. I was close to ordering it...

[Nigeyb]

Kalliope wrote: "I think Invitation To the Dance: A Handbook to Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time is a waste. Not recommended."


I found it very useful as i worked through the series. I'd strongly recommend it.

[Kalliope]

Nigeyb wrote: "

I found it very useful as i worked throug..."

Glad to hear.. may be as the list of characters expands and I begin to mix them up... but in general I do not like Companions with a Dictionary structure.. I prefer a thematic or schematic one.

[Diane]

I finished Book 1 today and liked it so much I would love to go ahead and start Book 2 early, but I won't because I think digestion is needed to let things percolate a bit. ( Yes, I know I'm mixing my metaphors, but that's how I want to describe it.) And I want to follow this thread to the end of the month to get everyone's opinions and feelings. A great start!

[Algernon (Darth Anyan)]

I am also finished, and I didn't feel the need for a companion book yet. There are a lot of characters, tru, but they were not that difficult to keep track of.
I found the pictures and the comments here more useful.

[Nigeyb]

Kalliope wrote: "Glad to hear.. may be as the list of characters expands and I begin to mix them up... but in general I do not like Companions with a Dictionary structure.. I prefer a thematic or schematic one. "

I got very confused as I worked through the series, so a quick alphabetised reminder I found v helpful however stop reading as soon as you hit something you don't know. The entries are spoiler-tastic

[Connie]

I haven't used it yet, but the Anthony Powell Society has an alphabetical index that might be helpful in the later books.
http://www.powellindex.talktalk.net/i...

[Connie]

Kalliope, I've loved the artworks that you have posted.

[Janet]

Connie wrote: "I haven't used it yet, but the Anthony Powell Society has an alphabetical index that might be helpful in the later books.
http://www.powellindex.talktalk.net/i..."

Thank you Connie. That looks helpful.

[Sunny]

Connie wrote: "I haven't used it yet, but the Anthony Powell Society has an alphabetical index that might be helpful in the later books.
http://www.powellindex.talktalk.net/i..."

I haven't needed a companion book yet, but based on the comments here, I'm sure I'll be using this index a lot in later books. Thanks for sharing!

[Kalliope]

Diane wrote: "I finished Book 1 today and liked it so much I would love to go ahead and start Book 2 early, but I won't because I think digestion is needed to let things percolate a bit. ( Yes, I know I'm mixing..."

Diane, I also finished Bk 1 and it is very tempting not to continue with the next.. I want to reread the ending.

I liked the way this volume was 'framed' - like a painting.

[Sunny]

I only just finished chapter 2. It's peculiar how he keeps referencing his perception of events at the time, and alluding to the possibility that as we read further his perception or understanding changes. I'm really curious what insights he has 'now' that might add a twist to the story.

[Algernon (Darth Anyan)]

I thought the real trick is to tell the story in flashback, but from the perspective of the young Jenkins not with the wisdom of the older narrator. It adds some mystery to what is otherwise more like a memoir than a fiction novel.