The penultimate book starts in Venice with Jenkins among new acquaintances. The writers conference he is attending, organised by long running character Mark Members, provides a chance to update the reader with a refresher on some of the more recent loose ends.
Trapnel the writer has died spending one last night in the pub buying drinks all round before heading off to hospital and his death bed. Widmerpool has become a life peer and his wife Pamela carries on creating scandal.
I have to confess that the Pamela character doesn’t quite do anything for me. The idea of a frigid beautiful woman who gets off on teasing men is not something that is something I would have dwelt on for quite as long as a couple of books.
But at the heart of this book, already discernable, is the same Jenkins, who is slightly older and still happy to play the role of observer.
More tomorrow…
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
The Gutenberg Elegies - post III
As Birkerts starts to get back into his argument he uses chapter three to talk about the decline in the big narratives as communities stretched and technology made it possible for people, and a wider bunch at that, to get access to literature.
The point he seems to be making is that reading in its history was not just about words on the page but because of its universality had the ability set the collective debate and as people grew up it was the shared narratives that they inherited.
The point is made that in the past news took much longer to stretch round the globe and when it did arrive there tended to be one definitive account. Reading in a historical sense was therefore something that underlined community and helped shape the horizons of those that were either able to read or have the contents of books told as oral histories.
More soon...
The point he seems to be making is that reading in its history was not just about words on the page but because of its universality had the ability set the collective debate and as people grew up it was the shared narratives that they inherited.
The point is made that in the past news took much longer to stretch round the globe and when it did arrive there tended to be one definitive account. Reading in a historical sense was therefore something that underlined community and helped shape the horizons of those that were either able to read or have the contents of books told as oral histories.
More soon...
Sunday, September 28, 2008
bookmark of the week
Not sure if I posted this but this is a bookmark from the Swiss capital Bern. The cathedral in the old town has a very tall munster and so the bookmark in the shop reflects that point about the church. Mind you I never made it up the top of the tower but the rest of the inside was worth a look anyway.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Imagining a Facebooked Dance to the Music
Having spent a bit of tonight browsing Facebook, something I have mixed feelings about, it struck me after I stumbled across an old school friend who seems to have kept in touch with everyone to wonder hoe it would have worked for Jenkins.
In Dance to the Music of Time there is a certain amount of mystery about what people are doing in between their turns on the metaphorical dance floor with Jenkins. Had he got Facebook then of course he would not only have been able to keep track of Widmerpool and the others but also be able to see what their individual thoughts are and just how many other people they are networking with.
Hate to sound old fashioned but I prefer not to know and to have the wonder of the meetings that Jenkins describes in Dance to the Music of Time.
In Dance to the Music of Time there is a certain amount of mystery about what people are doing in between their turns on the metaphorical dance floor with Jenkins. Had he got Facebook then of course he would not only have been able to keep track of Widmerpool and the others but also be able to see what their individual thoughts are and just how many other people they are networking with.
Hate to sound old fashioned but I prefer not to know and to have the wonder of the meetings that Jenkins describes in Dance to the Music of Time.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Books do Furnish a Room - post IV
Even when Widmerpool is partly begging his wife to come home you don’t feel too sympathetic towards him and even when he is clearly waiting on her as she has a fling he is still not a sympathy inducing character.
The reason is that all of those in the books so far he is the one that so clearly wanted power and so determinedly got it. To some extents though it is a hollow victory because he managed to get somewhere but lose other things on the way. Widmerpool doesn’t seem to value friendships and love in the way other people do.
Meanwhile the world of Fission comes tumbling down and in a few pages Jenkins summarises two years worth of history with it concluding that the magazine is no more and most of the characters involved have moved on or gone underground.
After the war this is still a London suffering from bombed out plots and the sings of austerity are most noticeable in the lack of taxis and the heavy descriptions of Trapnel borrowing money from people.
But on the flips side this is also a City out of uniform and as a result the war seems to have faded almost completely by the time the book ends.
A review will follow soon…
The reason is that all of those in the books so far he is the one that so clearly wanted power and so determinedly got it. To some extents though it is a hollow victory because he managed to get somewhere but lose other things on the way. Widmerpool doesn’t seem to value friendships and love in the way other people do.
Meanwhile the world of Fission comes tumbling down and in a few pages Jenkins summarises two years worth of history with it concluding that the magazine is no more and most of the characters involved have moved on or gone underground.
After the war this is still a London suffering from bombed out plots and the sings of austerity are most noticeable in the lack of taxis and the heavy descriptions of Trapnel borrowing money from people.
But on the flips side this is also a City out of uniform and as a result the war seems to have faded almost completely by the time the book ends.
A review will follow soon…
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Books do Furnish a Room - post III
If there is a change that has resulted from the war it is probably in the way that Jenkins makes friendships and the way in which he describes the people he meets.
Before the war he was immersed in a world where the same characters came round following the rhythm of the dance. But now some of those friends are dead and age has changed the way in which Jenkins makes friendships. Things now are much more about settling into middle age rather than the optimism and ambitions of the past.
As a result there is a detachment that creeps in to the description of the breakdown of Widmerpool’s marriage and the inner workings of Fission magazine. Jenkins is still in the thick of it but now seems to be recalling better days and to some degree better friends as he mingles with the writer Trapnel and the editor Bagshaw.
The other development is the starting of the Cold War that puts a lot of the pro-communist sympathisers in a difficult position forcing some, like Quiggin, to grow up a bit and face reality.
But from the point of view of the book’s impact on the today it is much more than the other works because this is more of a London that is touchable close to the distant past.
More tomorrow…
Before the war he was immersed in a world where the same characters came round following the rhythm of the dance. But now some of those friends are dead and age has changed the way in which Jenkins makes friendships. Things now are much more about settling into middle age rather than the optimism and ambitions of the past.
As a result there is a detachment that creeps in to the description of the breakdown of Widmerpool’s marriage and the inner workings of Fission magazine. Jenkins is still in the thick of it but now seems to be recalling better days and to some degree better friends as he mingles with the writer Trapnel and the editor Bagshaw.
The other development is the starting of the Cold War that puts a lot of the pro-communist sympathisers in a difficult position forcing some, like Quiggin, to grow up a bit and face reality.
But from the point of view of the book’s impact on the today it is much more than the other works because this is more of a London that is touchable close to the distant past.
More tomorrow…
Books do Furnish a Room - post II
Having buried his brother in law Jenkins is dragged into the publishing world set up by Craggs and his old acquaintance Quiggin. Given a job as a reviewer he starts to mingle with a host of characters that enjoy a drink, a good argument about Marxist politics and sponging money of wealthy friends.
Amongst all of this is Widmerpool who has dressed himself up as a Labour MP and is involved with the magazine venture produced by the left-wing publishers. He not only writes for the magazine they produce – Fission – but also helps manage the financial side of affairs.
Meanwhile Widmerpool is constantly upstaged by his wife Pamela Flitton who reaches new levels of rudeness being sick in vases and showing utter contempt for most of the people she meets.
Have to confess that I don’t like Widmerpool and he has gone from being a slightly clownish character to something clearly a slot more sinister as he is motivated purely by power.
There is a great passage that describes the social upheaval caused by the war, which ultimately saw the demise of the aristocratic world that Jenkins moved in at the start of the Dance novels – I will dig it out and update this post with it tomorrow.
Amongst all of this is Widmerpool who has dressed himself up as a Labour MP and is involved with the magazine venture produced by the left-wing publishers. He not only writes for the magazine they produce – Fission – but also helps manage the financial side of affairs.
Meanwhile Widmerpool is constantly upstaged by his wife Pamela Flitton who reaches new levels of rudeness being sick in vases and showing utter contempt for most of the people she meets.
Have to confess that I don’t like Widmerpool and he has gone from being a slightly clownish character to something clearly a slot more sinister as he is motivated purely by power.
There is a great passage that describes the social upheaval caused by the war, which ultimately saw the demise of the aristocratic world that Jenkins moved in at the start of the Dance novels – I will dig it out and update this post with it tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The Gutenberg Elegies - post II
Having used chapter one to kick off the debate the pace is changed and there is a moment for a bit of an autobiographical sketch of Sven’s development as a reader, a failed novelist and a bookseller before settling on his current vocation as an essayist.
In some respects he is establishing not just a love for the written word as a reader but an understanding of the commercial nature of the publishing business with his spell working for the Borders brothers and second-hand bookshops in various locations.
This makes him a more likeable character and in some cases you end up nodding your head as he describes the wonder of reading and the enjoyment that a new book or a special discovery can provoke.
He also reveals his first moments of ‘deep reading’ when he was in isolation on the Maine coast just with a book for company. There is a theme already here that reading is a more meaningful experience when the conditions are free of technological distraction and the reader is alone with the book.
In some respects he is establishing not just a love for the written word as a reader but an understanding of the commercial nature of the publishing business with his spell working for the Borders brothers and second-hand bookshops in various locations.
This makes him a more likeable character and in some cases you end up nodding your head as he describes the wonder of reading and the enjoyment that a new book or a special discovery can provoke.
He also reveals his first moments of ‘deep reading’ when he was in isolation on the Maine coast just with a book for company. There is a theme already here that reading is a more meaningful experience when the conditions are free of technological distraction and the reader is alone with the book.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Books do Furnish a Room - post I
With the months passing by ands one of the main ambitions being this year to read all of the Dance to the Music of Time it is straight onto book ten.
The title attracts anyone with a passion for books and the moment the phrase is explained, as uttered by someone as a bookshelf falls on him or alternatively something said as a lover walks through the library to his mistress, it becomes even more memorable.
Having finished one book with a service marking the mass dead a more limited funeral is held for Lord Warminster the left wing leaning Erridge.
As a relation through marriage Jenkins is invited to the funeral and watches on the sidelines as the left wing cronies arrive to try and retrieve some of the money the Lord was handing out to run various publications.
This is a post-war world where nothing is yet defined, including importantly the future for Jenkins himself.
More tomorrow…
The title attracts anyone with a passion for books and the moment the phrase is explained, as uttered by someone as a bookshelf falls on him or alternatively something said as a lover walks through the library to his mistress, it becomes even more memorable.
Having finished one book with a service marking the mass dead a more limited funeral is held for Lord Warminster the left wing leaning Erridge.
As a relation through marriage Jenkins is invited to the funeral and watches on the sidelines as the left wing cronies arrive to try and retrieve some of the money the Lord was handing out to run various publications.
This is a post-war world where nothing is yet defined, including importantly the future for Jenkins himself.
More tomorrow…
Monday, September 22, 2008
The Miltary Philosophers - post IV
As the book comes to the end there is a sense in which a period of history is closing. In a very well crafted scene at the thanksgiving service in the presence of the King and royal household the service acts as a remembrance for all that the war has meant to Jenkins.
He recalls those that have died and the changes that it has led to in his own life. Surrounded by memories of the past he walks straight out into another one meeting Jean Duport, his old flame, but that coincidence is something to be expected in Powell’s world.
What you remember from this book is not just the way that Widmerpool raises through the ranks and settles on marrying the most unsuitable Pamela Flitton, but also how the war took away friends and family quite indiscriminately.
Of the three war books this is the most enjoyable and because it is primarily set in London, except for the interesting excursion to meet Monty in France, somehow more of a wider view. The other two books helped explain how Jenkins got to this point but it is in the war focused streets of Whitehall that the conflict finally seems to come alive.
A review will be posted soon…
He recalls those that have died and the changes that it has led to in his own life. Surrounded by memories of the past he walks straight out into another one meeting Jean Duport, his old flame, but that coincidence is something to be expected in Powell’s world.
What you remember from this book is not just the way that Widmerpool raises through the ranks and settles on marrying the most unsuitable Pamela Flitton, but also how the war took away friends and family quite indiscriminately.
Of the three war books this is the most enjoyable and because it is primarily set in London, except for the interesting excursion to meet Monty in France, somehow more of a wider view. The other two books helped explain how Jenkins got to this point but it is in the war focused streets of Whitehall that the conflict finally seems to come alive.
A review will be posted soon…
So that's the secret
The oddest thing. It seems the less I post the more traffic I get. Had I known this all along I probably would have just kicked this thing off and let it stand idle for a couple of years.
But I’m going to spoil it all now by posting up some more thoughts about books. Apologies in advance…
But I’m going to spoil it all now by posting up some more thoughts about books. Apologies in advance…
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Writing made easy
Those keen not just to read but also to write will have noticed the Guardian yesterday running a supplement all about writing fiction. The series, which included How to write poetry in today's Observer, is running all week.
Should be interesting to see if a new breed of authors will be launched on the basis of a thin guide.
Should be interesting to see if a new breed of authors will be launched on the basis of a thin guide.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
The Gutenberg Elegies - post I
The book is set up in an introduction that explains that although things might have seemed a lot more reactionary when it first appeared in 1996 and even Birkert’s has to admit he uses technology and cannot be a complete luddite the fears remain.
Key among those fears is that something that he views as being key to not only our development but also the very nature of our souls could be removed by technology. The printed world and the way it is consumed is something that is almost holy for Birkerts.
The problem in his argument starts to appear already in the first chapter. He describes watching an old film and then using the backdrop of Jude the Obscure as a way of trying to recapture a past that is gone.
The issue here is whether or not those people in the past were better off. They may have been able to lead a more simple existence with far fewer material objects cluttering up their ability to read and think. But they embraced advances like the steam train and we are all human and you suspect that they would have also embraced the technology that we have now, it just wasn’t on offer then.
But you have to be careful here that you don’t get too opposed from the start. The points about finding the space to breathe, read and think are valid ones. But working patterns, a global economy as much as digital text have changed the way we read.
Chapter two next…
Key among those fears is that something that he views as being key to not only our development but also the very nature of our souls could be removed by technology. The printed world and the way it is consumed is something that is almost holy for Birkerts.
The problem in his argument starts to appear already in the first chapter. He describes watching an old film and then using the backdrop of Jude the Obscure as a way of trying to recapture a past that is gone.
The issue here is whether or not those people in the past were better off. They may have been able to lead a more simple existence with far fewer material objects cluttering up their ability to read and think. But they embraced advances like the steam train and we are all human and you suspect that they would have also embraced the technology that we have now, it just wasn’t on offer then.
But you have to be careful here that you don’t get too opposed from the start. The points about finding the space to breathe, read and think are valid ones. But working patterns, a global economy as much as digital text have changed the way we read.
Chapter two next…
Friday, September 19, 2008
The Military Philosophers - post III
You wonder just who the enemy is sometimes with nearly everyone obsessed with their own military careers rather than some sense of defeating an enemy. Widmerpool manages to go higher and higher but as he does so he seems to leave behind anyone that could have possibly liked him.
The other factor that starts reducing those that might have had a willingness to work with Widmerpool, regardless of his personality traits, is death. Templer appears to have snuffed it and quite a few of the other marginal characters are killed off. At this rate it should be a select and pruned cast that go into the final trio of books.
Jenkins sits at the centre describing some of the momentous events of history in reference to what is happening is his department rather than how it impacted the wider world. That is quite a genuine way of presenting it and Powell does not over do it when Jenkins manages to get a trip to the liberated parts of the French coast. Proust looms large again reminding you of the social structure that pervades the army, rather like that of Proust’s aristocratic world.
Last chunk early next week…
The other factor that starts reducing those that might have had a willingness to work with Widmerpool, regardless of his personality traits, is death. Templer appears to have snuffed it and quite a few of the other marginal characters are killed off. At this rate it should be a select and pruned cast that go into the final trio of books.
Jenkins sits at the centre describing some of the momentous events of history in reference to what is happening is his department rather than how it impacted the wider world. That is quite a genuine way of presenting it and Powell does not over do it when Jenkins manages to get a trip to the liberated parts of the French coast. Proust looms large again reminding you of the social structure that pervades the army, rather like that of Proust’s aristocratic world.
Last chunk early next week…
Thursday, September 18, 2008
The Unfree French - post IV
If there is one theme that summaries what it must have been like for the French under German occupation it is ‘confusing’. That might sound flippant but it is not meant to be because some of the consequences of that confusion could be deadly with lives lost or saved as a result.
The confusion, that stemmed from the top, also allowed those wished to a chance to exploit the situation. So there were collaborators that slipped through the net, neighbours that settled old scores and Generals who used their Machiavellian abilities to return not just as conquering heroes but also heads of state.
What is clear is that for the vast majority of people there were problems. If you were Jewish you were in trouble; a soldier then you wasted years as a prisoner of war; if you were a young man then you got sent to work in Germany; and finally if you were a woman you risked being denounced and having your hair shaved for showing affection to personnel from the occupying forces.
The other word that might be used is complicated with no one quite sure who was good or bad in some cases after the liberation with French communists finding the Russians not quite what they expected and returning prisoners finding a country that had in some cases forgotten them.
An interesting read and a very interesting choice to be sold in the shop on a cost channel ferry to France.
A review will be posted soon...
The confusion, that stemmed from the top, also allowed those wished to a chance to exploit the situation. So there were collaborators that slipped through the net, neighbours that settled old scores and Generals who used their Machiavellian abilities to return not just as conquering heroes but also heads of state.
What is clear is that for the vast majority of people there were problems. If you were Jewish you were in trouble; a soldier then you wasted years as a prisoner of war; if you were a young man then you got sent to work in Germany; and finally if you were a woman you risked being denounced and having your hair shaved for showing affection to personnel from the occupying forces.
The other word that might be used is complicated with no one quite sure who was good or bad in some cases after the liberation with French communists finding the Russians not quite what they expected and returning prisoners finding a country that had in some cases forgotten them.
An interesting read and a very interesting choice to be sold in the shop on a cost channel ferry to France.
A review will be posted soon...
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