Still reading my beloved Powell - and have now finished The Acceptance World. This is a novel in which much shaking up goes on, as the initial pattern of early adult life is altered by changes of career, marriage, shaking off the shackles. The writing is sublime, and each minor description carries a considerable load of meaning and illumination. Here, for example, Nick Jenkins, the main protagonist, describes the writer Quiggin arriving at the Ritz unexpectedly, a man strong in his self conceit, talented, but defensive about his humble origins and always keen to pursue his radical political views:
"Pausing, with a slight gesture of exhaustion that seemed to imply arduous travel over many miles of arid desert or snowy waste (according to whether the climate within or without the hotel was accepted as prevailing), he looked about the room; gazing as if in amazement at the fountain, the nymph, the palms in their pots of Chinese design: then turning his eyes to the chandeliers and the glass of the roof. His bearing was at once furtive, resentful, sagacious, and full of a kind of confidence in his own powers. He seemed to be surveying the tables as if searching for someone, at the same time unable to believe his eyes, while he did so, at the luxuriance of the oasis in which he found himself. He carried no hat, but retained the belted leather overcoat upon which a few drops of moisture could be seen glistening as he advanced further into the room, an indication that snow or sleet had begun to fall outside. This black leather garment gave a somewhat official air to his appearance, obscurely suggesting a Wellsian man of the future, hierarchic in rank. Signs of damp could also be seen in patches on his sparse fair hair, a thatch failing to roof in completely the dry, yellowish skin of his scalp."
I'm so grateful for your remarks about Dance to the Music of Time. Cornflower spurred me into action. I had tried the first volume twice before, but I think I was too young to appreciate/understand it. I gave up, and wondered what all the fuss was about. But now I've read the first three volumes, at my advanced age, and they are AMAZING. Every bit as good as everyone has said, and now I can't wait to read the rest. It's a phenomenal series of novels and I look forward to reading all your other posts on the books as you read them.
Posted by: adele geras | Tuesday, 08 January 2008 at 02:24 PM