Home > A Dance to the Music of Time

The sequence takes the form of the reminiscences of the narrator Nick Jenkins who falls into a reverie at the beginning of the first volume ( A Question of Upbringing , 1951) while lighting a fire of garden leaves. Over the course of the following twelve volumes, he recalls the people he met over the previous half a century. Little is told of Jenkins' personal life outside his encounters with the great and the good, with events, such as his wife's miscarriage, only being related in conversation with the principle characters.

The title is taken from a painting by Nicolas Poussin, on which Jenkins reflects in Chapter 2 of A Question of Upbringing:

These classical projections, and something from the fire, suddenly suggested Poussin's scene in which the Seasons, hand in hand and facing outward, tread in rhythm to the notes of the lyre that the winged and naked greybeard plays. The image of Time brought thoughts of mortality: of human beings, facing outward like the Seasons, moving hand in hand in intricate measure, stepping slowly, methodically sometimes a trifle awkwardly, in evolutions that take recognizable shape: or breaking into seemingly meaningless gyrations, while partners disappear only to reappear again, once more giving pattern to the spectacle: unable to control the melody, unable, perhaps, to control the steps of the dance.

1 The novels

• A Question of Upbringing - ( 1951)
• A Buyer's Market - ( 1952),
• The Acceptance World - ( 1955)
• At Lady Molly's - ( 1957)
• Casanova's Chinese Restaurant - ( 1960)
• The Kindly OnesThe Kindly Ones (a translation of the Greek Eumenides "kind-hearted") is a euphemistic reference to the Furies in Greek mythology. The Kindly Ones is the ninth volume of The Sandman comic book series. The Kindly Ones is the sixth volume of Anthony Powell' - ( 1962See also 1961 in literature, other events of 1962, 1963 in literature, list of years in literature. Events Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov is published. New Books Apples of Gold Jo Petty The Changeling Thomas Middleton Dearly Beloved Anne Morrow Lindbergh T)
• The Valley of Bones - ( 1964See also 1963 in literature, other events of 1964, 1965 in literature, list of years in literature. Events New Books Armageddon Leon Uris The Arms of Krupp 1587-1968 William Manchester Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl The Farm Book Jan Pfloog)
• The Soldier's Art - ( 1966See also 1965 in literature, other events of 1966, 1967 in literature, list of years in literature. Events In a landmark obscenity case, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the banned novel John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure by John Clel)
• The Military Philosophers - ( 1968See also 1967 in literature, other events of 1968, 1969 in literature, list of years in literature. Events Dean R. Koontz's first novel, Star Quest is published. New Books Airport Arthur Hailey Armies of the Night Norman Mailer Cancer Ward Alexander Solzh)
• Books Do Furnish a Room - ( 1971See also 1970 in literature, other events of 1971, 1972 in literature, list of years in literature. Events The Destiny Waltz by Gerda Charles wins England's first Whitbread Novel of the Year Award. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner is published. New Book)
• Temporary Kings - ( 1973See also 1972 in literature, other events of 1973, 1974 in literature, list of years in literature. Events New Books The Billion Dollar Sure Thing Paul E. Erdman The Black Prince Iris Murdoch Breakfast of Champions Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Burnt Offerings Rober)
• Hearing Secret Harmonies - ( 1975See also 1974 in literature, other events of 1975, 1976 in literature, list of years in literature. Events Writing under the pseudonym of " Emile Ajar," author Romain Gary becomes the only person to ever win the Prix Goncourt twice. Hearing Secret Harmoni)