A Dance to the Music of Time: First Movement

By: Anthony Powell

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Anthony Powell's universally acclaimed epic encompasses a four-volume panorama of twentieth century London. Hailed by Time as "brilliant literary comedy as well as a brilliant sketch of the times," A Dance to the Music of Time opens just after World War I. Amid the fever of the 1920s and the first chill of the 1930s, Nick Jenkins and his friends confront sex, society, business, and art.

In the second volume they move to London in a whirl of marriage and adulteries, fashions and frivolities, personal triumphs and failures. These books "provide an unsurpassed picture, at once gay and melancholy, of social and artistic life in Britain between the wars" (Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.).

The third volume follows Nick into army life and evokes London during the blitz. In the climactic final volume, England has won the war and must now count the losses. Four very different young men on the threshold of manhood dominate this opening volume of A Dance to the Music of Time. The narrator, Jenkinsa budding writer shares a room with Templer, already a passionate womanizer, and Stringham, aristocratic and reckless. Widermerpool, as hopelessly awkward as he is intensely ambitious, lurks on the periphery of their world. Amid the fever of the 1920s and the first chill of the 1930s, these four gain their initiations into sex, society, business, and art. Considered a masterpiece of modern fiction, Powell's epic creates a rich panorama of life in England between the wars. Includes these novels: A Question of Upbringing, A Buyer's Market, The Acceptance World.

As an added bonus, when you purchase our Audible Modern Vanguard production of Anthony Powell's book, you'll also receive an exclusive Jim Atlas interview. This interview – where James Atlas interviews Charles McGrath about the life and work of Anthony Powell – begins as soon as the audiobook ends.

This production is part of our Audible Modern Vanguard line, a collection of important works from groundbreaking authors.©1951 Anthony Powell (P)2010 Audible, inc.

Critic reviews

"Anthony Powell is the best living English novelist by far. His admirers are addicts, let us face it, held in thrall by a magician." ( Chicago Tribune)

"A book which creates a world and explores it in depth, which ponders changing relationships and values, which creates brilliantly living and diverse characters and then watches them grow and change in their milieu. . . . Powell's world is as large and as complex as Proust's." ( New York Times)

"Vance's narration captivates listeners throughout this outstanding examination of a life in progress." ( AudioFile)

Kind of a yawn

I usually like novels that promise to go deep into the minds of the characters and don't mind if there isn't much action. I can't say why exactly but for the first time ever for an audiobook, I quit this one after a few hours. Maybe I quit too soon but I didn't care much about any of the characters and they certainly weren't doing anything remotely interesting. I had trouble keeping my mind on the story.

Probably the most boring book I've ever read

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

People who like traditional British understatement and detachment.

What was most disappointing about Anthony Powell’s story?

I can't think of one single exciting incident the main character experienced. He sounded like wallpaper. While the background could potentially provide some interesting characters and stories, the main character appears to be detached from everything and everyone - so the characters are not really developed. Perhaps with the same backdrop the story/plots could have been developed better and made more interesting with a more animated author.

Have you listened to any of Simon Vance’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Simon Vance is excellent here as always. I imagine I completed the book because of my previous good experiences with him. Alas the book did not pick up.

What character would you cut from A Dance to the Music of Time: First Movement?

The main character, Nick Jenkins. His detachment (since he's the one telling the story)blunted my appreciation of the potentially more interesting lives of others around him.

Any additional comments?

Please take down the first 2 -3 comments. Completely misleading. I bought the book because of them and I feel misled.

Disappointed by novel and/or performance

The print version of this book received rave reviews on other sites. Based on the reviews, I did not expect the book to be plot focused. I usually love British classics. Unfortunately, Simon Vance's performance seemed uninspired by the novel. I could not tell whether Vance, or the author, did not develop the characters into memorable individuals. I have listened to a number of well-acted audiobooks by Simon Vance. In this performance, I did not lose myself in his performance of the novel, and instead, found his distinctive voice a distraction.

Dated, hard to follow

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Anthony Powell fans, I guess

What could Anthony Powell have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Nothing. It seems like it was a great book for the times, but is now irrelevant, to me at least.

Which scene was your favorite?

I didn't listen past the first hour.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The narrator kept me listening, but the story couldn't sustain me.

Any additional comments?

Won't be listening to Anthony Powell again, but would like the same narrator reading something else.

I really didn't get it

Dull as dishwater. I couldn't find anything compelling in this story, and did something I very rarely do: stopped halfway through.

I've done a bit of research about this series, and I realize this is considered high literature, and that the characters are based on people that Powell knew or who were notable at the time this was written. Maybe it was interesting to those people who were in the know about these characters, but for me, this book was a bust. I just didn't care a whit about any of them.

Awful narration ruins it

Too much acting out of words, no sense that the narrator understood half what he was reading— just embarrassing for Simon Vance and unlistenable for me.

Please, Audible, give this to someone like Dan Stevens!

EXCELLENT CURE FOR INSOMNIA

Would you try another book from Anthony Powell and/or Simon Vance?

I BOUGHT THIS SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE IT WAS SIMON VANCE. I KEPT LISTENING, WAITING FOR THE STORY TO STOP MEANDERING AND FOR SOMETHING TO HAPPEN! NOTHING. NO PLOT, WON'T BUY THE OTHER MOVEMENTS FOR FEAR THERE WILL JUST BE MORE MEANDERING THROUGH THESE QUITE DULL LIVES.

Disappointed

I so wanted to love this book. I wanted to love all the books that come after it as well, but despite the narrator's excellence, I couldn't care a whit about any of the characters. Six hours in and I give up.

Irritating intellingence

I would be so glad to dive into this series, it is covers a central part of my history and includes social and emotional and political understanding. I'm aware of the people who lived this season of our history slipping over the horizon with all they lived and knew, as the decades pass. And they lived it without self pity or over-analysis, so a considered and nuanced understanding of life and it's meanings then is valuable to us now.

Why I stopped listening was from a sense of irritation, it felt arrogant and pointless. This is a clever book, intelligently written; for me, though, truly good reading and intelligent writing naturally include a dimension which adds value to the reader.Cynicism without the leaven of love for the protagonists, as I see it, undervalues the human condition which I love.

Does something happen in this story?

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Disclaimer: I was not able to finish the book, It might have gotten better later.

This book might be enjoyed by someone who likes meandering plotlines and well thought out descriptions of things told with a nostalgic tone. It's literary fiction and if you just want to sit back and take in some poetic language and experience a scene, it might be fine.

If, like me, you like things to actually move the plot forward, this isn't for you. This is a little like On the Road if Kerouac's main character had been an English schoolboy.

What was most disappointing about Anthony Powell’s story?

Lack of movement. Lot of great language but it was just boring. There's a character called Stringum, and because my attention drifted for a moment I briefly thought it was a girl and that made the story a little interesting because it would make for a nice love interest. But no. All the characters are boys and none of them are gay as far as I could tell before I stopped listening.

I don't know what the main character wants, I can't see any sort of conflict. There is something about somebody's uncle that has gotten in trouble with the law for some reason, but no one seems all that concerned, it's just seems like a topic of dinner conversation. I might suspect that I'm just not English enough for this, but I listened through Bleak House and didn't get bored so I don't think that's it.

I think overall the emphasis in this book is in depicting how things look and feel, and not so much on story.

Which character – as performed by Simon Vance – was your favorite?

Simon Vance is mostly a narrator. It's been a while since I listened but I don't remember him doing any voices.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Great descriptions.

Any additional comments?

An abridged version might be better.