Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Literature / ADanceToTheMusicOfTime

Go To

1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/powell_dance_to_music_time.jpg]]
2
3''A Dance to the Music of Time'' is a twelve-volume cycle of novels by Anthony Powell, inspired by the painting of the same name by Nicolas Poussin. [[{{Doorstopper}} One of the longest works of fiction in literature]], it was published between 1951 and 1975 to critical acclaim. The story is an often comic examination of movements and manners, power and passivity in English political, cultural and military life in the mid 20th century.
4
5The sequence is narrated by Nick Jenkins in the form of his reminiscences. Over the course of the following volumes, he recalls the people he met over the previous half a century. Little is told of Jenkins' personal life beyond his encounters with the great and the bad, with events, such as his wife's miscarriage, only being related in conversation with the principal characters. [[TheEveryman Nick mainly functions as a cipher, reporting on the actions of the other characters]], specifically the inscrutable Kenneth Widmerpool who is arguably the protagonist of the series.
6
7!!Contains examples of:
8%%* TheAlcoholic: Charles Stringham.
9* AuthorAvatar: Nick, for Anthony Powell. Most of the details of his life and career are based on Powell's.
10* BigFancyHouse: The Tollands own one, also Sir Magnus Donners' house keeps coming up.
11%%* ButtMonkey: Might just be Widmerpool's defining characteristic.
12%%* TheCasanova: Peter Templer.
13%%* CloudCuckooLander: General Liddament.
14* ContrivedCoincidence: The whole cycle runs on this. Nick keeps conveniently running into people from his past, or finding out that people he knew have coincidentally met or gotten together. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in one of the later books, where the [[{{Cult}} cult]] leader Dr. Trelawney is quoted as saying "coincidence is no more than magic in action."
15* UsefulNotes/ColdWar: Referenced a lot in the last movement.
16* TheDogBitesBack: When Widmerpool climbs to a position of power in the military he [[spoiler: manages to send both Peter Templer and Charles Stringham to their deaths [[DisproportionateRetribution for the way they treated him at school]]]].
17%%* {{Doorstopper}}.
18%%* {{Dramedy}}.
19%%* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Maclintick, Captain Biggs, and Pamela (probably).]]
20* EveryoneHasLotsOfSex: As some of the other tropes on this page will attest.
21%%* FemmeFatale: Pamela.
22* FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator: Nick serves as the narrator, however many have pointed out that Widmerpool seems to be the protagonist of the series.
23%%* FullFrontalAssault: A few of the women do this, to the point where it becomes kind of a motif.
24%%* {{Geek}}: Widmerpool.
25* GenteelInterbellumSetting: The first few books are set between the wars.
26* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: The flipside is on display here in that the women who get abortions are definitely bad girls.
27* HappilyMarried: Nick and Isobel, in contrast to almost everyone else.
28%%* ILoveTheDead : Allegedly [[spoiler: Russell Gwinnett]].
29* MoodWhiplash: The books mix together the satirical and the soap operatic.
30* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Many of the characters are based on real people; who exactly is a matter of some speculation but some of the possibilities are Creator/GeorgeOrwell, Creator/HaroldPinter, and Creator/AleisterCrowley
31%%* OfficerAndAGentleman: Nick and his father before him.
32%%* OneDegreeOfSeparation
33%%* OutWithABang: [[spoiler: Ferrand-Seneschal and Pamela. ]]
34%%* ThePeepingTom: Widmerpool, also Sir Magnus Donners.
35%%* RichBitch: Pamela.
36%%* RomanAClef
37* SecondLove: Isobel, to Nick.
38* SeriousBusiness: Because of Widmerpool's sense of self-importance, everything he attempts is serious business.
39** Also porridge, for General Liddament.
40** Anything to do with literature for X. Trapnel.
41* StylisticSuck: The novels of St. John Clarke (a [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed parody]] of [[{{Literature/TheForsyteSaga}} John Galsworthy]]), who "confines himself to the dullest of dull ideas."
42* TricksterTwins: The Quiggin twins are unstoppable pranksters.
43* UglyGuyHotWife: Widmerpool and Pamela.
44* UnreliableNarrator: Nick is definitely trustworthy but he admits that there are some things about the other characters that he can't really know or understand.
45%%* UnsexySadist: Scorp Murtlock.
46%%* TheVamp: Pamela again.

Top