A step behind

I've been a little remiss. I finished this volume over a week and a half ago, at the start of my own marathon holiday reading fest, but have failed to blog until now. As astute readers will recall, I was planning to head to one of the remaining outposts of the Evil Empire, however Richard Branson had other plans and refused to fly me to Havana... it was a bit windy apparently. Left with the choice of postponing or a largely uninspiring list of alternatives I found myself finishing Powell on a flight to the West Indies, before enjoying an unexpectedly pleasant week in Barbados. Etymologically, I'm sure that this would meet with the approval of the Beard Liberation Front (perhaps I have revealed Branson's motive after all).

That holiday reading list in full:

Anthony Powell; A Question of Upbringing
Graham Greene; Our Man in Havana
Michael Frayn; Towards the End of the Morning
John Fowles; The French Lieutenant's Woman
Ernest Hemingway; The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Kingsley Amis; The Old Devils
Pedro Juan Guttierez; Dirty Havana Trilogy
Haruki Murakami; Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

You'll notice an unfortunate Cuban flavour to the selection. Still, I'm not sure what Barbadian offerings I could have chosen from - I am acutely aware that my knowledge of Caribbean/Carribbean-based literature is limited to Cuba and Jamaica (Wide Sargasso Sea, Small Island for the latter). For the most part the books I did read were hugely enjoyable. Clear highlight was the Fowles, which was gloriously pretentious. The only real disappointment was the Hemingway, which was very patchy - I'm beginning to wonder if I have grown out of him... a sadness.

Still, to return to Powell, and bearing in mind I read it 8 books ago, I did enjoy it very much and concur largely with Will and El's thoughts. The oddest experience, for me, was the familiarity with the types of character and plot. Perhaps this is not so strange for the second half of the book, given my past membership of two of Oxford's most traditional colleges, but my school (whose most celebrated alumnus, according to Wikipedia, is rather alarmingly the most recent winner of Channel 4's Big Brother) couldn't have been more different to Powell's Eton. I offer two examples of that vague familiarity that may have struck a chord with other Powellanauts:

1. The portly, unmarried, elderly gentleman who dines alone in the same Italian restaurant every evening.
2. The Don with strongly-held political beliefs (ignoring the fact that Sillery was a liberal) and a penchant for admitting well-connected public school boys, who boasts that his students run the world.

Moreover, the legend of Widmerpool's coat, and his subsequent reputation that outlives all memory of the precise nature of said coat, parallels any number of anecdotes and probably unfair social brandings that litter every stage of my time in formal education. The kind of harmless inconsequential occurence that just seems to stick. Much joy! I also considered writing down a list of the large number of literary references, but thought this would look like a very weird thing to be doing in Economy Class. I'll refer to my recently ordered guide instead.

Well, I'm looking forward to the next volume very much. One other thought before I sign off, we have discussed Powellathon socials. I am assuming a similar lack of choreographic ability amongst the other Powellanauts, thus ruling out an actual Dance to the Music of Time, but as a rough schedule:

December: A Pub Trip to the Music of Time (Casual dress)
April: A Cocktail Party to the Music of Time (Smart casual)
July: Dinner to the Music of Time (Black Tie)
October: A Ball to the Music of Time (White Tie)

Thoughts?