The Valley of Bones by Anthony Powell

 The Valley of Bones by Anthony Powell


 

This is a very different story from the other 6 novels, from the first part of A Dance to the Music of Time. World War II breaks out and life in the army is different, even though Nick Jenkins meets a few acquaintances- the annoying Windmerpool for instance.

 

Humor is not absent, in fact I laughed at the beginning when we met Bithel.  There are some teeth in an ashtray….like”clenched teeth on cigar stub- macabre, surrealist effect”.

There is the inspection visit of general Liddament who says there should be porridge at breakfast. But when he asks the soldiers none of them wants it, with one exception.

 

On a train back from the unit, Jenkins discusses art: his favorite painting – Hunters in the Snow by Brueghel. When he wants to give some advice to Gwatkin, he thinks better of it and says that books and the advice they contain are for those who appreciate them and mean nothing to the others who think nothing of them. Very true indeed.

 

“Are you hideous, stunted, mentally arrested, sexually maladjusted…you have an evil smell? Then there’s a treat ahead of you…you’re all set for a promising career as a lover “ J

 

I wonder what the next five novels of the series will be like. I loved what I have read so far, but there is a definite change with Britain entering the war. On the other hand, Anthony Powell has more than proved that he is a great writer; he became a top favorite of mine.

Comentarii

Trimiteți un comentariu

Postări populare de pe acest blog

In The Fade aka Auf Dem Nichts, written by Hark Bohm and Fatih Akin

  In The Fade aka Auf Dem Nichts, written by Hark Bohm and Fatih Akin In The Fade has won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film, although in this cinephile's opinion, Una Mujer Fantastica- which has won the Oscar in the same category- Nelyubov or The Square would have been better choices. Having said that, Auf Dem Nichts is a very good, significant, remarkable feature, that attracts attention to violence against minorities, in this case the Kurdish community in Germany. It is therefore not one sided, we do not have only Muslim lunatics killing innocent "infidels", but also some extreme Europeans murdering the other side. The problem is that, unacceptable, horrifying and vile as these acts are, it appears that the overwhelming majority of atrocities are committed by zealots acting in the name of Islam- radical and unrepresentative as they are for this supposedly peaceful faith, although there are passages in its holy book that seem to insist on a violent jihad and ultimat...
Citiți mai multe

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice written by Larry Tucker and Paul Mazursky, directed by the latter is included on The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list, and Variety has published recently its Top 100 Comedies – or else, I have learned about this lately – where this feature has a top spot, as far as I remember it is higher that the 50th spot – speaking of these pages, you have access to my own more than five thousand notes on films from these and other compilations, together with another five thousand reviews on magnum opera from The Greatest Books of All Time and other sites on my blog and You Tube channel https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html you may even subscribe, if you wish

Imagine
  Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice written by Larry Tucker and Paul Mazursky, directed by the latter is included on The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list, and Variety has published recently its Top 100 Comedies – or else, I have learned about this lately – where this feature has a top spot, as far as I remember it is higher that the 50 th spot – speaking of these pages, you have access to my own more than five thousand notes on films from these and other compilations, together with another five thousand reviews on magnum opera from The Greatest Books of All Time and other sites on my blog and You Tube channel https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html you may even subscribe, if you wish     9 out of 10   First a correction: I wrote above that this comedy is within the first fifty of Variety’s Top 100, I just saw that it is in fact ranked 90 th , I could have edited the above, but maybe this way I will re...
Citiți mai multe