Books Do Furnish a Room by Anthony Powell

This is book #10 in A Dance to the Music of Time, the 12-book series which is listed at #43 on the Modern Library Top 100. The books are currently published as 3-novel volumes, with each novel taking up about 250 pages. Thus, in the past, I have reviewed these in 3-novel sets.

I read the first set of three last November and the next set shortly thereafter, and I was enthralled. They were funny, the different plot lines were interesting, and they provided wonderful glimpses into the culture and political climate of England at the time (between the World Wars).

The third set covered the narrator's World War II experiences. They gently lampooned the ridiculous aspects of the military bureaucracy, making them the most humorous that far. It became evident that the narrator's school acquaintance Widmerpool was going to show up in every novel, growing more and more powerful and influential. He is one of those characters you love to hate, so you keep hoping for his downfall.

This is the first novel of the last series of three--only two more to go to finish. And disappointment--I was bored.

Here, the narrator recounts his life after the war, when he is writing a scholarly work while doing book reviews for a new, rather left-wing magazine. He tells the story of the eccentricities of a new writer he meets, and of his disappearance from view after a disastrous love affair with a vampire-like femme fatale. Of course, Widmerpool reappears, as the husband of the seductress.

Why didn't I like this book when I have loved all the others? It seemed to be based on specific people rather than on "types" of people. It highlighted only one small aspect of the society of the time--the publishing business. I strongly felt that it was necessary to be "in the know" about the literary and political climate in England at the time to truly appreciate it. It was much more difficult to read, somehow.

I don't know exactly why I didn't like it very much, but I do know I do not want to read the last two novels right now. I will read them eventually, because when I have gone through 2,500 pages with a writer, I'm not going to stop now, with only 500 pages to go.