Three hundred voices

I have loved these books for many years and read them more than twice. I must praise the reader, Simon Vance, who supplies distinct and diverse voices for an enormous number of characters and I really don't know how he manages it.

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The Dance

enthralling, excellent for commuting. It spans a vast repertoire of behaviour with a light but piercing touch. Narrator excellent. The characters weave and interweave through time over decades.

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3 people found this helpful

A great series and a memorable listen

Great narration of a series of volumes taking one back to times still in the memory of people alive today. A panorama of English society over a period of significant change and upheaval. Holds the attention of the listener; written with empathy for the numerous characters that may appear, recede and then re-appear along the course of time.

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modern classic

writing a review of the second movement is perhaps a waste of time: if you've encountered - and completed - the first, then surely you will be hooked. I read the first movement, and was so glad to listen to the rest.

simon vance is a superb narrator of powell, and captures the comedy running through the novels very well indeed. widmerpool is a creation of absolute genius. these are long reads, which could not be described as page turners, that I found myself captivated by.

the books themselves are, for me, as good as writing gets. they are often criticised for focusing on the lives of the upper classes, but i don't think that is valid. the books offer a wonderful insight into british society in the first half of the century.

I cannot recommend these books highly enough. Not everyone will enjoy them, but those who do will absolutely adore them.

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7 people found this helpful

As good as the first

Any additional comments?

An excellent continuation of the story of the English upper and literary classes between the wars.

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1 person found this helpful

The narrative moves on

To enjoy this next instalment of this loosely autobiographical novel (the narrator Nicholas Jenkins is reputed to be Powell) I think one needs to have listened to the First Movement where the main characters are introduced otherwise the nuances of the relationships will be lost. There's a lot of writing to evoke the era and the story moves slowly with many diversions to include a wealth of characters which, apparently, to those in know are based on real people, but many will now be unfamiliar to most of us. These many hours of listening in the Second Movement cover the inter-war years and the ups and downs of the people we met in the First Movement. I think there's an advantage to listening to this set of 12 books that together comprise the three Movements (9 parts in total as downloads) as one can be doing other things as the same time. I must admit that at times it was just verbal wall-paper keeping me company as I walked in the hills, but as the hours flow by I am getting more wrapped up in Nick and his associates lives.
The narrator is excellent and deserves a medal for the huge task of recording the whole series.

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14 people found this helpful

Volumes 4-6 of the Twelve volume sequence

Excellent acting, excellent characterisation. If the teeny social world that the books inhabit has become interesting, or if Powell's orotund but stunning prose has gripped you in the first three volumes, these are unmissable. "Casanova's Chinese Restaurant" deals with issues like infant mortality and the Spanish Civil War that Powell can't manage. Then "The Kindly Ones" locates the shambles left by the First War, and the encroaching terror of the Second War, and it's just brilliant. And you can't read six until you've read five. Difficult. Half way there.

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1 person found this helpful

A privilege to have read it

If you could sum up A Dance to the Music of Time: Second Movement in three words, what would they be?

Good, better, best.

What does Simon Vance bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

His range of voices.

Any additional comments?

If I were Powell, perhaps I would be able to write well enough to describe how fantastically good this cycle of books is—but I am not. What I can say is that it is an astonishing work of literature. The writing is simple and clear, it is by turns humorous and tragic, just like life.
I enjoyed every sentence; when I had to stop I was irritated by the interruptions; I was sorry when it ended and I feel that reading it was my time best spent.

Simon Vance, who narrated the entire twelve books, gave voice to a whole world of men and women, all with their own vocal affectations, habits and accents, all distinct and recognisable. He is obviously a truly talented artist but that sort of reading needed far more than just talent, it required the sort of application that most people would have trouble holding for a few hours, let alone the weeks or even months that recording this massive work would have involved.

The irony is that both writer and actor put so much work into the Music of Time books and they are so skilled at their jobs that the whole thing appears completely effortless.

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5 people found this helpful

So brilliant

This narrator ought to receive a prize, it is absolutely an outstanding performance, made me realise (not for the first time) what an astonishing feat these books are and what a superb sense of humour the writer had.

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3 people found this helpful

marvellous book

can't wait to start the next part of the trilogy audiobook. like a trip in a time machine to the past and all its forgotten ways. beautiful writing and narration. skip the final chapter, spoilers.

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