A Dance to the Music of Time 03 - The Acceptance World

The Acceptance World is the third book of Anthony Powell's twelve novel sequence, A Dance to the Music of Time. Nick Jenkins continues the narration of his life and encounters with many friends and acquaintances in London between 1931 and 33.

A theme running through it is the uneven pace at which contemporaries mature, some, like Templer, reaching an early plateau. Jenkins' own development serves as a pacemaker against which others growth is measured. This is reflected in a subtle but discernible change in the language employed in dialogue compared to that of the two earlier volumes.

The occult undercurrent running through the entire cycle surfaces with the appearance of Mrs Erdleigh, a figure presented by the author with characteristic ambiguity.

The pretensions of Edwardian novelists, here represented by the ludicrous figure of St John Clarke (mischievously based on John Galsworthy), are guyed in a memorable scene in which the elderly writer is shown lending modish support to a demonstration while pushed in his wheelchair by the Marxist Quiggin.

Jenkins is now seen to move freely and fluidly between the words of high society and demi-monde, offering snapshots of both.