It's curious to consider that when Anthony Powell wrote Hearing Secret Harmonies the final novel in the twelve-novel series “A Dance to the Music of Time”, and despite the series starting in the early twentieth century, that it was almost contemporaneous, being published in 1975, and taking place in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and makes references to hippies, the permissive society, Vietnam, and Enoch Powell. 

The final two volumes, Temporary Kings and Hearing Secret Harmonies, each moving the narrative forward by around ten years, allows for some dramatic changes to have occurred, the most notable change is in Widmerpool whose trajectory dramatically changes in ways that would be difficult for anyone to imagine earlier in the series. 

Anthony Powell finished the series with a real flourish. Hearing Secret Harmonies embraces the late sixties counterculture and contains some truly stunning scenes. He also manages to introduce yet more new characters, including the memorable Scorpio Murtlock and his Harmony cult.

Overall “A Dance to the Music of Time” is magnificent. Reading the series has been such a fabulous experience. Anthony Powellis a master. Although the books can be read and enjoyed individually, and on their own terms, the real pleasure is in reading all twelve books, and enjoying a narrative that takes place over a seventy year time span. Calling his series ''A Dance" is a perfect metaphor, as Anthony Powell is akin to a choreographer, who intricately keeps track of over four hundred characters across more than a million words. It's a stunning achievement, and throughout, his beautiful writing is as much of a joy as the ingenious plot and his ambitious, and completely successful, cultural and social history of England throughout the twentieth century.

The star of the series is arguably Kenneth Widmerpool, one of the most memorable characters I have ever encountered in a book. Widmerpool is a contemporary of narrator Nick Jenkins and, despite not being friends, he crops up somewhere in every volume. Whilst narrator Nick, along with many of the characters, represent musicians, poets, novelists, painters etc., Widmerpool is the opposite, a ruthlessly ambitious person but a deeply flawed human being. I wonder to what extent he might represent the triumph of commerce and bureaucracy, over more aesthetic considerations, that appears to be one of the main aspects of twentieth century history.

Whilst reading it I have had a copy of "Invitation To The Dance" by Hilary Spurling which is a wonderful reference book, particularly when I needed reminding about a character who had just reappeared. Now I have finished the series I plan to read the whole of "Invitation To The Dance" as it clearly contains lots of other useful and interesting information. I also have a copy of To Keep the Ball Rolling: The Memoirs of Anthony Powell which looks like another wonderful book and, according to the cover, is "especially illuminating to students ofA Dance to the Music of Time". I am really looking forward to reading both, in addition to re-reading this marvellous series again.

“A Dance to the Music of Time” is a masterpiece - and one of the best literary experiences I have ever enjoyed. Profound, funny, dramatic, and remarkably accessible and easy to read. It is a series I will return to again. I cannot praise it highly enough.

Project Powell ends off with a whimper. It took me awhile to get through this last volume in the "Dance to the Music of Time" series. Now that I've read all twelve, I think I can make some sweeping generalizations about the series.

Although the first book implies that the series is about four people, basically it is just about two: Nicholas Jenkins, the narrator, who is a rough stand in for the author himself; and Kenneth Widmerpool, the man who rises above his station and falls off the ladder. I like Jenkins. His demeanor and outlook on life is wry, sophisticated, and inimitable. Just how an author would like to be seen. However, I did not like Widmerpool, and I felt mad with myself for falling into Powell's trap. I get the feeling that you aren't supposed to like Widmerpool for a single reason: he does things the wrong way. He's pushy, self-centered, and vain, or at least that's the words we use for people who are failures. If Widmerpool had been successful (that is, if we were to speak of him before his fall), we would have said that he was aggressive, driven, and eccentric.

In this last book, Powell tries to pull in the loose ends, updating us on a little bit of all the characters we have met in the past, while trying to put the finishing touches on his comments on this generation. I found it anti-climatic. The climax came in the last book with Pamela Widmerpool dropping the horrible revelation about Kenneth's sexual habits. The wind out of his sails, he floats about afterwards, his previous accomplishments now meaningless. It's a sad story, alright.

I'm not inclined to read more by Powell. While I found the series interesting, and do not regret having taken the time to work my way through it, his style was a little too "laid back" for me to enjoy.