What I’m Reading: ‘A Dance to the Music of Time’

Christa Neu, Lehigh U.

L ast October, Mark Edmundson, a professor of English at the University of Virginia, posted the cover of A Dance to the Music of Time on Facebook with the statement “Don’t always like it, but can’t stop reading it.” I was intrigued.

In the next six months, I completed all 12 volumes of the series by Anthony Powell. It was an amazing experience.

The series provides a wonderful window into the social history of five decades in London, from the end of World War I through the 1960s, told through the world of creativity — books, paintings, and music. The narrator and main character, Nicholas Jenkins, is a writer.

The story reminded me of the importance of the arts and humanities in our society. It’s an idea often missing in our current national dialogue about higher education.

Students need an education that prepares them for success in professional and civic life. The world needs citizens who possess the creativity, civic learning, communication skills, and critical thinking that the arts and humanities provide, so they can take on the task of solving an increasingly complex set of challenges.

Update (5/27/2016, 1:04 p.m.): The article was updated to include the name of the author of the series.