From A View To A Death

From a View to a Death (1979) – Anthony Powell
Fontana | ISBN: 0006151361
Condition: Fair – Slightly Sloped Spine | Sold by Crappy Old Books

The English countryside. Rolling hills, picturesque villages, ancient country houses and a population of apparently respectable individuals whose principal occupations involve drinking, gossiping, pursuing unsuitable romantic attachments and maintaining the comforting illusion that nothing particularly scandalous ever happens outside London. It is a world of impeccable manners, inherited privilege and the occasional corpse, because even the most charming rural idyll can become inconveniently complicated.

Welcome to From a View to a Death, Anthony Powell’s wonderfully satirical novel of English society, eccentric personalities and the dangerous consequences of allowing ambition, vanity and romantic obsession to roam freely among the landed classes.

Originally published in 1933, the novel belongs to Powell’s early literary career, long before his celebrated twelve-volume sequence A Dance to the Music of Time established him as one of Britain’s finest chroniclers of social behaviour. Yet his extraordinary eye for the absurdities of class, character and human relationships is already magnificently apparent.

At the centre of the story is Arthur Zouch, an ambitious and thoroughly self-important young artist whose arrival in the countryside introduces an element of artistic pretension into an already complicated social environment. Zouch possesses considerable confidence in his own abilities, an impressive appreciation of his personal importance and the sort of romantic ambitions that generally produce disastrous results when combined with wealthy families and social expectations.

The novel unfolds among an assortment of eccentric characters whose lives revolve around country-house visits, romantic manoeuvring and the elaborate rituals of English upper-middle-class existence. Beneath the surface of polite conversation and carefully observed social conventions lie rivalries, misunderstandings and enough concealed motives to keep an experienced psychiatrist comfortably employed.

Powell’s humour is deliciously dry. Rather than announcing that his characters are ridiculous, he simply allows them to speak, behave and make decisions, trusting the reader to appreciate the full extent of their absurdity. It is a remarkably effective technique, particularly when dealing with people whose confidence in their own judgement is inversely proportional to their actual understanding of events.

The novel also offers a sharp portrait of interwar English society, when traditional class structures remained firmly established but the certainties supporting them were beginning to look increasingly fragile. Artistic ambition, inherited wealth, marriage and social advancement collide in a world where appearances are everything and sincerity is frequently regarded as a regrettable personal weakness.

Despite its deceptively leisurely atmosphere, From a View to a Death develops into something darker, demonstrating that the consequences of foolish behaviour can extend considerably beyond an embarrassing conversation over afternoon tea.

This 1979 Fontana paperback, offered in Fair condition by Crappy Old Books, has a slightly sloped spine, reflecting its previous reading life. It is a perfectly appropriate opportunity to acquire a vintage reading copy rather than an immaculate museum exhibit.

An appealing addition to any Anthony Powell collection, particularly for readers who enjoy Evelyn Waugh, English social satire and novels populated by people whose extraordinary confidence in themselves is rarely justified by events.

A wonderfully ironic examination of class, pretension, romantic ambition and the curious habits of the English.

Because nothing quite captures the elegance of country-house society like a collection of privileged people behaving appallingly while pretending that everybody else is responsible.

Preferably before dinner.

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