 First edition (UK) | |
| Author | Anthony Powell |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | James Broom-Lynne |
| Language | English |
| Series | A Dance to the Music of Time |
| Publisher | Heinemann |
Publication date | 1951 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 230 pp |
| Followed by | A Buyer's Market |
A Question of Upbringing is the opening novel in Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time, a twelve-volume cycle spanning much of the 20th century.
Published in 1951, it begins the story of a trio of boys — Nicholas Jenkins (the narrator), Charles Stringham, and Peter Templer — who are friends at a nameless school (based upon Powell's public school Eton College) and then move on to different paths. A fourth figure, Kenneth Widmerpool, stands slightly apart from them, poised for greatness.
The title of the book had its origin in an incident in which Powell was a passenger in a car driven by his friend, the Old Etonian screenwriter Thomas Wilton ("Tommy") Phipps. Phipps and Powell found themselves driving straight towards an oncoming vehicle. Powell later recorded, "Seizing the hand-brake as we sped towards what seemed imminent collision, Phipps muttered to himself, 'This is just going to be a question of upbringing.'"[1]
- ^ Powell, Anthony. Faces in My Time. Heinemann 1980.