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Robertson Davies, where have you been all my life?

17 years ago

One of my library patrons gave me the Deptford trilogy for Christmas. I'm almost done with Fifth Business and can't wait to start on Manticore.

Has anyone else read Davies? What should I read next?

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Comments (16)

smallcoffee
17 years ago
Just so happens that I just started "Fifth Business". Only a few pages in but liking it so far. Will also be interested to find out how others like this author.
sheriz6
17 years ago
I just bought a second-hand omnibus edition of The Cornish trilogy by Davies, but I'm not sure when I'll get to read it. I'd be very interested to hear what you both think of him.
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philc
17 years ago
I read "The Cornish Trilogy" - (which is "The Rebel Angels", "What's Bred in the Bone", and "The Lyre of Orpheus")- some 15 or 20 years ago.
I don't now remember many of the details, but I do remember enjoying them enough to read the trilogy straight through back to back.
Maybe time for a re-read ?
thyrkas
17 years ago
YAY for Robertson Davies! I also read "The Cornish Trilogy" about 15 years ago. I think he has three trilogies, and the Cornish Trilogy is the last of them. I read another novel by him, Tempset-Tost, a couple of summers ago. TT seemed a little dated, but it was still great fun to read. I think it was one of his first novels to get noticed. Davies is worth every minute you give him in reading.
sheriz6
17 years ago
Thyrkas and Phil, thanks for the positive reviews, I will keep "The Cornish Trilogy" towards the top of the TBR stack. I picked it up on a whim, now I'm intrigued.
phaedosia
Original Author
17 years ago
I second Sheriz--thanks for your comments. I've really been enjoying this series and I am anxious to read the criticism on it and figure out all the Jungian allusions. According to the person that gave them to me, the Cornish Trilogy is the best (but couldn't find it in the local used book store).
thyrkas
17 years ago
As you are reading through the trilogy, keep in mind the legend of King Arthur. I read (after I finished the books)that Davies had a tremendous love of the Arthurian legend, and that would have added a lot to my reading had I known about it, I think. Even so - what a marvelous writer Davies is!
rambo
17 years ago
What a classic... Fifth Business was required reading for me in High School. I hated it then (but then again, I hated English class in general), but I picked up the whole trilogy a few years ago and read all three books. Much different from what I remembered in High School. I really enjoyed all three books.
thyrkas
17 years ago
rambo - I had to check your profile to see if you hail from Canada, Robertson Davies native land, which of course you do. I didn't thaink that the US schools would be appreciative enough of RD to have his books as required reading, more's the pity.
Glad you gave them a second go - I agree, I think they are classics.
rambo
17 years ago
I do find it unfortunate that school curricula tend to centre around American lit., even in Canada. Sometimes it expands to British lit. too but it's extremely limiting. I teach at an International Baccalaureate school where we are required to teach literature from around the world. Although the translations are not ideal, it adds such a variety, not only to content, but to style of writing and style of thinking.

Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing pieces of American and British literature that I could not do without, but to allow students to see beyond the Western, English speaking world is a big deal in Canada. Specifically in Toronto, where we have so many students from so many cultures, they are more open to literature if there is a variety. Even old Canadian literature is not useful for teaching what these children need to know.

I, however, would like to read more of Davies' books.
thyrkas
17 years ago
rambo - would you share your school's required reading list with us?
Ideefixe
17 years ago
I love all of his books, and highly recommend the exhaustive biography, as well, which explores many of the inspirations for his characters.

Here is a link that might be useful: Robertson Davies: A Portrait in Mosaic
rambo
17 years ago
thyrkas - The main novels studied in each grade this year at my school are: Grade 8 - The Chrysalids by John Wyndham; Grade 9 - Night by Elie Wiesel; Geade 10 - All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Marie Remarque; and Grade 11 - Like Water for Chocolate by Laure Esquiuel and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. We're still developing the grade 12 program. Of course we also study a Shakespearean play every year beginning in grade 7.
phaedosia
Original Author
17 years ago
Apparently, the rights to the Deptford Trilogy have finally been freed up for a miniseries. However, the latest information on this project was in 2005. Interesting article, though. Never realized that Boy Staunton could easily be an allegory for the United States with the narrator as Canada.

Here is a link that might be useful: Deptford Trilogy Mini Series
Ideefixe
17 years ago
It's too bad that Jaffe couldn't have gotten the film made. Nicholas Meyer's not just known for Star Trek--the piece dismisses him, a little unfairly.
jbs2586_aol_com
15 years ago
Robertson Davies is a master! Each book of his is amazing in its own way. The Rebel Angels, Fifth Business, Whats BRed In The Bone, World of Wonders, and A Voice From The Attic are my favorites.

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