Tag Archives: Robertson Davies

The Smartest Book Meme in Town

On Reading January 25, 2008 Superfast Reader 5 Comments

As created by Eva, who will enter you in a drawing if you leave a comment on her post. Thanks for the, Sheila! I’m tagging Alissa, Terri, Megan, Rhinoa, and Ian–or Ian’s dad Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews? Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. I was in the midst of a horrific breakup while reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and I put it down halfway through and have not Chabonned since. In addition,…

World of Wonders by Robertson Davies

Canadian Literature September 24, 2007 Superfast Reader 2 Comments

Synopsis: The premature baby of Fifth Business was kidnapped by roustabouts, grew up a circus performer, and has grown into the greatest magician in the world. His life story offers the final piece to the question posed in The Manticore: “Who killed Boy Staunton?” Review: Robertson Davies’s masterful Deptford Trilogy deserves to be on more must-read lists. I discovered it thanks to Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose, and can say that Davies’s writing not only warrants Prose’s close reading, it actually provokes it…

A Little Bit About Meme

On Reading August 22, 2007 Superfast Reader 12 Comments

I had a work read today that was an oddity of a historical novel. I suspect some of what I read will stay with me for quite some time. So, in honor of that read, here’s a meme I found at So Many Books

The Manticore by Robertson Davies

Canadian Literature August 22, 2007 Superfast Reader 4 Comments

Synopsis: The son of a wealthy industrialist enters Jungian therapy to discover why he feels that his life is at a point of crisis. Review: In The Manticore, Robertson Davies continues the story he began in his masterful Fifth Business, turning his acute eye for the majesty of the quotidian on David, the son of Boy Staunton, a prominent figure in the first book. David feels himself to be a stunted man, and hopes that rigorous Jungian psychoanalysis will yield revelations enabling him to shake…

Series vs. Recurring Characters

On Reading June 22, 2007 Superfast Reader 15 Comments

In the comments thread for Will the Series be Unbroken, Brad & Imani‘s insights made me realize that I was thinking of series in a very limited way. I was only considering a series as having the following criteria: Set in the same world Recurring characters A forward-moving story that aims for cohesiveness across multiple books There is a discrete end in sight, whether or not the author ever reaches it (coughrobertjordan) In other words, the common model in the fantasy/sci fi world.

Fifth Business by Robertson Davies

Canadian Literature May 30, 2007 Superfast Reader 22 Comments

Synopsis: Schoolteacher Dunstan Ramsay looks back over his life, intertwined with that of a childhood friend and inextricably linked with a madwoman he desperately wants to believe is a saint. Review: I had no idea what I was in for when I began Fifth Business, the first book in Canadian novelist Robertson Davies’s Deptford trilogy. I have an older paperback and the copy on the back just says, “the story of a rational man who discovers that the marvelous is only another aspect of the…

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