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Post by whollygoats on Feb 23, 2017 18:11:58 GMT
I'm not a big reader of fiction. I tend to stay with non-fiction, largely histories and commentaries. Occasionally, though, friends have convinced me to take on various other authors. I did a fair amount of science fiction as an adolescent and young adult. I was convinced to read Herbert, and Tolkien, and Asimov, and most especially Ursula LeGuin. Only recently was I seduced by Terry Pratchett and had to read all of the Discworld series. Later in life, I was seduced down the lane of the mystery genre where I found and enjoyed the likes of Christie, Doyle, McCrumb, Peters, Hillerman, and Box...laughingly referred to as 'mind candy'. I don't consider either of these to be anything other than specialty niche literature. When it comes to fiction outside of the niche genres, there are only a few authors with whom I've been truly impressed with their work...Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Twain, and Robertson Davies.
I found Davies when I was in a turbulent part of my life...I was alone, outside my family, trying to make my way in life and seeking a mate to share it with. I stumbled in to a copy of Robertson Davies' Fifth Business. I liked it so much I picked up a used copy of his Leaven of Malice and then Tempest Tost in short order, and by the time I finished them, I was hooked. I was convinced I'd found a master. I bought Bred in the Bone, and while reading it read up on the author and his work...finding out that his work was informed by Jungian psychology concepts, he had been a thespian and scriptwriter (at the Globe, no less), as well as a small town newspaper editor and publisher, and that he tended to write his novels in triologies (I'd noticed the same setting in Leaven and Tempest). By the time I found him, Davies had been hailed as the literary laureate of Canada and taught English at the University of Toronto. I was intrigued in that I had read one each out of of three separate triologies. I went back and read the sets of trilogies, plus his collected columns as Samuel Marchbanks, in the putative order of the triologies. It's marvelous stuff. I still favor the three I started with (and Marchbanks' curmudgeonly commentary).
Any other readers?
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Post by Kye on Feb 23, 2017 19:07:37 GMT
I am a fan of Davies. I think I might have mentioned that he came to my University (of Western Ontario) as a guest lecturer, but as it was an early class and I had gone out drinking the night before, I slept all the way through his talk... I do like his books, although it's been a long while since I read them.
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Post by whollygoats on Feb 23, 2017 21:13:15 GMT
You reprobate! I'd have thought Robertson would be damned difficult to sleep through...maybe I'm deluded as to his personal presence. Do you have a favorite of his books?
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Post by Kye on Feb 23, 2017 21:24:22 GMT
The one I remember most is Rebel Angels (but I really don't remember much...) I should reread them.
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Post by whollygoats on Jan 1, 2023 1:38:12 GMT
The one I remember most is Rebel Angels (but I really don't remember much...) I should reread them. Of late, that is exactly what I thought. So, here several months back, I decided to read his novels anew. It has prolly been more than forty years since I've read any of his work. I started with the Cornish trilogy...The bequest of the idiosyncratic art collector and the ramifications of his legacy upon a scholastic community. Truly a foundational trilogy. The Rebel Angels sets the scene at the College of Saint John and the Holy Ghost, lovingly referred to as 'The Spook'. The characters are various members of the scholastic community and that community is, indeed, a diverse one, fraught with interpersonal drama and pending scandal. They have had a wrench thrown into their midst by the bequest of one Francis Cornish, the idiosyncratic art collector and critic. This sets off a flurry of activity leading to tragedy and the imposition of a non-scholastic type to bring order back and set in place the foundation to manage the collection and the fortune. One member of this board of executors sets himself the task of unearthing the past of their benefactor...a biography. That biography is presented in the second novel, What's Bred in the Bone, which is, indeed, the story of Francis Cornish and how he came to be what he was at his death. From the Canadian backwoods to one of the guiding lights following the World War Two; one of the "Monument Men" who saved much of the art which the Nazis had looted from all of occupied Europe. A 'master' who trained with some of the best art forgers of Europe in the years prior to the outbreak of the war, and used his talents to create a unique and very personal piece. His beneficiaries are given the task of boldly spending his bequest and decide to undertake their first project by underwriting the doctoral dissertation of a quirky young female composer to complete an unfinished symphony by 18th century German composer ETA Hoffman, entitled Arthur of Britain, the Magnanimous Cuckold, and as a final task, actually mount the completed resurrected opera as a performance piece in a real opera house. This is the third volume, The Lyre of Orpheus. Hired mentors are brought in and the phenom is compressed from a lump of coal into a shiny diamond, sort of, and hijinks continue throughout the entire board of executor/administrators, all in some reflection of Arthurian legend. So...I once again enjoyed the narrative of The Rebel Angels and its shifting back and forth from the viewpoint of the young female graduate assistant, and that of the Anglican priest and professor, both of who are confidantes of the cast of characters. There is, of course, a malevolent outsider who threatens not only the members, but the entire college. There is also a malevolent insider, but most, except the outsider, are unaware of his malevolence. The tragedy is that one murders the other, as something of an unexpected outcome of the influences of the bequest. The portrayal of the bickering and backbiting among scholastics was interesting and amusing, but I found the counterpoint of the graduate student's personal background of Roma and the gypsy tradition, as expressed through her family members, to be the most interesting portion of the first novel. It was, once again, the second novel, the erstwhile 'biography' of the benefactor, What's Bred in the Bone, which I found to be the best of the litter. The narrative follows his Canadian roots back beyond his inception and intimates why many lives have such large portions which are closed off to others, hidden away and not acknowledged. It follows him through his youth and young adult years and how he came to develop his artistic skills, largely on his own. Recognized, he is sent to England and encouraged to refine his skills, finally taking an internship with a leading artist and assessor/crtic (and reputed forger) who refines his skills even further in medieval painting...to the point that he destroys the reputation of another collector by unquestionably identifying a fraud. His career is established, but he must flee Germany, where he has been learning and 'keeping his eyes and ears open' as a 'spy'. It is a fascinating story, full of intrigue and heartbreak, shady dealings and fraud. And, it explains where it all came from. The Lyre of Orpheus is the final novel which might be quite interesting to the opera buff, but I realized that I'd never finished it the first time I'd started it. There were some amusing scenes, but, all in all, it did not resonate as much with me, despite all the Arthurian references.
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Post by jayme on Jan 1, 2023 10:08:36 GMT
I've never heard of Robertson Davies. I'll have to put him on my radar.
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Post by whollygoats on Jan 1, 2023 11:00:00 GMT
I think if you want to read them in order, you should prolly start with the Salterton trilogy, which begins with 'Tempest Tost', moves on with 'Leaven of Malice', and finishes with 'A Mixture of Frailties'. I believe that 'Tempest Tost' was his first novel and I know that the trilogy basically launched his popular fiction career. Of course, each novel works as a stand-alone piece. I did not know that they were loosely connected trilogies until after I'd read several of the books. Out of order, of course.
Next up is the Deptford trilogy, beginning with 'The Fifth Business', then 'The Manticore', and finishing with 'World of Wonder'. I started with 'The Fifth Business'. I don't know as I ever finished 'The Manticore' the first time around, but I know I completed the trilogy with 'World of Wonders'. As I remember it, 'The Manticore' is basically the interaction between one of the characters in 'The Fifth Business' and their Jungian analyst. I'm hoping I'll garner more interest in the plot development this time around. The trilogy is pretty much the narrative of a personal journal of growth.
The third triology is the Cornish, mentioned above.
There is a fourth trilogy, the Toronto, but it is only a pair. An expected third novel was prevented by what was his untimely death (by his reckoning, at least). They are 'Murther and Walking Spirits' and 'A Cunning Man'. The former is a ghost story as told by the ghost of the murdered man. The latter I suspect I bought and never read.
Then there is the collected columns of fictional newspaper editor Samuel Marchbanks, released as a single volume entitled 'The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks'. According to the author, it is a compendium of three earlier collections, the 'Diary', the 'Table Talk', and 'A Garland of Miscellanea', all 'of Samuel Marchbanks', so it is 'a trilogy'. Marchbanks is, of course, a thinly veiled characterization of Davies himself, who spent years as the editor of the Peterborough Gazette, an Ontario newspaper, writing columns on the struggles of life in mid-century Canada. Curmudgeon is the best descriptive word for Marchbanks himself. Good for chuckles as Marchbanks girds his loins regularly to take on the ongoing battle with his reluctant furnace.
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Post by kingedmund on Jan 2, 2023 3:48:02 GMT
I've never heard of Robertson Davies. I'll have to put him on my radar. Likewise. This sounds like a good read.
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Post by whollygoats on Jan 11, 2023 3:05:04 GMT
So...I've dipped into Davies' presentation of his alter ego with the collection The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks (Penguin, London, 1986). It is a compendium of three earlier pieces, The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks, The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks, and Marchbanks' Garland, so...a trilogy. The character is a small town newspaper editor who has had his columns edited into these three works by his follower, Robertson Davies. So there are notes from the author, Davies, throughout, ostensibly to bring light to some idiosyncratic and archaic usages Marchbanks was wont to utilize. Marchbanks opines on life in small town Canada in the period after World War II.
Marchbanks strikes home with me. I can identify, despite his conservative bent. He is a curmudgeon. A crank who thinks himself a bon vivant.
Presently, I am midway through the Diary, which is arranged into an annual period, wherein Marchbanks opines upon much. I thought the following entry from pages 104-5, an entry from The Diary:
Hmmm...
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Post by Kye on Jan 11, 2023 3:28:27 GMT
Our honorary Goat!
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Post by jayme on Jan 11, 2023 10:24:42 GMT
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