My lifelong involvement with Mrs. Dempster began at 5:58 o'clock p.m. on 27 December 1908, at which time I was ten years and seven months old.I am able to date the occasion with complete certainty because that afternoon I had been sledding with my lifelong friend and enemy Percy Boyd Staunton, and we had quarreled, because his fine new Christmas sled would not go as fast as my old one.
Description:
Can one describe the excitement of stumbling upon a new author, a great book, and the promise of more titles because the original book is part in a trilogy? I can't, but will try to give you part of the enthusiasm I felt while reading Robertson Davies' Fifth Business, the first novel in his turn-of-the-century Deptford trilogy.
Set in the tiny town of Deptford, Canada, Fifth Business is a personal history told by Dunstan Ramsay, a history teacher in a private boy's school who is retiring after 45 years of service. After a weak tribute article about Ramsay's life appeared, he decides to write a letter to the headmaster to set the record straight on his life story. Fifth Business is the lengthy letter that results.
The plot and subsequent actions over his lifetime revolve around one incident when Ramsay dodged a snowball thrown by his much richer friend/enemy, Percy Boyd Staunton. The snowball, loaded with a stone, hit the pregnant wife of a local parson, causing her to fall, give premature birth to a son, Paul, and then go slowly, quietly insane.
Ramsay is assigned by his mother to look in on this addled woman and her tiny son every day over the next years, becoming friends with both. Mrs. Dempsey proves an interesting listener and kind companion, and Paul becomes an eager student for Ramsay to teach minor magic tricks to. All is well until Mrs. Dempsey participates in a scandalous act that shocks the small town and drives this group of friends apart.
When Ramsay leaves to serve in World War I, he provides an honest description of service for an ordinary soldier in a war:
He becomes a hero for one action that is performed during a frightening raid on a machine gun nest. His action results in the loss of his leg and part of an arm, damage that affects the choices his makes throughout the remainder of his story. Meanwhile, Staunton remains home in Canada, building up a fortune in the food industry.
Upon Ramsay's return, he takes a teaching position at the boys' school he and Staunton attended, even becoming Headmaster during World War II while Staunton chairs their board of directors. Paul has meanwhile disappeared from Deptford, but Ramsay stumbles upon him in rural France performing a wonderful magic act for an otherwise broken-down circus.
It is the writing that pulls these seemingly connected, yet separate lives together. Author Davies captures the mind and phrasing perfectly of a history professor and researcher in the early 1900s, a man who seems open about his actions but holds many secrets.
The story is full of unique characters, from magicians to fool/saints, soldiers to professors, lovers and hobos, and rural townspeople with their prejudices and beliefs. All are influences on Ramsay's life, both for good or evil. Ramsay himself, in the telling of his story, looks for causes of his current status and his own inner being.
Set in the tiny town of Deptford, Canada, Fifth Business is a personal history told by Dunstan Ramsay, a history teacher in a private boy's school who is retiring after 45 years of service. After a weak tribute article about Ramsay's life appeared, he decides to write a letter to the headmaster to set the record straight on his life story. Fifth Business is the lengthy letter that results.
The plot and subsequent actions over his lifetime revolve around one incident when Ramsay dodged a snowball thrown by his much richer friend/enemy, Percy Boyd Staunton. The snowball, loaded with a stone, hit the pregnant wife of a local parson, causing her to fall, give premature birth to a son, Paul, and then go slowly, quietly insane.
Ramsay is assigned by his mother to look in on this addled woman and her tiny son every day over the next years, becoming friends with both. Mrs. Dempsey proves an interesting listener and kind companion, and Paul becomes an eager student for Ramsay to teach minor magic tricks to. All is well until Mrs. Dempsey participates in a scandalous act that shocks the small town and drives this group of friends apart.
When Ramsay leaves to serve in World War I, he provides an honest description of service for an ordinary soldier in a war:
I was in the infantry, and most of the time I did not know where I was or what I was doing except that I was obeying orders and trying not to be killed in any of the variety of horrible ways open to me.
I was bored as I have never been since - bored till every bone in my body was heavy with it....It was the boredom that comes of being cut off from everything that could make life sweet, or around curiosity, or enlarge the range of the senses. It was the boredom that comes of having to perform endless tasks that have no savour and acquire skills would gladly be without.
In France, though my boredom was unabated, loneliness was replaced by fear. I was, in a mute, controlled, desperate fashion, frightened for the next three years.
He becomes a hero for one action that is performed during a frightening raid on a machine gun nest. His action results in the loss of his leg and part of an arm, damage that affects the choices his makes throughout the remainder of his story. Meanwhile, Staunton remains home in Canada, building up a fortune in the food industry.
Upon Ramsay's return, he takes a teaching position at the boys' school he and Staunton attended, even becoming Headmaster during World War II while Staunton chairs their board of directors. Paul has meanwhile disappeared from Deptford, but Ramsay stumbles upon him in rural France performing a wonderful magic act for an otherwise broken-down circus.
It is the writing that pulls these seemingly connected, yet separate lives together. Author Davies captures the mind and phrasing perfectly of a history professor and researcher in the early 1900s, a man who seems open about his actions but holds many secrets.
The story is full of unique characters, from magicians to fool/saints, soldiers to professors, lovers and hobos, and rural townspeople with their prejudices and beliefs. All are influences on Ramsay's life, both for good or evil. Ramsay himself, in the telling of his story, looks for causes of his current status and his own inner being.
One always learns one's mystery at the price of ones innocence.I cannot recommend this highly enough for those like me not familiar with Robertson Davies. And personally I cannot wait to read the other two novels in the trilogy (The Manticore and World of Wonders). The characters are definitely people I want to follow further.
If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Davies, Robertson. World of Wonders
Just started reading this and it's a fantastic conclusion to the Fifth Business Deptford trilogy. Narrated by Magnus Eisengrim (Paul Dempster), we hear his story about how he became a magician as he talks with an eminent film director filming him for a Robert-Houdin project. Of course, Dunstan Ramsay is along to observe and record their discussions about magic, people, life struggles, and the Devil. Wonderfully written, great characters, and absorbing plot.
Gold, Glen David. Carter Beats the Devil
Based on the real life of Charles Carter, a magician who performed before President Warren Harding who died later that night under suspicious conditions. Fantastic details of the man and his magic. One of my favorite books of all time. (previously reviewed here)
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