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Product Description
Product Description
Around a mysterious death is woven a glittering, fantastical, cunningly contrived trilogy of novels: ‘Fifth Business’, often described as Robertson Davies’ finest novel; ‘The Manticore’, and ‘World of Wonders’.
Luring the reader down labyrinthine tunnels of myth, history and magic, ‘The Deptford Trilogy’ provides an exhilarating antidote to a world from where ‘the fear and dread and splendour of wonder have been banished’.
‘His books will be recognized with the very best works of this century’ The New York Times Book Review.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I first read the three books that make up the 'Deptford Trilogy' nearly twenty years ago. Re-reading them recently, I was staggered by how much had stuck in my mind. Not just stuck, but had been working away in the intervening two decades subtly shaping my thoughts. Robertson Davies' characters are beguiling creations - on the one hand they seem strangely familiar, on the other they are larger-than-life archetypes. And that latter point is perhaps no accident: Davies was one of few authors who really understood what Jung was talking about (the middle book of this trilogy sets out a model Jungian analysis that must be the envy of many a therapist). The 'Deptford Trilogy' is exquisitely crafted - intricately plotted, beautifully written. It is a gem of contemporary literature, and a great pleasure to read.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As I grow older I find myself getting more resistant to being drawn into fictitious worlds - so much has been done before and there seems to be so little time left for one's own life. But although Robertson Davies's novels are long, I make an exception for them. I would recommend The Deptford Trilogy to begin with. It is endlessly humane, humourous, well-balanced and absorbing. A saga that begins with deceptively gritty realism in a small town in Canada before the First World War ends up ramifying throughout the twentieth century and through much of Europe and America, and taking off into all sorts of social arguments and mystical implications, before looping back to tie up the original theme with a weight of accumulated wisdom.
It's one of those books you can open almost anywhere and be drawn into any one of many character arcs and plots. The characters can seem larger than life, but one comes to feel that maybe all human life would be as enthralling as this, if we could hear everybody's hidden stories, and see them through the proper, vivid colours of myth.
Other reviewers are right to say that the story tails off just a little in the final volume - but even tailed-off Robertson Davies is more interesting than most writers working at full stretch.
It's one of those books you can open almost anywhere and be drawn into any one of many character arcs and plots. The characters can seem larger than life, but one comes to feel that maybe all human life would be as enthralling as this, if we could hear everybody's hidden stories, and see them through the proper, vivid colours of myth.
Other reviewers are right to say that the story tails off just a little in the final volume - but even tailed-off Robertson Davies is more interesting than most writers working at full stretch.
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This trilogy is the perfect antidote to anyone who feels that the 20th (never mind the 21st) century lost its sense of the spiritual and of enduring values. Beautifully-written, the books chart the interweaving lives of a group of people who start out in a small Canadian town, and those with whom their lives become entangled. We meet a good man who is genuinely appealing and attractive - an almost impossible achievement in a world where the devil usually has the best tunes. And we can relish the slow workings-out of destiny as the ramifications of deeds spread out over the years and the continents. It is surely no accident that is a Jungian analyst with a sensitivity to the mystery of life (and not a reductionist Freudian, Adlerian or the like) who works with the protagonist in the second of these three deeply rewarding works. These books are rich and warm, combining an earthy realism with a profound sense of the spiritual.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
wonderful tale of growth, limits, and egotism
This trilogy allows the reader to enter a fascinating world of personal pathologies, individual growth, and faith. Read more
Published 8 months ago by rob crawford
A little known treasure
I was recommended to read this book about 10 years ago and I finally got to read the trilogy about 5 years later. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Bacchus
Beuatifully weighted storytelling
This is beautifully weighted storytelling. A good tale well told, with complex, living characters, which advocates its main points forcefully but not intrusively. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mr Daniel W Sutton
A highly enjoyable series of books.
The three interconnecting life stories span some seventy years from the early twentieth century; yet the book has considerable lightness of touch compared to most historical sagas. Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2002
A big disappointment . . .
I tackled this book after a strong recommendation, but was deeply unimpressed: I got to around page 780 (out of 832) before finally losing patience. Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2002 by R. Carter
Fun, memorable and thought-provoking
Robertson Davies draws me into a world of which I know precious little and treats me as though I understand it, and, surprisingly, I do. Read more
Published on 5 April 2001 by Susan Elisabeth Hursey
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