Davy (Paperback)

Davy, at the beginning of the book, is a randy teenager just coming into his manhood. Bonded out as an indentured servant to a tavern from the orphanage where he spent his early years, he chafes under the yoke of his status and dreams of better things - including bedding the tavern's daughter. In many ways, he's a typical teenager, worried about the mysteries of the opposite sex, status and racism, what the purpose of life is, and feeling that the adults around him are stupid and out of touch with the world. The world he occupies is one that is (very) slowly recovering from the holocaust that has destroyed our civilization, where what is our New England area is now split up into several nation-states, frequently at war with each other, and where the Holy Murcan church is, in many ways, the actual ruler of the territory. When Davy runs away from his bond-servantship, he starts on a journey of discovery, mainly about himself, but also about the ways of humans and the world at large. During his journey, he finds himself involved in the dirty nastiness of war, finds a lady (Nickie) he can totally immerse himself in, and is dragooned into becoming (briefly) a member of a new intellectual renaissance and a political leader.

Davy is exquisitely drawn. This is a person with thoughts and opinions that are immediately recognizable, from his ruminations about the causes of war and who fights them, to why people allow themselves to be led by leaders who are no better than tyrants, to questions about the validity of gods and the strictures of organized religions that always seem to prohibit those activities that are the most pleasurable in life. Recording his thoughts and experiences much later in life in a diary, he finds himself pursued by footnotes from his wife and best friend, footnotes that do much to illuminate both Davy himself as others see him and the world at large (and some of those footnotes are hilariously satirical and funny). He's not a world-saver, his actions won't turn the world upside-down by tomorrow, but bit by bit what he does really does have an effect, one that is quite visible by the book's end - an end that just might leave you with a strong case of melancholy tears.

In many ways, this book is reminiscent of Huckleberry Finn and Twains' acerbic comments on society and the foibles of humans, with a large dash of spice thrown in that might have come directly from Henry Fielding's Tom Jones - and in quality this book may be a match for those classics. Pangborn's prose style is near poetic, words so well arranged that the environs and situations are immediate and close, marvelously enhanced by both humor and pathos. His insights into the role of religion in everyday life, of average people coping with the vagaries of life, the stupidity and necessities of politics, war, and most especially just what love is and how it can transform a person's life, are clear and both well presented and well thought out. Emotionally satisfying, this book will make you think, and perhaps will change your own outlook on just what the purpose of living is. Nominated for the 1965 Hugo award, for my money it should have been the hands-down winner.

Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

The adventures and development of a young man in a well drawn, technologically backward, post holocaust world ruled by a Theocracy.

The eponymous Davy is a sypathetic and 3 dimensional character. A believable, imperfect human being, who you can't help but like.

The "supporting" cast are also fully realised. Their world is fascinating and stays with you long after you have finished the book.

Not just for your science fiction fan - a book I would recommend for anyone.