Fifth Business

[JBI]

Fifth Business by Robertson Davies

I have just finished this book, and all I can say is I am speechless.

The story takes the form of a letter, addressed to the Headmaster of an all boys boarding school, written by a recently retired teacher, after what he believes to be an unjust writing about his career in a school periodical.

From the beginning the plot seems to be a justification and defense of the old teacher's life. Starting out when he is 10 years old, in a little Southern Ontario town, when he dodges a snowball aimed at him, and it hits a young pregnant woman, Mrs. Ramsey, until the conclusion, just after his retirement.

The narrative follows all the consequences of the dodging of the snowball, and all the subsequent effects it has on all the parties involved; Mrs. Ramsey, "Dunstanble" Dunstan Ramsey, the narrator of the story, and Percy "Boy" Boyd Staunton, the thrower of the snowball." Yet throughout this narrative there is much more going on. There is a quest for meaning seen within all the characters, a desire for meaning, and spirituality among a world where science is growing.

The narrative is still as profound as it was when first published in 1970; recent history perhaps makes the novel even more important to us. The haunting dominance of science as the main source of meaning, in a world where science and religion are at constant war with each other, in the recent times with the publications of books deliberately targeting believers, and causing a stir by projecting an atheist philosophy of the world, this book remains pungent, insightful, witty, not to mention deeply profound, and beautifully written.

10/10.

[capek]

The whole Deptford Trilogy is really good. This review reminds me that I need to get around to reading Davies' other books I have.

[slobone]

I loved this one, the second not so much, I decided to skip the third one. Was I wrong?

[AuntShecky]

Please try to read the other two. I loved them all, but
World of Wonders (the finale) will knock your proverbial
socks off.

[JacobF]

In Canadian literature I have read, the conflict tends to focus on the climate, whether it be the precariousness of ice and snow or isolation while living on the prairies. Fifth Business initially seems to fit that mold when the novel begins with both of these conflicts -- except for that instead of the prairies, the setting begins in Deptford, Ontario, a village with a population of about 800. Fifth Business is Robertson Davies' semi-autobiography taken place through the eyes of protagonist Dunstable Ramsay, who from his childhood in Deptford, Ontario to his adulthood throughout the world experiences miracles and magic that once you read them will seem more real than you could have ever imagined. This is a novel dripping with realism and authenticity, but above all it is one of the most masterfully written Canadian novels from the 20th century.

Told in first person, the novel begins with Dunstable Ramsay as an old man. He explains his academic and general life achievements and how, recently, he was humiliated in the Colborne College campus newspaper as a stuffy old man who achieved nothing. This prompts Dunstable to create an autobiography in the form of a letter to the current Headmaster of the school. This format doesn't carry out much throughout the rest of the novel; you'll probably forget halfway that Dunstable is still addressing the headmaster. But it is a decent introduction which begins to make more sense when you arrive at the ending.

Then the novel transitions to Deptford, Ontario, just before WWI. Deptford is a hotbed for different sects of Protestantism (and one Roman-Catholic church), and albeit the village's different faiths tend to get along there are inklings of tension between them (more so for Catholicism). Dunstable Ramsay's childhood in Deptford, ultimately, provides context for events in his later years and establishes the main themes of the novel.

The main conflict begins when Dunstable and his friend, Percy Boyd Staunton, are having a snowball fight. Percy throws a snowball at Dunstable but it misses, instead hitting the Baptist Minister's wife, Mary Dempster, in the head. Mary then becomes "simple" and is ridiculed by the entire village. This is the inciting incident which really sets the foundation for the entire novel: Dunstable is hounded with a horrible guilt even though Percy, who feels no remorse and expresses no acknowledgment, was responsible for the accident. And Davies does an amazing job of linking all the different plots and subplots together through Mary Dempster, even beyond the first chapter when she is the most prominent.

In addition to Dunstable Ramsay and Mary Dempster, Percy Boyd Staunton is one of the only characters who is present throughout the entire novel. One of the highlights of Fifth Business is comparing the development of Dunstable and Percy as they journey through adulthood. If you know a bit about Jungian psychology (which I didn't until after reading the novel) you'll appreciate how Davies implements Jung's archetypes into these two characters. Davies' spectacular and deep characterization is where the realism and authenticity of Fifth Business really stems from, and as the novel later frames, where the title stems from too.

Like in The Great Gatsby, when reading Fifth Business you'll feel that Davies implements every single sentence and word so carefully that what is produced is near flawless writing. The only minor gripe I have with the writing is it may occasionally come off as antiquated for a novel published in 1970; for instance, "said he" is often used instead of "he said." But honestly, the style Davies uses is probably the most appropriate for the content that he deals with in the novel.

If you don't have even a fleeting interest in Canadian literature, I think you'll still enjoy and probably love Fifth Business. It's certainly not a light read, but it's a beautiful and bracing one. And not in a new-age Oprah's book club sense; it's undoubtedly genuine.


10/10

[JBI]

There should be another thread on this book back a few pages, that I started a while back - any chance of a moderator combining them?

[AuntShecky]

Nice review, Jacob. I hope you read the other two novels in the
trilogy, The Manticore and World of Wonders.

[Virgil]

Wow, such a great review, it makes me want to go and read that. I will have to add it to my list, that ever long, long list. Thanks Jacob.

[JacobF]

Nice review, Jacob. I hope you read the other two novels in the
trilogy, The Manticore and World of Wonders.

Thanks. I'm going to start reading The Manticore very soon, which is actually what encouraged me to write this review.

Wow, such a great review, it makes me want to go and read that. I will have to add it to my list, that ever long, long list. Thanks Jacob.

Glad my review persuaded you. I'm sure once you reach it on that long list (I know the feeling) of books to read you will enjoy it as much, or maybe even more than I did.

[MarkBastable]

I think there's an argument to be made that The Deptford Trilogy can be counted the best of twentieth-century literature. It's funnuy and thoughtful and very clever. It's a terrific story - well, three or four stories, actually. It's beautifully structured and intelligently presented, and the prose is stunning.

It's a book you can judge your life by - because as you grow older and re-read it, you see things in it that you've never seen before, and you find that the sympathies you had when you were younger are no longer as strong, though others have developed that you could not have imagined once.

On the whole, taking the thing overall, in general, in not so many words, I'd say it's - y'know - pretty good.