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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “2008 is my "Year of Classics", and I asked a bunch of you what your favorite classic books were. Someone told me to read the Deptford Trilogy, and this is the first one in that series. |
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“In Fifth Business, we meet Dunstable Ramsay when he's already an old man. His long years as a schoolmaster and historian have prepared him well to write his own story, to record his own truth. A good portion of this story takes place in the tiny Canadian town of Deptford. Here, everyone has their religion - and piousness is a virtue. For the 10 year old Ramsay, a split second decision (coupled with a stringent guilt complex), creates a situation that changes not only the the course of his life, but that of Deptford as well.
sheelysmom wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Ah, Deptford. What an intimate portrait of a small town and its early century closed-mindedness. The characters of Ramsay's youth - the enemy/best friend, a pastor's wife and son - these Deptford relationships will serve as a backdrop to the rest of his Ramsay's life, even into the horrors of World War I, where he returns home as changed man.
I am having such a hard time even trying to summarize this novel - it takes you to the most random places - a bombed out church in France, a tiny Canadian town, a magic show in South America. Each location is mystically tied together in Ramsay's experience and his inability to discount things he knows he's seen will force him to decide if he's a believer in saints and miracles or not. I know that it's beautifully written - tied and woven together like the fabric of a life, and you can tell that Ramsay is going over that fabric with a magnifying glass, trying to figure out the real and inconsequential in order to determine what his life amounts to and where else it can go now. It's self-absorbed and honest - a tribute to finding a way to live the life you choose, accept your role as "fifth business" and then dealing with the consequences and moving on, trying to do better. ”
“Great ending. Good twist”
Michele W wrote this review Thursday, October 1 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I need to read this again. I don't remember getting much out of it the first time I read it, so I must have missed something...”
James C wrote this review Thursday, June 4 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“There is so much that is moving in this story, but mostly it is the compelling characters: Dunstan, Liesel, Paul and Mary Dempster and even Boy. I appreciate how much this novel can teach us about who we are. There is a little of the devil Liesel in all of us and a little of Fifth business too. Unfortunately, at times, we can also be poor Mary Dempster, and alternately the aggressive Boy Staunton.”
Anne of Green Gables wrote this review Friday, May 22 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“It may have been the Russian novelist Turgenev who used to write while sitting at a desk looking out the window with his feet in a bucket of warm water. Metaphorically speaking, this represents the artist, drawing warmth from the Muse while looking out at the world.
Mark V wrote this review Wednesday, February 25 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
So Davies does. Written in autobiographical style, the protagonist, Dunstan Ramsey, details his layered life. Beginning with a pivotal episode that changed his life direction (one that is endlessly discussable), it is not clear until the finale just how all the ramifications get worked out from this event.
Oh, Davies can write! The narrative detail, the characterization, the ideas, weave like a fine fugue. Davies writes of Ramsey's childhood in rural Canada during the turn of the century, the Great War, life in a circus, hagiography, and slight of hand; it is deliciously rich in detail and wisdom.
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“one of those books that pleasantly surprises. The book is the first part of a trilogy, The Deptford Trilogy. In it, the planned and random events and intersections of three boys lives (who lived in Deptford)is explored through the pen of "Dunny". The novel begins with Dunny and Percy Boyd (pretty boy) having a snow ball fight that ends up putting the third boy's (Paul)mother into early labor when Percy throws a rock covered with snow at Dunny and hits Paul's mother.
Mary v wrote this review Friday, September 19 2008. ( reply | view 1 replies | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Paul's mother has a premature child and Dunny's mother helps to raise him. But, Paul's mother "goes crazy" and Dunny feels guilty for the outcome and begins to see her as a "saint". He spends the rest of the novel tracing the history of saints, writing many books about them and teaching at a boy's school. Meanwhile, Paul runs away and joins a band of magicians and eventually becomes a very famous magician. Percy becomes a respected member of the business and political community until the three are reunited some 50 years later. The novel ends with the suspicious death of percy and Dunny's heart attack when he believes that Paul killed Percy.
The plot doesn't sound very intriguing as I record it here, but the book is engaging. Dunny does a good job in the telling of opening up the inner lives of the characters with realism and honesty (warts and all).”
“First installment of his Deptford Trilogy, this is Davis' best book. It contains a whole book full of wonderfully complex characters. While it is certainly not necessary to read the whole trilogy, if one does so one gains unique insight into Davies life.”
muque and shylock tomes wrote this review Tuesday, September 9 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Beautifully-written, classic Canadian fiction. The story traces the life of one man and what he learns, and who he touches through the stages of his life.”
Jamie E wrote this review Wednesday, September 3 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I really loved this book. I look forward to reading the next two in the trilogy.”
Bensco wrote this review Friday, May 23 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
